Invisible Disabilities

Abstract

Purpose

To outline the experiential nature of hidden mental illnesses (or “invisible disabilities”) in sport and physical cultures. A sociological account is given of how people living with a hidden mental illness or disorder manage their identities in physical culture.

Approach

The chapter begins by addressing the role of social stigma as a barrier to sport and exercise participation for young people living with hidden mental illnesses. From there, and venturing beyond typical sociological tropes about social stigma, the chapter presents ethnographic findings from a study of people living with epilepsy and their tactical uses of a range of physical cultures to craft their selves in innovative ways.

Findings

People living with so-called simple or nonmajor “hidden/invisible” disabilities are often overlooked as a differential needs population with sport and health zones. The people in this study identify how the desire to be mobile, self-expressive, and authentic through the physical activity pursuits is important yet unavailable to them in a wide range of sport, leisure, and health fields because of the ways in which these places privilege particular types of brain and bodies. Through their own self-styled physical cultural involvements, however, these people challenge the dominance of sport-based model of health promotion in broader culture and disrupt dominant ideological frames that privilege the normative, rational, calculating, and predictable brain in athletic zones.

Research Implications

The importance of identifying persons who may not participate in sport and physical culture due to perceived and felt stigma is highlighted. In addition, developing creative strategies and programs for these populations is underscored.

Citation

Atkinson, M. (2018), "Invisible Disabilities", Sport, Mental Illness, and Sociology (Research in the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 11), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 127-142. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1476-285420180000011009