In many ways, fibromyalgia is a lot like mental illness – no-one can tell from looking at you that you have it, and there’s no way of proving to people how debilitating it can be. Ironically, depression is a common aspect of fibromyalgia, so in effect you get two invisible illnesses for the price of one. The invisibility of these conditions makes it hard for people to understand the pain you are feeling, and this lack of empathy can make you wish you had something more obvious wrong with you, such as a broken leg. Nice plaster cast, crutches, immediate understanding from everyone who sees you that you have been through an extremely painful ordeal. The other advantage of having a broken leg is that it should heal completely in a reasonable length of time, whereas with fibromyalgia there’s no knowing when, if ever, your symptoms will be resolved.