What do you think?
Rate this book
Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID
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 from hysteria to long Covid 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 illnesses 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 when you're Black, trans, poor, young, disabled, or undocumented. Weaving together cultural history with intimate interviews, Invisible Illness lifts up the experiences of those living with complex illness to expose the failures of the American healthcare system—and how we can do better.
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 from hysteria to long Covid 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 illnesses 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 when you're Black, trans, poor, young, disabled, or undocumented. Weaving together cultural history with intimate interviews, Invisible Illness lifts up the experiences of those living with complex illness to expose the failures of the American healthcare system—and how we can do better.
264 pages, Hardcover
Published January 6, 2026
About the author
Emily Mendenhall
16 books7 followersEmily Mendenhall is an anthropologist, Guggenheim Fellow, and Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She has authored Syndemic Suffering (2012), Global Mental Health (2015), Rethinking Diabetes (2019), Unmasked (2022), Savoring Care (2025) and Invisible Illness (2026). She serves as Editor-in-Chief of a new publication, Science Politics, and has written for Scientific American, Vox, and Psychology Today.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 21, 2026
Thank you, NetGalley, for granting me a free digital copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
As a wise old wizard once said, sometimes it really is all in your head—but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Emily Mendenhall’s Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID, tracks the history of the phenomenon, typically associated with women and so often disregarded by doctors. This history, which makes up about a third of the book, is the strongest part of Invisible Illness, which then diverts primarily into case studies and anecdotes about modern patients whose lives have been upended by chronic illness. What this book is noticeably light on, surprisingly, is science. Very little is divulged about what actually causes fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or even long COVID. Instead, Mendenhall prefers to focus on activism and advocacy.
Invisible Illness is a throwback to 2020 in more ways than one. It involves revisiting the early days of the pandemic, but it also embodies a heavily social justice-coded mentality. Every buzz phrase from “lived experience” to “spoon theory” is used liberally, as is the assertion that capitalism is “bedfellows” with patriarchy, and that a doctor who attributes a patient’s ill health to their weight is fatphobic (it’s never a good sign when a doctor—or “medical anthropologist,” in this case—refuses to admit that being overweight corresponds with poor health). I was drawn to this book due to its discussion of Lyme Disease, having struggled with the disease for most of my life, yet was a bit puzzled by what I found. Mendenhall discusses the “Lyme wars” over chronic Lyme, and whether it should be a recognized illness or not, while profiling one woman who allegedly had the disease. After years of exhibiting Lyme symptoms, this person struggled to find a doctor who would test her for chronic Lyme—not just Lyme Disease, which she had never been tested for before, but specifically chronic Lyme. Chronic Lyme is normally used interchangeably with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, which is recognized by the CDC and, as the name suggests, is ascribed to patients who are still experiencing Lyme symptoms even after completing treatment. The idea that someone would go straight to being diagnosed with chronic Lyme despite having never received any prior treatment for the disease is nonsensical. And although there’s certainly an argument to be made for chronic Lyme being legitimate (as mentioned, PTLDS is a state-recognized illness), Mendenhall doesn’t touch upon the many predatory doctors out there bleeding patients dry (usually without accepting insurance) while promising to cure them of this controversial disease.
The biggest question about this book is whether it will provide any guidance for people suffering from chronic illness. The answer to that is probably no. Mendenhall shows great compassion for people struggling with mystery diseases and includes anecdotes about support groups and patients whose health eventually improved, which may imbue readers with a sense of renewed hope. But based on the way this is written, it’ll likely be of greater value to people who have no experience with chronic illnesses whatsoever, rather than someone who has experienced it first-hand.
As a wise old wizard once said, sometimes it really is all in your head—but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Emily Mendenhall’s Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID, tracks the history of the phenomenon, typically associated with women and so often disregarded by doctors. This history, which makes up about a third of the book, is the strongest part of Invisible Illness, which then diverts primarily into case studies and anecdotes about modern patients whose lives have been upended by chronic illness. What this book is noticeably light on, surprisingly, is science. Very little is divulged about what actually causes fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or even long COVID. Instead, Mendenhall prefers to focus on activism and advocacy.
