Book Review: “The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness,” by Meghan O’Rourke
A silent epidemic of chronic illness afflicts tens of millions of Americans. These are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and even unrecognized. Writer, Meghan O’Rourke, chronicles her experience as such a patient and investigates this elusive category of “invisible” illness in her most recent book “The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness.”
The book is part memoir, part research and includes a fair bit of lyrical prose as well. Ms. O’Rourke shares her perspective as a patient struggling to get to the root causes of her fatigue, pain and brain fog. Her descriptions of the ebb and flow of her illness will resonate with many patients who end up being seen by functional medicine doctors. Dismissed and unheard by conventional doctors, referred to innumerable specialists, patients like this become far too well versed in medical speak. A concern Ms. O’Rourke faces head on in her own medical journey is feeling so desperate to find a cure for her illness that she subjects herself to experimental or fringe medical treatments that at times, border on downright quackery.
Ms. O’Rourke’s desperation to make sense of her situation is not at all shocking to me as a functional medicine provider. Chronic fatigue syndrome, post Lyme disease sequelae, and now long COVID…are often diagnoses of exclusion that are not so easily identified. Even with diagnosis, treatment paths are poorly defined. Traditional primary care methods of diagnosis search for the usual suspects, not zebras; a diagnosis of hypothyroidism to explain fatigue; a diagnosis of stress to explain increasing anxiety or palpitations. Most doctors care but have limited time to spend with each patient. They limit investigation to their area of expertise.
A good integrative doctor won’t do this, preferring instead a systems biology approach. Each body system impacts and influences every other area of the body and mind. Meghan O’Rourke provides an incisive critique of our current medical system that fails to see patients holistically and, therefore, humanely. I highly recommend this book for any patient, caregiver, family member or medical provider to understand chronic illness through a fresh perspective. Perhaps this growing body of work will help shine a light onto the practice of true integrative medicine where we work in partnership with each patient and as a team to find answers and encourage the highest level of wellness in each individual patient.
