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

Posted on 24 November 2019 by Suzanne O'Sullivan

A neurologist s insightful and compassionate look into the misunderstood world of psychosomatic disorders, told through individual case histories Download It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness – kino-fada.fr I well knew the power of the mind over the body since I was 13 and gave myself appendicitis I had a test on Anna Karenina and hadn t read the 800 page book I said I had a tummy ache and went to the school sick room and read all day That night I had to go to Hebrew school and I had forgotten about a test so I said I had a tummy ache and drew a picture until my father came to pick me up and I went straight to bed to read Anna Karenina for the test next day still feigning pain.At midnight I I well knew the power of the mind over the body since I was 13 and gave myself appendicitis I had a test on Anna Karenina and hadn t read the 800 page book I said I had a tummy ache and went to the school sick room and read all day That night I had to go to Hebrew school and I had forgotten about a test so I said I had a tummy ache and drew a picture until my father came to pick me up and I went straight to bed to read Anna Karenina for the test next day still feigning pain.At midnight I woke in excruciating agony with tummy ache At 4 a.m I had an emergency appendectomy and was so ill I was in hospital for 3 weeks and missed the Anna Karenina test and won third prize in a national art competition since my parents sent off my drawing I got a WH Smiths gift voucher Fairly early on in the book, the author says that there was a test...I imagine the publisher was excited by Dr O Sullivan s ideas I saw the words groundbreaking and controversial in one of the blurbs Imaginary illness carries notions of madness across the centuries, as readers we are intrigued and seduced However, having read in detail the chapter Rachel , which deals with a young woman with ME CFS , I can say that the book is certainly not groundbreaking, but rather, in the case of ME, an irresponsible recycling of a dying very dangerous I imagine the publisher was excited by Dr O Sullivan s ideas I saw the words groundbreaking and controversial in one of the blurbs Imaginary illness carries notions of madness across the centuries, as readers we are intrigued and seduced However, having read in detail the chapter Rachel , which deals with a young woman with ME CFS , I can say that the book is certainly not groundbreaking, but rather, in the case of ME, an irresponsible recycling of a dying very dangerous narr...It saddens me to see that a so badly researched chapter about ME CFS, a disease which has been classified as a neurological disease by the WHO since 1969, was published in this book.In February 2015 the IOM, the Institute of Medicine, a prestigious American Institute, came out with a report about ME CFS concluding that ME CFS is a medical not a psychiatric or psychological illness the 2nd of April 2015 prof Newton published an article in which she let It saddens me to see that a so badly researched chapter about ME CFS, a disease which has been classified as a neurological disease by the WHO since 1969, was published in this book.In February 2015 the IOM, the Institute of Medicine, a prestigious American Institute, came out with a report about ME CFS concluding that ME CFS is a medical not a psychiatric or psychological illness the 2nd of April 2015 prof Newton published an article in which she let muscle biopsies from ME patients and healthy controls exercise in the laboratory and found 4 metabolic abnormalities in ME CFS Which clearly proves that ME CFS is a physical disease and that this disease has got nothing to do with false illness beliefs, being psychosomatic etc.http journals.plos.org plosone artiIn January 2015 e...O Sullivan is a UK based neurology consultant I picked this up from the bestsellers shelf of the library on a whim because I knew it had won the Wellcome Book Prize, awarded to a fiction or nonfiction book on a medical subject The kinds of conditions she writes about go by many names psychosomatic illnesses, conversion disorders, or functional conditions In every case the patients have normal neurological test results they do not have epilepsy or nerve damage, for instance but still O Sullivan is a UK based neurology consultant I picked this up from the bestsellers shelf of the library on a whim because I knew it had won the Wellcome Book Prize, awarded to a fiction or nonfiction book on a medical subject The kinds of conditions she writes about go by many names psychosomatic illnesses, conversion disorders, or functional conditions In every case the patients have normal neurological test results they do not have epilepsy or nerve damage, for instance but still suffer from dissociative seizures or lose the use of limb s Their symptoms have an emotional origin instead Psychiatric disorders manifesting as physical disease are at the very bottom of the pile, O Sullivan writes They are the charlatans of illnesses Indeed, early in her career she was likely to assume such patients were shamming Although she does describe two patients who through video recordings were found to be faking seizures, in most cases the symptoms are real, but arise from the subcon...Suzanne O Sullivan is a neurologist consultant based in the UK In It s All in Your Head True Stories of Imaginary Illness she details the case histories of various patients who present with neurological symptoms However, these patients have normal neurological test results, no organic cause can be found for their illness, but they still suffer from e.g dissociative seizures or have lost the ability to move a limb They suffer from a psychosomatic disorder The cause of this is attributed to Suzanne O Sullivan is a neurologist consultant based in the UK In It s All in Your Head True Stories of Imaginary Illness she details the case histories of various patients who present with neurological symptoms However, these patients have normal neurological test results, no organic cause can be found for their illness, but they still suffer from e.g dissociative seizures or have lost the ability to move a limb They suffer from a psychosomatic disorder The cause of this is attributed to the patients subconscious, their emotional well being relating to present or past emotional stress and or trauma As psychosomatic illness is still a socially unacce...A very interesting and informative read for sure Many of the case studies in this book have stuck with me since I ve read this book It wasn t too scientific or medical and therefore was not too laborious to read A good balance between information and the telling of people s storiesPsychosomatic disorders are conditions in which a person suffers from significant physical symptoms causing real distress and disability out of proportion to that which can be explained by medical tests or physical examination.I am guessing that this book is controversial in some people s eyes even though O Sullivan states I hope to communicate to others what my patients have taught me Perhaps then, future patients people like you and me, our friends, families and colleagues will not Psychosomatic disorders are conditions in which a person suffers from significant physical symptoms causing real distress and disability out of proportion to that which can be explained by medical tests or physical examination.I am guessing that this book is controversial in some people s eyes even though O Sullivan states I hope to communicate to others what my patients have taught me Perhaps then, future patients people like you and me, our friends, families and colleagues will not find themselves so bewildered and alone Righ...I thought this book was a truly fascinating read I have always accepted that there is a strong link between the brain and the body and that the brain can produce symptoms in the body which are wholly unrelated to any physical cause When I was a child I always used to get a stomach upset on the first day of the school term Once I was at school the upset disappeared completely My mother sat me down and explained to me that sometimes the brain plays tricks on the body and that I would feel all I thought this book was a truly fascinating read I have always accepted that there is a strong link between the brain ...The chances are good that someone you know has a somatic illness and doesn t know it This empowering, intriguing book explains how the mind can control parts of the body to create genuine symptoms such as pain, blindness, and paralysis, even when all test results are normal The author doesn t excellent and compassionate job of explaining that while the symptoms are caused by the mind, they are still just as real as if som...It has some interesting bits but all in all it has two massive flaws 1 the title She doesn t consider them to be imaginary It s just an annoying marketing ploy.2 the biggie for me she doesn t follow up the cases so we don t know if they are success stories or not For all we know, patients could have been leading afunctional and happier life with the alleged misdiagnosis.Also, the chapter on ME CFS feels undocumented and even preposterous, almost as if she had a bone to pick But I It has some interesting bits but all in all it has two massive flaws 1 the title She doesn t consider them to be imaginary It s just an annoying marketing ploy.2 the biggie for me she doesn t follow up the cases so we don t ...

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

English
24 November 2019

Suzanne O'Sullivan