Invisible Illness is a throwback to 2020 in more ways than one. It involves revisiting the early days of the pandemic, but it also embodies a heavily social justice-coded mentality. Every buzz phrase from “lived experience” to “spoon theory” is used liberally, as is the assertion that capitalism is “bedfellows” with patriarchy, and that a doctor who attributes a patient’s ill health to their weight is fatphobic (it’s never a good sign when a doctor—or “medical anthropologist,” in this case—refuses to admit that being overweight corresponds with poor health). I was drawn to this book due to its discussion of Lyme Disease, having struggled with the disease for most of my life, yet was a bit puzzled by what I found. Mendenhall discusses the “Lyme wars” over chronic Lyme, and whether it should be a recognized illness or not, while profiling one woman who allegedly had the disease. After years of exhibiting Lyme symptoms, this person struggled to find a doctor who would test her for chronic Lyme—not just Lyme Disease, which she had never been tested for before, but specifically chronic Lyme. Chronic Lyme is normally used interchangeably with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, which is recognized by the CDC and, as the name suggests, is ascribed to patients who are still experiencing Lyme symptoms even after completing treatment. The idea that someone would go straight to being diagnosed with chronic Lyme despite having never received any prior treatment for the disease is nonsensical. And although there’s certainly an argument to be made for chronic Lyme being legitimate (as mentioned, PTLDS is a state-recognized illness), Mendenhall doesn’t touch upon the many predatory doctors out there bleeding patients dry (usually without accepting insurance) while promising to cure them of this controversial disease.
The biggest question about this book is whether it will provide any guidance for people suffering from chronic illness. The answer to that is probably no. Mendenhall shows great compassion for people struggling with mystery diseases and includes anecdotes about support groups and patients whose health eventually improved, which may imbue readers with a sense of renewed hope. But based on the way this is written, it’ll likely be of greater value to people who have no experience with chronic illnesses whatsoever, rather than someone who has experienced it first-hand.
February 28, 2026
Having worked for quite a while in the clinical mental health field, I’ve long been aware of the prevalence of different types of invisible illness and the impact on women of all ages. (I should here mention that invisible illness can affect anyone; I’ve just happened to work in settings serving women and children.) I’ve heard so many distressing stories about the lack of knowledge, empathy, and support women have encountered with regard to their unrecognized and misunderstood physical and mental health challenges. Over my career so far, women have shared about their experience with health concerns including but not limited to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or pain, migraines, endometriosis, PCOS, Lyme, digestive conditions like Crohn’s and IBS, autoimmune disorders like lupus and Sjogren’s, epilepsy, and of course depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
It’s been heartbreaking to hear how often women are compelled to minimize, make excuses for, apologize for, hide, mask, and hack workarounds for health conditions that employers, medical professionals (including other women), instructors, family, friends and others deem insufficiently externally evident (the “but you look fine to me” phenomenon). And of course, this response of being treated by others as though you are some kind of wimpy, deluded shirker can often lead to immense self-blame and shame.
Compared to the beginning of my career before the pandemic, I will cautiously say that I think there is more awareness overall of invisible disability, not that sufferers of Long COVID and other types of post-infectious syndrome seem to be having the easiest time of it since. And of course, things do seem to be regressing by the day lately, and we’ve recently lost a lot of funding all around to support needed scientific research. So, this is a frontier on which it’s important for advocates to keep pushing.
The increasing availability of books on the topic of invisible illness, whether providing more personal and autobiographical or scientific accounts, has helped boost our developing awareness and amplify advocates’ voices in this fight. So, although I’ll probably never say no to another book on invisible illness on the basis of their need and importance, this one is legitimately a very good one and would be an excellent candidate for a core collection on this subject. It offers well-rounded information from the personal, sociological, cultural, historical, and scientific/medical angles, and I really appreciated how the author very calmly laid out how, given our nascent understanding of the increasing complexity of the multitude of factors that impact a human, inside and out, and their experience and condition, over time — is it really SO strange that so-called invisible illnesses could be a stark reality that afflicts us?
Recommended. Thank you to NetGalley, RBmedia/Recorded Books, and the author for the advance copy of this book, which was released on January 6, 2026.
