We talk with medical anthropologist Emily Mendenhall about her new book, "Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID."
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, Emily Mendenhall traces the story of complex chronic conditions to show why both research and practice fail so many.
Emily Mendenhall is professor in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and contributor to Scientific American, Psychology Today, and Vox.
