Invisible Illness
A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jan 6, 2026
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
"An incisive study that illuminates the myriad complexities of chronic illness."—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
"Movingly spotlights the struggles of chronically ill patients."—Publishers Weekly
A moving cultural history of disability—and a powerful call to action to change how our medical system and society supports those with complex chronic conditions
From lupus to Lyme, invisible illness is often dismissed by everyone but the sufferers. Why does the medical establishment continually insist that, when symptoms are hard to explain, they are probably just in your head?
Inspired by her work with long COVID patients, medical anthropologist Emily Mendenhall traces the story of complex chronic conditions to show why both research and practice fail so many. Mendenhall points out disconnects between the reality of chronic disease—which typically involves multiple intersecting problems resulting in unique, individualized illness—and the assumptions of medical providers, who behave as though chronic diseases have uniform effects for everyone. And while invisible illnesses have historically been associated with white middle-class women, being believed that you are sick is even more difficult for patients whose social identities and lived experiences may not align with dominant medical thought. Weaving together cultural history with intimate interviews, Invisible Illness upholds the experiences of those living with complex illness to expose the failures of the American healthcare system—and how we can do better.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Long Covid is the latest illness in a line of "complex chronic conditions" that reveal the shortcomings of healthcare systems when it comes to diagnosing and treating illnesses without visible symptoms, according to this nuanced study. Medical anthropologist Mendenhall (Unmasked) points as far back as the ancient Greek hysteria diagnosis and follows its evolution to its 19th-century cousin, neurasthenia. These terms were used, alternatively and depending on the era, to misogynistically dismiss women's pain as either irreparably rooted in their biology, and thus untreatable, or purely psychological. The legacy of these dismissive catchalls continues to rear its head today, Mendenhall argues, in the way invisible illnesses are dealt with by modern medicine: the murky definitions of conditions like functional neurological disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome act as barriers to further testing and necessary care. Mendenhall astutely notes, however, that long Covid could be a "watershed moment," as its high rates in the population make it difficult to dismiss and suggest the possibility that many types of invisible illnesses are likewise the result of little-understood "post-viral conditions." Mendenhall also movingly spotlights the struggles of chronically ill patients who experience maddening dismissals by their own doctors. The result is an urgent argument for updating standards of care and a hopeful look at how long Covid could prompt a major medical turning point.