It’s been heartbreaking to hear how often women are compelled to minimize, make excuses for, apologize for, hide, mask, and hack workarounds for health conditions that employers, medical professionals (including other women), instructors, family, friends and others deem insufficiently externally evident (the “but you look fine to me” phenomenon). And of course, this response of being treated by others as though you are some kind of wimpy, deluded shirker can often lead to immense self-blame and shame.
Compared to the beginning of my career before the pandemic, I will cautiously say that I think there is more awareness overall of invisible disability, not that sufferers of Long COVID and other types of post-infectious syndrome seem to be having the easiest time of it since. And of course, things do seem to be regressing by the day lately, and we’ve recently lost a lot of funding all around to support needed scientific research. So, this is a frontier on which it’s important for advocates to keep pushing.
The increasing availability of books on the topic of invisible illness, whether providing more personal and autobiographical or scientific accounts, has helped boost our developing awareness and amplify advocates’ voices in this fight. So, although I’ll probably never say no to another book on invisible illness on the basis of their need and importance, this one is legitimately a very good one and would be an excellent candidate for a core collection on this subject. It offers well-rounded information from the personal, sociological, cultural, historical, and scientific/medical angles, and I really appreciated how the author very calmly laid out how, given our nascent understanding of the increasing complexity of the multitude of factors that impact a human, inside and out, and their experience and condition, over time — is it really SO strange that so-called invisible illnesses could be a stark reality that afflicts us?
Recommended. Thank you to NetGalley, RBmedia/Recorded Books, and the author for the advance copy of this book, which was released on January 6, 2026.
January 6, 2026
★★★★★ A vital, compassionate history and a necessary call to action
Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID by Emily Mendenhall is both deeply validating and rigorously informative. Blending cultural history with intimate patient interviews, Mendenhall traces how complex chronic and post-viral illnesses, from lupus and Lyme to long COVID, have long been misunderstood, minimized, or dismissed as psychological. She clearly exposes the fundamental disconnect between the lived reality of chronic illness, which is often multifaceted and individualized, and a medical system that expects uniform, easily categorized disease.
As a severely disabled, middle-aged woman who experiences ongoing medical gaslighting and neglect despite debilitating, life-altering symptoms, I found this book profoundly affirming. Mendenhall approaches post-viral illness through a trauma-informed lens, demonstrating how clinicians can, and should, center patients’ lived experiences during diagnosis and care. Importantly, she balances this compassion with nuance, acknowledging that many healthcare providers are themselves overwhelmed and under-resourced, even as patients bear the consequences of delayed or missed diagnoses.
The book also powerfully addresses inequity, making clear that while invisible illness has historically been associated with white, middle-class women, being believed is even more difficult for those who are Black, queer, trans, poor, young, disabled, or undocumented. By situating personal suffering within broader structural failures, Mendenhall reveals not only what is broken in American healthcare, but how it could be reimagined.
I highly recommend Invisible Illness to anyone living with, or caring for someone with, complex chronic illness. It should also be essential reading for all healthcare professionals. This is a compassionate, urgent book that makes patients feel seen while offering a clear-eyed path toward doing better.
Thanks to NetGalley, RBmedia, author Emily Mendenhall, and narrator Morgan Hallett for this ARC for review. All opinions are my own.
Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID by Emily Mendenhall is both deeply validating and rigorously informative. Blending cultural history with intimate patient interviews, Mendenhall traces how complex chronic and post-viral illnesses, from lupus and Lyme to long COVID, have long been misunderstood, minimized, or dismissed as psychological. She clearly exposes the fundamental disconnect between the lived reality of chronic illness, which is often multifaceted and individualized, and a medical system that expects uniform, easily categorized disease.
As a severely disabled, middle-aged woman who experiences ongoing medical gaslighting and neglect despite debilitating, life-altering symptoms, I found this book profoundly affirming. Mendenhall approaches post-viral illness through a trauma-informed lens, demonstrating how clinicians can, and should, center patients’ lived experiences during diagnosis and care. Importantly, she balances this compassion with nuance, acknowledging that many healthcare providers are themselves overwhelmed and under-resourced, even as patients bear the consequences of delayed or missed diagnoses.
