"You Don't Look Sick!: Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness"

Hey there! In regard to the Invisible Illness Awareness Week, I remembered a text that I read a few years ago, called "You don't look sick!: Living well with Invisible Chronic Illness" by Selak and Overman. I chose to read this book because I have loved ones who live with chronic illness every day. And I just felt like this could be a great insight into some people's life and tell me how they really feel. I've suffered from depression myself, and that was a time when I decided to read this, and to be completely honest, it didn't disappoint. It's been a while since I read this book, so I had to talk to a few other friends who'd read it into helping me write this article.

In their book, You Dont Look Sick! (second edition), Joy and Dr. Overman tell the story of the four different phases of living with a chronic illness (Getting Sick, Being Sick, Grief and Acceptance, and Living Well), from the unique and experienced perspectives of patient and physician. Living with a chronic (and invisible) illness, for many patients, often means that in addition to living with their illness, patients also have to go through the daunting task of convincing people that their experiences are, in fact, real. Sometimes this process involves seeking advice from many different doctors - some helpful, others not.

This book takes the reader through each stage of life with chronic illness with stories of physical and emotional struggles, physicians perspectives, and careful and detailed instructions to help those currently coping with a chronic illness learn how to navigate through each of the phases in order to ultimately reach the final goal of learning to live well with an illness. Joy explains what has worked for her in order to both manage her illness and find ways to enjoy life and participate in her community. Through his caring and professional insight, Dr. Overman sounds like the chronic illness patients dream doctor! He offers valuable professional advice that readers of this book can use and implement in their personal lives to help maintain control of their medical situation. He sounds like the best doctor you can possibly get and someone who'd just be there for you.

I thought You Dont Look Sick! was great! It was a great combination of both perspectives - the patient's and the doctor's. This book was a very easy and quick read. I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone who is suffering from an invisible illness or wants to know more about it. Great insight and indeed gives you a better idea as to what people suffer through. In all honesty, this is a really generic version of what goes on, but worth a read.

You can find the book here.