What It’s Like to Be Allergic to Wi-Fi

On the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, the character Chuck McGill, a lawyer played by Michael McKean, has a rather memorable condition. He frequently wraps himself in a space blanket to protect his body from cell phones or wireless internet, claiming the electromagnetic fields emitted by these devices sicken him. He has — or thinks he has — a case of what’s known as electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or EHS.

This is not a condition most doctors recognize. The Guardian was quick to debunk the supposed science behind EHS, claiming that the condition is overhyped by the media, and that while the symptoms sufferers report may indeed be real, it’s psychological rather than physiological. That sentiment was echoed by George Johnson in the Times, who wrote, “From the perspective of science, the likelihood of the rays somehow causing harm is about as strong as the evidence for ESP.”