The book also powerfully addresses inequity, making clear that while invisible illness has historically been associated with white, middle-class women, being believed is even more difficult for those who are Black, queer, trans, poor, young, disabled, or undocumented. By situating personal suffering within broader structural failures, Mendenhall reveals not only what is broken in American healthcare, but how it could be reimagined.
I highly recommend Invisible Illness to anyone living with, or caring for someone with, complex chronic illness. It should also be essential reading for all healthcare professionals. This is a compassionate, urgent book that makes patients feel seen while offering a clear-eyed path toward doing better.
Thanks to NetGalley, RBmedia, author Emily Mendenhall, and narrator Morgan Hallett for this ARC for review. All opinions are my own.
January 25, 2026
Invisible Illness by Emily Mendenhall is ambitious in scope, drawing on hundreds of patient interviews and extensive research. Chapters on digital activism and the history of hysteria show Mendenhall’s ethnographic skill.
However, the book is undermined by serious conceptual flaws. It is for this I don't think I can forgive the book, as it veers into harmful territory for patients - there is definite mild washing! I seriously just had my head in my hands so many times. I don't usually give books such low ratings but because it reinforces harm especially for severe patients I can't rank it any higher.
Mendenhall frames biomedicine as the main problem and replaces it with her “bodymind” and dysregulation thresholds theory. While intended to be holistic, this approach risks psychologizing illness and repeating the epistemic harms it aims to critique. Patients often want rigorous biomedical research, not speculative theorizing layered over their lived experience.
Simon Wessely’s legal interventin also shaped the book: Mendenhall removed content and adopts a neutral stance on the PACE trial (that basically said people with exercise intolerance ME, should do graded exercise therapy and CBT - think giving sugar to diabetes patients). She also reinforced the harmful stereotype of “angry patients versus rational doctors” and exemplifying psychiatric epistemic capture.
Her interpretive anthropology overreaches, linking trauma and social stress to biomedical conditions like endometriosis and ulcerative colitis, and her discussion of alternative and integrative medicine sometimes minimizes illness severity, overlooking the urgent need for specialist care.
Invisible Illness is insightful in parts, but its unfalsifiable theory, category errors, and false balance significantly limit its value. It serves as a cautionary tale about medical power, allyship, and the politics of chronic illness but falls short of providing meaningful guidance for patients or scholars.
It's a real missed opportunity but if you have Long Covid I'd be cautious about expending energy on this. It's such a shame as one can see Mendenhall really meant well and placed so much effort into this but it's not a good book.
I've written a fuller article on this on Long Covid Advocacy's Substack.
However, the book is undermined by serious conceptual flaws. It is for this I don't think I can forgive the book, as it veers into harmful territory for patients - there is definite mild washing! I seriously just had my head in my hands so many times. I don't usually give books such low ratings but because it reinforces harm especially for severe patients I can't rank it any higher.
Mendenhall frames biomedicine as the main problem and replaces it with her “bodymind” and dysregulation thresholds theory. While intended to be holistic, this approach risks psychologizing illness and repeating the epistemic harms it aims to critique. Patients often want rigorous biomedical research, not speculative theorizing layered over their lived experience.
Simon Wessely’s legal interventin also shaped the book: Mendenhall removed content and adopts a neutral stance on the PACE trial (that basically said people with exercise intolerance ME, should do graded exercise therapy and CBT - think giving sugar to diabetes patients). She also reinforced the harmful stereotype of “angry patients versus rational doctors” and exemplifying psychiatric epistemic capture.
Her interpretive anthropology overreaches, linking trauma and social stress to biomedical conditions like endometriosis and ulcerative colitis, and her discussion of alternative and integrative medicine sometimes minimizes illness severity, overlooking the urgent need for specialist care.
Invisible Illness is insightful in parts, but its unfalsifiable theory, category errors, and false balance significantly limit its value. It serves as a cautionary tale about medical power, allyship, and the politics of chronic illness but falls short of providing meaningful guidance for patients or scholars.
It's a real missed opportunity but if you have Long Covid I'd be cautious about expending energy on this. It's such a shame as one can see Mendenhall really meant well and placed so much effort into this but it's not a good book.
I've written a fuller article on this on Long Covid Advocacy's Substack.
