On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat joins Federalist Publisher Ben Domenech to discuss his new book “The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery” and his struggle with a chronic form of Lyme disease.

“One of the many reasons to write this book was to try and convey the physicality of this kind of illness. … The first thing to realize just for the sake of sympathy, whatever you believe or not, it’s just there’s a huge difference between ordinary aches and pains and the kind of pain that that chronic Lyme disease and other illnesses like it can deliver,” Douthat said.

Douthat said that while his sickness has brought hardship and difficulty to his family, he has learned to appreciate the trial and the hope that comes as a result.

“Even with the best doctors, even with people who want to help you when you’re struggling with something like this you have — there’s part of it that you have to do alone or alone with, you know, God dropping in to wink at you from time to time,” Douthat said. “Only you know how you’re feeling. Only you know when you’re actually getting better. Only you know what different medicines do and don’t do. … There are things in life that you confront alone, at some level, and an illness that you can’t get your arms around is, in certain ways, one of them.”