Reifying Women's Experiences with Invisible Illness

Illusions, Delusions, Reality

Edited by Kesha Morant Williams and Frances Selena Morant - Contributions by Nicole Defenbaugh; Elizabeth F. Desnoyers-Colas; Laura Ellingson; Eletra Gilchrist-Petty; Cerise L. Glenn; Annette D. Madlock; Emily Pfender; Launick Saint-Fort; Wei Sun and Hannah Thyberg

Reifying Women's Experiences with Invisible Illness: Illusions, Delusions, Reality provides a platform that recognizes that the experience of invisible illness is greatly influenced by context and personal circumstance. The contributors to this book include women who exude diversity as it relates to race and ethnicity, career, religious experience, education, social support, and interpersonal relationships. From recent college graduates to senior level professionals, these women share stories that create a space to advocate on behalf of the individual who is chronically ill rather than focusing on the often privileged perspective of medical professionals.

Lexington Books

Pages: 166 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-5100-7 • Hardback • December 2017 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-5101-4 • eBook • December 2017 • $105.50 • (£82.00)

Series: Lexington Studies in Health Communication

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies

Reifying Women's Experiences with Invisible Illness

Illusions, Delusions, Reality

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Reifying Women's Experiences with Invisible Illness: Illusions, Delusions, Reality provides a platform that recognizes that the experience of invisible illness is greatly influenced by context and personal circumstance. The contributors to this book include women who exude diversity as it relates to race and ethnicity, career, religious experience, education, social support, and interpersonal relationships. From recent college graduates to senior level professionals, these women share stories that create a space to advocate on behalf of the individual who is chronically ill rather than focusing on the often privileged perspective of medical professionals.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 166 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-5100-7 • Hardback • December 2017 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-5101-4 • eBook • December 2017 • $105.50 • (£82.00)

Series: Lexington Studies in Health Communication

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies

Author

Kesha Morant Williams is associate professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State University.
Frances “Selena” Morant is psychiatric nurse with an assertive community treatment (ACT) program.

Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword: Communicating from/as/with the Body
Laura Ellingson
Introduction: Not an Illusion
Kesha Morant Williams
Chapter 1: My Sister’s Keeper: Sibling Social Support and Chronic Illness
Kesha Morant Williams
Chapter 2: Temporal Reflections of UC Remission: An Autoethnography of Body Image & Acceptance
Nicole Defenbaugh
Chapter 3: A Semblance of Normalcy: Social Isolation and the Burden of Looking Well
Hannah Thyberg
Chapter 4: Transparency and Disclosure: Tools for Building Trust and Confidence
Emily Pfender
Chapter 5: An Unexpected Road to Discovery: Finding One’s Self in the Midst of Uncertainty
Launick Saint-Fort
Chapter 6: When Lifestage Matters: A Narrative Account of a Pregnancy-Related Invisible Illness
Eletra Gilchrist Petty
Chapter 7: Reframing Personal and Professional Identity in Connection to “Ability”
Cerise L. Glenn
Chapter 8: Duty, Honor, Country…sickness: Finding Strength in my Personal Battle with Gulf War Illness
Elizabeth Desnoyer-Colas
Chapter 9: Complicit in Concealing Illness: Black Women, Beauty, Identity, and Breast Cancer
Annette Matlock Gatison
Chapter 10: The Enemy at the Door: My Friend’s Silent Battle to Breast Cancer
Wei Sun
About the Contributors

Reviews

This book reflects a unique effort to capture the diverse factors that contribute to health at the systematic, cultural, and relational levels. Vital topics such as clinical experiences, family experiences, and social experiences come together to demonstrate how we can take agency in supporting improved health outcomes personally and across systems. The chapters represent a thoughtful and relatable approach to engagement and social justice for health.
— Jennifer Edwards, Walden University

As a Black woman, school psychologist, and adult education scholar, I think very deeply about how the learning and identity development of historically marginalized groups are inextricably tied to their physical bodies and their communities. Upon reading Reifying Women’s Experiences with Invisible Illness, I was encouraged to see the editors’ shared value of giving voice to those who are often silenced. Ultimately, this book is a counternarrative to traditional ways of thinking about invisible illnesses, as it skillfully merges the personal and the collective by problematizing how illness intersects with various other identities.
— Amber M. Sessoms, Nationally Certified School Psychologist

Reifying Women's Experiences with Invisible Illness highlights heroic women, representing a multicultural perspective on being a professional woman and living with an invisible chronic disease, while simultaneously providing the tools to overcome, and offering hope for a bright future...
— Latinia Shell, Diversity Works-Counseling, Supervision, Consultation, Training