It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness

A neurologist explores the very real world of psychosomatic illness. Most of us accept the way our heart flutters when we set eyes on the one we secretly admire, or the sweat on our brow as we start the presentation we do not want to give. But few of us are fully aware of how dramatic our body's reactions to emotions can sometimes be. Take Pauline, who first became ill when she was fifteen. What seemed at first to be a urinary infection became joint pain, then food intolerances, then life-threatening appendicitis. And then one day, after a routine operation, Pauline lost all the strength in her legs. Shortly after that her convulsions started. But Pauline's tests are normal; her symptoms seem to have no physical cause whatsoever. Pauline may be an extreme case, but she is by no means alone. As many as a third of men and women visiting their GP have symptoms that are medically unexplained. In most, an emotional root is suspected and yet, when it comes to a diagnosis, this is the very last thing we want to hear, and the last thing doctors want to say. In It's All in Your Head consultant neurologist Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan takes us on a journey through the very real world of psychosomatic illness. She takes us from the extreme -- from paralysis, seizures and blindness -- to more everyday problems such as tiredness and pain. Meeting her patients, she encourages us to look deep inside the human condition. There we find the secrets we are all capable of keeping from ourselves, and our age-old failure to credit the intimate and extraordinary connection between mind and body.

Health, Fitness & Dieting

O'Sullivan, Suzanne

Psychology & Counseling

Vintage Books

A neurologist explores the very real world of psychosomatic illness. Most of us accept the way our heart flutters when we set eyes on the one we secretly admire, or the sweat on our brow as we start the presentation we do not want to give. But few of us are fully aware of how much more dramatic and extreme our body's reactions to emotions can sometimes be. Up to a third of people who go to see their GP have symptoms that are medically unexplained; in the vast majority of these cases an emotional cause is suspected. And yet, when it comes to a diagnosis, 'it's all in your head' is the very last thing we want to hear, and the last thing doctors want to say. In It's All in Your Head consultant neurologist Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan takes us on a journey through the world of psychosomatic illness, to meet patients like Pauline, who has been ill all her adult life; like Camilla, the lawyer with the perfect life -- except for her unexplained seizures; Yvonne, who was blinded at work by cleaning spray; Rachel who was a promising dancer but now is stuck in the purgatory of ME. Suzanne O'Sullivan encourages us to look deep inside the human condition, at the secrets we are all capable of keeping from ourselves, and to question our age-old failure to credit the intimate and extraordinary connection between mind and body.

Chatto&Windus

The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness

Product Description 
In Sweden, hundreds of refugee children fall into a state that resembles sleep for months or years at a time. In Le Roy, a town in upstate New York, teenage girls develop involuntary twitches and seizures that spread like a conta­gion. In the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, employees experience headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises during the night. These are only a few of the many sus­pected culture-bound psychosomatic syndromes—specific sets of symptoms that exist in a particular culture or environment—that affect people throughout the world.\nIn 
The Sleeping Beauties, Dr. Suzanne O’Sullivan—an award-winning Irish neurologist—investigates psychosomatic disorders, traveling the world to visit communi­ties suffering from these so-called mystery illnesses. From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua to the heart of the María Mountains in Colombia, O’Sullivan records the remark­able stories of syndromes related to her by people from all walks of life. Riveting and often distressing, these case studies are recounted with compassion and humanity.\nIn examining the complexity of psychogenic illness, O’Sullivan has written a book of both fascination and se­rious concern as these syndromes continue to proliferate around the globe. 
 Review 
“At once poignant, surprising and sometimes horrifying . . . Empathic . . . Dr. O’Sullivan uncovers these complex mechanisms while painting a picture of psychosomatic suffering that removes its associated stigma . . . Radical . . . 
The Sleeping Beauties offers a brilliant, nuanced and thoughtful look at the lived experience of illness while asking important questions about the relationship between body and mind. Dr. O’Sullivan’s rich prose weaves a tapestry as hauntingly beautiful as it is scientifically valid.”\n—Wall Street Journal"Fascinating and provocative . . . [O'Sullivan is ] a globe-trotting Lisa Sanders: a briskly professional but secretly tenderhearted disease detective on a mission to dispel misconceptions that have become obstacles to cures . . . O’Sullivan’s logic is, well, infectious."\n—New York Times\n“In my view the best science writer around—a true descendant of Oliver Sacks.”\n—Sathnam Sanghera, author of The Boy with the Topknot 
“A gripping international journey . . . O’Sullivan has written a medical page-turner that makes a compelling argument for a holistic approach to health care.” 
—Library Journal\n“Fascinating . . . O’Sullivan delivers a razor-sharp study of illnesses that often cannot be explained in traditional medical terms . . . As O’Sullivan masterfully narrates these cases, she movingly allows the subjects to tell their owns stories, too. Fans of Oliver Sacks, take note.”\n—Publishers Weekly\n“O’Sullivan keenly explains illness templates that are coded in our brains by our sociocultural environment . . . A fascinating view of mind that mingles culture with biology, creating a richly embroidered, albeit difficult, world.”\n—Kirkus Reviews 
 “Suzanne O’Sullivan’s beautifully written book interweaves the stories of those afflicted in this way in a travelogue of illness that is ultimately a travelogue of our own irrational, suggestible minds . . . It is a measure of how effective she is at describing the dilemmas and difficulties of treating psychosomatic conditions that, by the end, a visit to a witch doctor begins to feel like the most sensible medical intervention.”\n—The Times\n“O’Sullivan travels the world collecting fascinating stories of culture-bound syndromes, which she relays with nuance and sensitivity.”\n—New Statesman\n“O’Sullivan doesn’t offer easy answers. She just shows us, with wonderful compassion and the minimum of judgment, the ways in which people across the world have manifested symptoms that have helped them through—or beyond—painful situations . . . It is, in every sense, mind-blowing.”\n—The Sunday Telegraph\n“To compare any book to an Oliver Sac