January 23, 2026
While this was interesting, I felt it was more suitable for a person who has a disabled person in their life vs people who are disabled. While feeling somewhat vindicated when people share the same stories that I have been through, I felt like I learned nothing new as a disabled person. I know how life is on hard mode, I know how every step is a challenge, I know the struggle of trying to keep up with the basics etc. It has a need for validation throughout and I'm already in the trenches with you, so you don't need to prove anything to me.
Also, I reccomend this more if you live in the USA, as it was very UsA centric. Which isn't a bad thing, it's just something I can't relate too. But oh my gosh, the numbers that one guy has spent is astounding! (Not that I think he's anything wrong, it's just the numbers were bewildering) Especially considering you're still paying a hefty health coverage every month, plus you have to spend 1000's out of pocket because your heath coverage has what I think is a large (Four figures) deductible. And even then, you've still got to pay a % of every single bill for a lot of plans as I think 100% covered is very expensive and hard to get. I mean that is ridiculous. You're one health scare from losing everything you've worked your life to achieve. Your house, savings, pension all gone if the cancer roulette gets you or you end up in an accident.
Also, I reccomend this more if you live in the USA, as it was very UsA centric. Which isn't a bad thing, it's just something I can't relate too. But oh my gosh, the numbers that one guy has spent is astounding! (Not that I think he's anything wrong, it's just the numbers were bewildering) Especially considering you're still paying a hefty health coverage every month, plus you have to spend 1000's out of pocket because your heath coverage has what I think is a large (Four figures) deductible. And even then, you've still got to pay a % of every single bill for a lot of plans as I think 100% covered is very expensive and hard to get. I mean that is ridiculous. You're one health scare from losing everything you've worked your life to achieve. Your house, savings, pension all gone if the cancer roulette gets you or you end up in an accident.
January 10, 2026
“Invisible illnesses like endometriosis, Lyme disease, and long Covid typically present as a constellation of vague, sometimes intermittent symptoms that include pain, chronic fatigue, and brain fog. As different as these conditions are from each other, they are also similar in how misunderstood they are in the medical community.”
Invisible Illness: A History of Illness From Hysteria to Long Covid is a compelling exploration of disability and how it affects the everyday life of those experiencing it and their communities. I am very interested in anything that includes an examination of the history of hysteria and how it’s still affecting healthcare and dismissing folks concerns, so I was very excited to receive the audio arc of this book.
Since Hippocrates, history has long associated women’s health (and sexuality) with madness. Hysteria encompassed all somatic and many physical complaints of women, regardless of the real origins the illness. Think multiple sclerosis or MS, for example, and although this generally affected white middle class women, it has also made it harder to seek care if you are Black, trans, or marginalized in any other way. Mendenhall starts out her book with hysteria as the foundation of how other similarly “vague” symptoms of illnesses such as Lyme’s disease, endometriosis, and long covid are misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and mistreated even now.
I loved how well researched and how much psychology and medical narrative information was included in this book. Also, shout out to the mention of Virginia Woolf and the rest cure (Mrs Dalloway) and how much time was spent on the gendered framing of certain illnesses and how that impacts how seriously symptoms and conditions are taken by providers. Often that is is such a key factor in how well treatment goes and what the outcomes are.
Originally, I picked this book because I wanted to learn more about long covid, but as a women’s health provider myself, I also really appreciated how much focus was placed on inequality. I personally feel medicine has a responsibility to address this and felt understanding the stories and experiences highlighted in this book is great start. In addition, the section on endometriosis and the story of Tam and her trauma and feeling unsafe in her body was particularly interesting to me.
✨4.5 stars rounded up!
Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for this audio arc. Invisible Illness came out January 6, 2026.
Invisible Illness: A History of Illness From Hysteria to Long Covid is a compelling exploration of disability and how it affects the everyday life of those experiencing it and their communities. I am very interested in anything that includes an examination of the history of hysteria and how it’s still affecting healthcare and dismissing folks concerns, so I was very excited to receive the audio arc of this book.
