When the Mind Opposes the Body. About the Most Mysterious Neurological Disorders Ever Affecting the Human Body

ABOUT THE MOST MYSTERIOUS NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS EVER AFFECTING THE HUMAN BODY. Suzanne O'Sullivan, a neurologist and author of this book, had the opportunity to observe girls from Sweden who suddenly fell into a state of unconsciousness, and to learn more about the residents of a small Kazakh village who could sleep for several days in a row. In the pages of the book, she recalls an epidemic of neurological symptoms that occurred in an ordinary high school in the American town of Le Roy, a strange illness that struck members of a small Nicaraguan community in Texas, as well as other atypical and sometimes frightening cases of neurological disorders. Dr. O'Sullivan tries to understand what psychosomatic diseases are, how they arise and manifest, and whether there is a way to help people recover. PARESIS, BLINDNESS, HEADACHE, DIZZINESS, COMA, TREMORS, as well as any other symptom or health problem imaginable can potentially be psychosomatic. How is it possible for someone to fall into a coma when their brain is completely healthy? What causes paralysis of the lower limbs in a psychosomatic disorder if the nerve pathways are not damaged? “Suzanne O'Sullivan reveals the nature of disorders that reflect the essence of the human species - functional neurological disorders. The mechanisms of these conditions not only demonstrate to us the astounding capabilities of the human brain but also reveal the inseparability of social and cultural aspects of human existence from physical health. The book will be interesting and useful to a wide range of readers, especially doctors, neurologists, and psychiatrists.” – VERONIKA ORANSKAYA, neurologist, epileptologist, physician at the EVICLINIC Evidence-Based Medicine Clinic and the A.A. Kazaryan Center for Epileptology and Neurology in Krasnodar