Pantheon

'In my view the best science writer around – a true descendant of Oliver Sacks.' – Sathnam Sanghera, author of The Boy with the Topknot\nIn Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night.\nThese disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and – more crucially – to treat them. What unites them is that they are all examples of a particular type of psychosomatic illness: medical disorders that are influenced as much by the idiosyncratic aspects of individual cultures as they are by human biology.\nInspired by a poignant encounter with the sleeping refugee children of Sweden, Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called ‘mystery’ illnesses.\nFrom a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O’Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn’t an illness?\nReminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face.

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Picador

Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2021\n'To compare any book to a Sacks is unfair, but this one lives up to it . . . I finished it feeling thrillingly unsettled, and wishing there was more.' – James McConnachie, Sunday Times\nIn Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night.\nThese disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and – more crucially – to treat them. What unites them is that they are all examples of a particular type of psychosomatic illness: medical disorders that are influenced as much by the idiosyncratic aspects of individual cultures as they are by human biology.\nInspired by a poignant encounter with the sleeping refugee children of Sweden, Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called ‘mystery’ illnesses.\nFrom a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O’Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn’t an illness?\nReminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face.\n'A study of diseases that we sometimes say are 'all in the mind', and an explanation of how unfair that characterisation is.' – Tom Whipple, The Times Books of the Year

A neurologist's insightful and compassionate look into the misunderstood world of psychosomatic disorders, told through individual case histories It's happened to all of us: our cheeks flush red when we say the wrong thing, or our hearts skip a beat when a certain someone walks by. But few of us realize how much more dramatic and extreme our bodies' reactions to emotions can be. Many people who see their doctor have medically unexplained symptoms, and in the vast majority of these cases, a psychosomatic cause is suspected. And yet, the diagnosis of a psychosomatic disorder can make a patient feel dismissed as a hypochondriac, a faker, or just plain crazy. In IS IT ALL IN YOUR HEAD? neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan, MD, takes us on a journey through the world of psychosomatic illness, where we meet patients such as Rachel, a promising young dancer now housebound by chronic fatigue syndrome, and Mary, whose memory loss may be her mind's way of protecting her from remembering her husband's abuse. O'Sullivan reveals the hidden stresses behind their mysterious symptoms, approaching a sensitive topic with patience and understanding. She addresses the taboos surrounding psychosomatic disorders, teaching us that "it's all in your head" doesn't mean that something isn't real, as the body is often the stand-in for the mind when the latter doesn't possess the tools to put words to its sorrow. The perfect book for fans of Oliver Sacks, Is It All in Your Head? encourages us to look with compassion at the ways in which our brains act out, and to acknowledge the intimate connection between mind and body.