Since Hippocrates, history has long associated women’s health (and sexuality) with madness. Hysteria encompassed all somatic and many physical complaints of women, regardless of the real origins the illness. Think multiple sclerosis or MS, for example, and although this generally affected white middle class women, it has also made it harder to seek care if you are Black, trans, or marginalized in any other way. Mendenhall starts out her book with hysteria as the foundation of how other similarly “vague” symptoms of illnesses such as Lyme’s disease, endometriosis, and long covid are misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and mistreated even now.
I loved how well researched and how much psychology and medical narrative information was included in this book. Also, shout out to the mention of Virginia Woolf and the rest cure (Mrs Dalloway) and how much time was spent on the gendered framing of certain illnesses and how that impacts how seriously symptoms and conditions are taken by providers. Often that is is such a key factor in how well treatment goes and what the outcomes are.
Originally, I picked this book because I wanted to learn more about long covid, but as a women’s health provider myself, I also really appreciated how much focus was placed on inequality. I personally feel medicine has a responsibility to address this and felt understanding the stories and experiences highlighted in this book is great start. In addition, the section on endometriosis and the story of Tam and her trauma and feeling unsafe in her body was particularly interesting to me.
✨4.5 stars rounded up!
Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for this audio arc. Invisible Illness came out January 6, 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I picked up Invisible Illness thinking it would focus mostly on COVID, especially long COVID, and that ended up not being the case. COVID is part of the discussion, but the book actually spans a wide range of chronic and invisible illnesses, including lupus and Lyme disease. That broader scope isn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t what I was expecting going in, and it took some adjustment.
The author approaches the subject as a medical anthropologist, and that perspective is felt throughout the book. The focus is less on individual illness experiences and more on how the medical system, historically and culturally, has handled conditions that don’t fit neatly into established boxes. Some of that was genuinely interesting, especially when looking at how often patients with invisible illnesses are dismissed or told their symptoms are psychological.
That said, parts of the book felt more academic and distant than I anticipated. I found myself wanting more grounding in real, lived experiences and less emphasis on theory and systems. While the message is important, the delivery sometimes felt heavy, which made it harder to stay fully engaged.
Overall, I’d say this book was fine, but not quite what I hoped for. Readers who are interested in the history and sociology of chronic illness may appreciate it more than those looking for a more personal or COVID-centered narrative. For me, it had valuable points, but it didn’t fully connect.
PUBLISH DATE: January 6, 2026
BOOK TITLE: Invisible Illness
A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID
AUTHOR: Emily Mendenhall
NARRATOR:Morgan Hallet
FORMAT: audiobook
DURATION 8 Hours, 56 Minutes
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Reader copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Amazon Review: (TBD)
Barns & Noble Review: (TBD)
The author approaches the subject as a medical anthropologist, and that perspective is felt throughout the book. The focus is less on individual illness experiences and more on how the medical system, historically and culturally, has handled conditions that don’t fit neatly into established boxes. Some of that was genuinely interesting, especially when looking at how often patients with invisible illnesses are dismissed or told their symptoms are psychological.
That said, parts of the book felt more academic and distant than I anticipated. I found myself wanting more grounding in real, lived experiences and less emphasis on theory and systems. While the message is important, the delivery sometimes felt heavy, which made it harder to stay fully engaged.
Overall, I’d say this book was fine, but not quite what I hoped for. Readers who are interested in the history and sociology of chronic illness may appreciate it more than those looking for a more personal or COVID-centered narrative. For me, it had valuable points, but it didn’t fully connect.
PUBLISH DATE: January 6, 2026
BOOK TITLE: Invisible Illness
A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID
AUTHOR: Emily Mendenhall
NARRATOR:Morgan Hallet
FORMAT: audiobook
DURATION 8 Hours, 56 Minutes
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Reader copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Amazon Review: (TBD)
Barns & Noble Review: (TBD)
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This audiobook was both informative and eye-opening. I appreciated how clearly it explored the body–mind connection and how biases in medical diagnosis and treatment impact people with complex chronic conditions. The historical context around invisible illnesses, leading up to current conversations about Long COVID, added important depth. As a healthcare provider, I found this information to be especially valuable.
This book does a powerful job highlighting the barriers disabled people face, not only within the medical system, but also from political and structural perspectives, and the ongoing disconnect between patient lived experiences and the medical community. The personal stories from patients navigating the healthcare system while living with complex chronic conditions were especially impactful.
