San Diego, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/05/2012 --Hard beds, traveling expenses, long walks to conference rooms, attendees going overboard on their perfume, and extreme fatigue are predictably part of your average conference. And for the chronically ill these inconveniences can make attending an actual conference impossible. National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week celebrates its tenth year of having a virtual conference and is excited to offer video seminars this year, September 10-14, 2012.

The virtual conference market has doubled since 2009 and it is expected to grow by 56% by 2018 according to Market Research Media. But those who live with chronic illness have an appreciation that goes beyond budget costs and conveniences.

Jean Baum shares, "As a mother of two young boys (8 and 5) as well as living with fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease, autoimmune urticaria, Gilbert's Disease, and others, I am lucky to keep up with everything. I rarely go out unless it is necessary and to be able to do a virtual conference is amazing! Being able to be active in this cause--even when I can't leave the house--is priceless."

The conference will feature twenty video presentations that anyone around the globe can listen to. Past workshops via BlogTalkRadio have had over 40,000 listeners and are available on iTunes.

Topics for the 2012 conference include:

- Relationship Tips: Handling the Fallout of Invisible Illness
- How To Keep It Together When Everything Around You is Falling Apart
- Parenting Teens and Tweens When You Have a Chronic Illness
- How to Work From Home When Dealing with an Invisible Illness
- From Sickness to Spirited - Finding That Self Through All The Muck of Illness
- Transitioning to College and Career with a Chronic Illness

Speakers include Mary E. Siegel, PhD, co-author of the modern-classic, "Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired," best-selling author Pam Farrel, of "Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti," Wayne and Sherri Connell, founders of Invisible Disabilities Advocate, and chronic illness coach, Rosalind Joffe.

Invisible Illness Week was founded by and is sponsored by Rest Ministries, the largest Christian organization that serves the chronically ill.

Lisa Copen, 43, founder of Rest Ministries and creator behind the National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week campaign says, “There is a fundamental human desire to feel understood, to feel like those you love have some idea about what you are going through.”

Copen, who is explored this in her book "Why Can’t I Make People Understand: Discovering the Validation Those With Chronic Illness Seek and Why" says, “One of the most difficult adjustments to illness is that you feel life is passing you by and no one around you even realizes the pain you are in, both physically and sometimes emotionally, as you grieve your losses. We hope our conference will provide a place where people find the true source of being validated in their pain, how to live joyfully despite their illness."

Invisible Illness Week offers many ways to get involved including blogging for the cause, sharing invisible illness week facts on Twitter or Facebook, a Pinterest page, and the 2012 campaign includes posting your favorite photos that represent your "visible images of hope."

For more details about the free conference and other resources visit http://www.invisibleillnessweek.com