The Invisible is an on going documentation of my experience with endometriosis. Diagnosed in 2017, this chronic autoimmune disease cost me four surgeries in less than a year, two in 2018 and a fifth to come in 2019. During those months of sick leave, I strive – when my body allows me – to picture the reality of this invisible and so badly diagnosed disease. But it’s not about me:
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, or 176 million women worldwide. Yet largely unknown to the public and misunderstood by the medical profession, it remains underdiagnosed, with a delay of 7 to 10 years on average. Why? Because it is a feminine disease. No treatment exists. The surgeries, analgesics, injections and other prescribed pills struggle with the symptoms and not with the unknown cause. Endometriosis is much more than a health issue. This is a real issue of women’s rights. Research on endometriosis, its causes and treatment suffers from a clear lack of funding. However, the struggle is real. Endometriosis is a chronic condition from which affected women suffer on a daily basis.
This documentary tend to describe the endometriosis reality in its complexity and shadows and how it affect daily life. Because endometriosis is not just about pain but also about fatigue, depression, brain fog, anxiety, hormonal imbalances, loneliness … the list goes on. Social and professional life are affected, creating isolation and financial difficulties. Those intimate images go beyond autobiography, they are proofs.
There is a huge stigma surrounding menstrual health and a long and continuing history of women’s pain not being taken seriously and even writing it off as women’s hysteria, depression or stress. Meanwhile, million of women are suffering due to chronic lack of research.
