The Visible and Invisible Monster is a memoir about Mary's life and how a traumatic experience from being raped as a teenager in her hometown led to a lifetime of panic attacks which later manifested itself as anxiety disorder. She detailed her years of suffering from panic attacks and not knowing what it was until twenty years later and making the connection between the trauma from being sexually assaulted and how it affected her entire life and every relationship she had with anyone following that tragic night. Additionally, Mary was forced to face the source of her anxiety. It was a fight-or-flight response the day Mary was confronted with the man who sexually assaulted her. What does she do? How does she act? What does she say?