July 2023 Shell Exchange

Welcome to the July 2023 Shell Exchange!

Midway through each month, I drop a list of recommended reads. I try to feature winning hermit crab essays (🦀) when possible. But those charming crabbies aren’t always easy to find. So I also make it a point to share pieces on invisible illness.

If you come across an essay or article I haven’t mentioned that you feel warrants attention, drop the link in the comments, and I’ll add it to the rotation next month.

1. “Bacterial infection may be ‘key event’ in common but mysterious endometriosis, study says” by Isabella Cueto from STAT

“The uterus has been thought to be a nearly sterile environment, with far less bacteria than the vagina or other parts of the body. But Fusobacteria are still found there, and might be more pervasive in people with endometriosis, some studies suggest.”

2. “‘I’m Not Crazy, I’m Sick’: A film dives deep into chronic Lyme disease” by Amber Castillo from STAT

“But it was worth it, she said, ‘if a marriage can be saved, or if a child can be saved, or if someone suffering from heart failure can be saved because they watched this little documentary that put a whisper in their ear about that.’”

3. “My Hysterectomy: A Love Story” by Sari Botton from Memoir Land

“In the weeks following, the Universe seems to taunt me with the notion that in fact there is something fundamentally wrong with me.”

4. “Hello Blood: The Dance of Miscarriage” by Kimi Eisele from Guernica

“I wish my burning could have cast some kind of glow. The baby stayed in the desert. I myself stayed in darkness for a long time.”

5. “Studying the link between the gut and mental health is personal for this scientist” by Joanne Silberner from NPR

“There's also been some compelling – if preliminary – research showing the link between specific gut bacteria and serious mental illness. Several studies have shown that fecal transplants rich with bacteria from depressed rats, as well as from depressed humans, can induce depression in recipient rats. In December 2021, a review of 34 human studies showed a similar pattern of bacterial species in the guts of people diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.”

6. “When You Call His Mother From the Psych Unit” by Rebecca Grossman-Kahn from Cleaver Magazine

“Don’t show your cards: that you’re fascinated by his delusion about the tracking device, still eager to learn the neurobiology that might explain it. Instead, report that you’ve dialed his medication up so he won’t swing a baseball bat in the street around other people again.”