A Body Made of Glass

A Cultural History of Hypochondria

By: Caroline Crampton

Narrated by: Caroline Crampton

Part cultural history, part literary criticism, and part memoir, A Body Made of Glass is a definitive biography of hypochondria.

Caroline Crampton’s life was upended at the age of seventeen, when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a relatively rare blood cancer. After years of invasive treatment, she was finally given the all clear. But being cured of the cancer didn’t mean she felt well. Instead, the fear lingered, and she found herself always on the alert, braced for signs that the illness had reemerged.

Now, in A Body Made of Glass, Crampton has drawn from her own experiences with health anxiety to write a revelatory exploration of hypochondria—a condition that, though often suffered silently, is widespread and rising. She deftly weaves together history, memoir, and literary criticism to make sense of this invisible and underexplored sickness. From the earliest medical case of Hippocrates to the literary accounts of sufferers like Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust to the modern perils of internet self-diagnosis, Crampton unspools this topic to reveal the far-reaching impact of health anxiety on our physical, mental, and emotional health.

At its heart, Crampton explains, hypochondria is a yearning for knowledge. It is a never-ending attempt to replace the edgeless terror of uncertainty with the comforting solidity of a definitive explanation. Through intimate personal stories and compelling cultural perspectives, A Body Made of Glass brings this uniquely ephemeral condition into much-needed focus for the first time.

©2024 Caroline Crampton (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Astonishing truths from someone who has been there

Health Anxiety - Dr Google paralysis.. we are all dealing with mega issues to the point that obsessing over every possible health threat is consuming many of us. Caroline Crampton experienced Hodgkins Lymphoma before she was 20 years old and tells us first hand what it is like to survive then live with the constant vigilance produced by such a threat and the traumas of treatment. Her research and reporting on the history of hypochondria and how it effects every aspect of a life, how it is misunderstood and causes missed-diagnosis that only adds to the fear.. There are also excellent descriptions of what it is like to deal with chronic pain as in severe endometriosis that is not taken seriously by many medical professionals. At the end.. there is a good analysis of the hope available through EMDR - which many people have not yet heard of even though it has been around for over 30 years.. There is comfort and encouragement to be found in this book.

Helpful

Gave me insight as I deal with my own cancer diagnosis and my longest interaction with modern medicine since I had ktds 35 years ago.

Loved all the historical stories!

I liked the mix of history and current author stories and experiences. Very interesting and a fabulous book for learning something new and gaining understanding