Meghan O’Rourke joined us for, An Evening with Meghan O’Rourke. She presented her New York Times best-selling book, "The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness" and shared her personal story of autoimmunity.
Meghan strongly believes that chronic illnesses are an epidemic, and during this webinar, she discusses why.
Meghan O’Rourke covered three main points of insights she learned from her personal autoimmunity journey :
- The importance of balance and checking in with yourself
- The stress on health care systems to incorporate coordinated care and shifting traditional perspectives
- The importance of alternative medicine on factors such as food, stress, and sleep that are not answered by broad lab results
In "The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness," Meghan shows the implications of autoimmune diseases from a research-based perspective and personal experiences. She is able to provide insight on the autoimmune health journey, from finding a diagnosis to combating daily symptoms. Her book seeks to show unity and understanding of those with invisible illnesses.
Understanding Chronic Illnesses
Chronic illness and autoimmune diseases present themselves in inconsistent and varied symptoms across the population — and even over time within the same individual. Meghan O’Rourke references from her research that Western medicine is often unsuited to provide explanations for diseases that do not follow a pattern. Her book discusses how individuals may have difficulties finding a diagnosis or feel neglected due to the underwhelming information known about autoimmune diseases. Due to this, Meghan O'Rourke suggests — in some cases — alternative medicine such as nutritionists or health coaches may provide better symptom relief in their practices.
Meghan O’Rourke finished her presentation on autoimmunity by discussing the prioritization of oneself and one's needs. Living with an autoimmune disease expresses a variety of challenges and symptoms daily. Dealing with those symptoms entails understanding what would work best for you, even if it is just watching movies in bed or sleeping in. This webinar stresses the validity of your symptoms, even those that are invisible.
Watch Meghan O’Rourke's presentation.