Overall, this was a thoughtful and meaningful listen that encouraged deeper reflection on how healthcare systems engage with and how the general population perceive chronic and invisible illness. I highly recommend this book and am definitely planning to purchase a physical copy to revisit and reference in the future.
This book does a powerful job highlighting the barriers disabled people face, not only within the medical system, but also from political and structural perspectives, and the ongoing disconnect between patient lived experiences and the medical community. The personal stories from patients navigating the healthcare system while living with complex chronic conditions were especially impactful.
Overall, this was a thoughtful and meaningful listen that encouraged deeper reflection on how healthcare systems engage with and how the general population perceive chronic and invisible illness. I highly recommend this book and am definitely planning to purchase a physical copy to revisit and reference in the future.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley and rb media for providing an ARC of the audiobook.
As someone who lives with invisible illnesses, I found this book deeply informative, validating, and at times infuriating in the way only truth can be. Emily Mendenhall does an excellent job tracing the historical roots of how medicine has treated (and dismissed) illnesses that are not easily seen, from hysteria to Long COVID. The connections she draws make it impossible to ignore how gender, power, and bias continue to shape medical care today.
Listening to this on audio was especially impactful. The narration is clear, engaging, and well-suited to the material, making complex history and research feel accessible rather than academic or dry. This is the kind of book that makes you pause, rewind, and think about your own experiences or those of people you love.
This is absolutely a book I plan to purchase in physical form for my own shelf, and one I will be recommending to friends, especially those who live with chronic or invisible conditions or who work in healthcare. Invisible Illness feels both necessary and timely, and it left me feeling more informed, more seen, and more empowered.
As someone who lives with invisible illnesses, I found this book deeply informative, validating, and at times infuriating in the way only truth can be. Emily Mendenhall does an excellent job tracing the historical roots of how medicine has treated (and dismissed) illnesses that are not easily seen, from hysteria to Long COVID. The connections she draws make it impossible to ignore how gender, power, and bias continue to shape medical care today.
Listening to this on audio was especially impactful. The narration is clear, engaging, and well-suited to the material, making complex history and research feel accessible rather than academic or dry. This is the kind of book that makes you pause, rewind, and think about your own experiences or those of people you love.
This is absolutely a book I plan to purchase in physical form for my own shelf, and one I will be recommending to friends, especially those who live with chronic or invisible conditions or who work in healthcare. Invisible Illness feels both necessary and timely, and it left me feeling more informed, more seen, and more empowered.
January 6, 2026
As a chronically ill girlie, I just had to read this. And I sped through it.
If you have a chronically ill friend, I especially think you need to read this.
This covers the stories of several chronically ill people, but also goes over the history and understand of these sorts of conditions. This goes over how diseases used to be only viewed by how they physically manifested (if you can't see the problem, there's no problem there), hysteria being a catch-all term to conditions no one understood, how long COVID made people start to care about and understand chronic illness, chronic fatigue, how some people don't believe in Lyme Disease because it's dynamic and can't be seen, and the struggles of dealing with the medical system.
This was incredibly relatable to me.
I didn't love the mentions of functional medicine doctors, but that's due to my own terrible and dangerous experiences with them. I just think you should go to specialists when you have complicated health issues instead of people who paint all chronic illnesses with a broad brush and only one solution.
Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
If you have a chronically ill friend, I especially think you need to read this.
This covers the stories of several chronically ill people, but also goes over the history and understand of these sorts of conditions. This goes over how diseases used to be only viewed by how they physically manifested (if you can't see the problem, there's no problem there), hysteria being a catch-all term to conditions no one understood, how long COVID made people start to care about and understand chronic illness, chronic fatigue, how some people don't believe in Lyme Disease because it's dynamic and can't be seen, and the struggles of dealing with the medical system.
This was incredibly relatable to me.
I didn't love the mentions of functional medicine doctors, but that's due to my own terrible and dangerous experiences with them. I just think you should go to specialists when you have complicated health issues instead of people who paint all chronic illnesses with a broad brush and only one solution.
Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
January 7, 2026
I don’t usually rate non fiction books but I think this is a must read, especially if you know someone who has an invisible illness.