Is It All in Your Head?: True Stories of Imaginary Illness

Mental Health

Other Press

A leading neurologist recounts some of her most astonishing, challenging cases, which demonstrate how central the study of epilepsy has been to our understanding of the brain. Brainstorm follows the stories of people whose medical diagnoses are so strange even their doctor struggles to know how to solve them. A man who sees cartoon characters running across the room; a girl whose world suddenly seems completely distorted, as though she were Alice in Wonderland; another who transforms into a ragdoll whenever she even thinks about moving. The brain is the most complex structure in the universe. Neurologists must puzzle out life-changing diagnoses from the tiniest of clues, the ultimate medical detective work. In this riveting book, Suzanne O’Sullivan takes you with her as she tracks the clues of her patients’ symptoms. It’s a journey that will open your eyes to the unfathomable intricacies of our brains and the infinite variety of human experience.

Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology

Diseases & Physical Ailments

Winner of the 2016 Wellcome Book Prize, a neurologist's insightful and compassionate look into the misunderstood world of psychosomatic disorders, told through individual case histories. It's happened to all of us: our cheeks flush red when we say the wrong thing, or our hearts skip a beat when a certain someone walks by. But few of us realize how much more dramatic and extreme our bodies' reactions to emotions can be. Many people who see their doctor have medically unexplained symptoms, and in the vast majority of these cases, a psychosomatic cause is suspected. And yet, the diagnosis of a psychosomatic disorder can make a patient feel dismissed as a hypochondriac, a faker, or just plain crazy. In Is It All in Your Head? neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan takes us on a journey through the world of psychosomatic illness, to reveal the hidden stresses behind mysterious symptoms. With patience and understanding, she addresses the taboos surrounding psychosomatic disorders, teaching us that "it's all in your head" doesn't mean that something isn't real, as the body is often the stand-in for the mind when the latter doesn't possess the tools to put words to its sorrow. She encourages us to look with compassion at the ways in which our brains act out, and to question our failure to credit the intimate connection between mind and body.

The brain is the most complex structure in the universe. In Brainstorm the Wellcome Prize-winning author of It's All in Your Head uncovers the most eye-opening symptoms medicine has to offer.'Powerfully life-affirming... Brainstorm is testament to O'Sullivan's unshowy clarity of thought and her continued marvelling at the mysteries of the brain' GuardianBrainstorm examines the stories of people whose symptoms are so strange even their doctor struggles to know how to solve them. A man who sees cartoon characters running across the room; a teenager who one day arrives home with inexplicably torn clothes; a girl whose world turns all Alice in Wonderland; another who transforms into a ragdoll whenever she even thinks about moving. The brain is the most complex structure in the universe, and neurologists must puzzle out life-changing diagnoses from the tiniest of clues - it's the ultimate in medical detective work. In this riveting book, one of the UK's leading neurologists takes you with her as she follows the trail of her patients' symptoms: feelings of déjà vu lead us to a damaged hippocampus; spitting and fidgeting to the right temporal lobe; fear of movement to a brain tumour; a missed heart beat to the limbic system.It's a journey that will open your eyes to the unfathomable intricacies of the brain, and the infinite variety of human capacity and experience.

Brainstorm

RHUK

Brainstorm follows the stories of people whose medical diagnoses are so strange even their doctor struggles to know how to solve them. A man who sees cartoon characters running across the room; a girl whose world turns all Alice in Wonderland; another who transforms into a ragdoll whenever she even thinks about moving. The one thing these people have in common is epilepsy.\nEpileptic seizures occur when there’s a sudden, unwanted electrical discharge in the brain. These brainstorms are otherwise known as epilepsy. Historically, epilepsy has been our single greatest model for mapping and understanding the brain. It still is, and in this eye-opening and why.

Brainstorm: Detective Stories From the World of Neurology

Medical Books

Medicine

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by O'Sullivan, Suzanne. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by O'Sullivan, Suzanne

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by O'Sullivan, Suzanne. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness

It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness

The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness

The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness

The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness

Is It All in Your Head?: True Stories of Imaginary Illness

Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology

Is It All in Your Head?: True Stories of Imaginary Illness

Brainstorm

Brainstorm: Detective Stories From the World of Neurology