Although this research is based on American society, laws, politics and financial system, so much of it also rings true to mine and that of others I know who live with invisible illnesses.
It’s a very uncomfortable read but I found my Ely constantly thinking ‘yeah, me too!’ or ‘oh I know someone who has experienced that’. It’s sad but knowing you’re not alone when going through everything long term/ chronic illness is such a relief.
With all this data and information fresh in my mind, I feel freshly empowered to stand up for myself and others and fight for what I/ they need 💪
(Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC)
Although this research is based on American society, laws, politics and financial system, so much of it also rings true to mine and that of others I know who live with invisible illnesses.
It’s a very uncomfortable read but I found my Ely constantly thinking ‘yeah, me too!’ or ‘oh I know someone who has experienced that’. It’s sad but knowing you’re not alone when going through everything long term/ chronic illness is such a relief.
With all this data and information fresh in my mind, I feel freshly empowered to stand up for myself and others and fight for what I/ they need 💪
(Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC)
January 6, 2026
As someone with a chronic illness, this book really intrigued me. I love hearing other people's stories and experiences dealing with similar things. This book presented a look into the history of many "invisible illnesses" by providing some historical evidence as well as first hand narrative experiences. I found it very personal and very interesting, however, I didn't feel like I was really gaining any NEW information. Many of the anecdotes and facts that were being shared felt very repetitive, much of it felt like it was the same thing being told over and over again. Not a bad book by any means, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in the topic.
March 16, 2026
Mendenhall is a medical anthropologist and the book is subtitled “a history” but I found it too clinical and less sociological than I expected. I loved the premise but the execution was a little boring. I felt like the book leaned heavily on the impact of race, class, and gender without considering the structural, economic factors at play here. How do we reform the system? That’s the critical question that remains unanswered. But I deeply appreciate the empathy that Mendenhall has for those living with chronic illness. She clearly is a good soul.
March 20, 2026
Emily Mendenhall is a medical anthropologist who has experienced her own invisible illness (long COVID). In this book, she shares the stories of several people who developed chronic, complex, difficult-to-diagnose illnesses after infections and discusses the structural challenges people with these illnesses tend to face, as well as growing patient advocacy movement.
I honestly just wanted more, on every topic covered. This book was a good length for those of us who might struggle with longer and/or denser texts, though, and it served as a good introduction to the topic.
I honestly just wanted more, on every topic covered. This book was a good length for those of us who might struggle with longer and/or denser texts, though, and it served as a good introduction to the topic.
January 6, 2026
I’m someone who was recently diagnosed with alpha gal syndrome and MCAS. This book was very informative! I’m planning on buying a copy to keep for reference. It does read a bit (especially at the beginning) like someone just reading different studies to you. The middle to the end was my favorite so hang in there! 4 stars!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to the audiobook for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to the audiobook for my honest review.
January 17, 2026
This is a very well-written novel conceptualizing chronic illnesses and how they are often diminished, minimized, and dismissed by the medical system. Mendenhall takes readers from the origins of medical dismissiveness from women with Hysteria all the way through Lyme Disease to Long COVID. Blending a mixture of personal research, case studies, and exploring history Mendenhall creates a compelling narrative.
As someone who suffers from chronic illnesses, I felt seen and understood from this novel. I learned how the history of medical dismissiveness impacts me today. I feel empowered after reading Invisible Illness and recommend it to anyone personally impacted by chronic illnesses, their loved ones, those who value social justice, and those working in the medical field.
As someone who suffers from chronic illnesses, I felt seen and understood from this novel. I learned how the history of medical dismissiveness impacts me today. I feel empowered after reading Invisible Illness and recommend it to anyone personally impacted by chronic illnesses, their loved ones, those who value social justice, and those working in the medical field.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was informative and well researched with personal interviews conducted with people living with a number of different invisible illnesses from endometriosis, lupus, MS, long COVID and more. Good on audio but more history and critique than biographical which I hoping for it to be. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest feedback.
January 11, 2026
This book shares personal stories that truly capture the reality of living with long COVID. It sheds light on the struggle to get answers and reveals how much our healthcare system is failing those who need it most.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews