It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness Paperback – International Edition, July 26, 2016

This book was a wake-up call for me. The author was instructive and very compassionate with regards to psychosomatic illnesses and the real pain they inflict on their sufferers. She illustrates the difference between physical illnesses, such as epilepsy, dissociative (read psychosomatic) illnesses that have no physical basis but mimic epilepsy and other symptoms and cause untold pain and suffering, and plain old malingering and fakery. After reading it I realized that a lot of vague complaints I have had over the years, which seem to be getting much worse as I get older, may actually have a psychosomatic origin. Who knew? It also allowed me to identify one instance when, once a symptom had been eliminated via medical methods, another one cropped up that had the same effect of keeping me immobilized. Aha! It has been a great relief to me to be aware of this. My thanks to the author. We need to be more open to accepting this diagnosis, and more proactive in finding ways to heal patients, if possible. The trouble is that any trauma that may have generated it in the first place may be hidden so deeply that it cannot be completely dug up, but awareness of that possibility certainly has helped me.

I give this book 5 stars. Despite the negative reviews, I think for the right audience this is a beautiful and thoughtful book. I am a medical "layperson" though trained in history of the sciences, and I wish all our doctors could be so curious, open-minded and caring. The author is clearly fascinated and moved by her patients' plights, and never does she deny suffering where suffering is obvious. She details her case studies as well as the history of neurology in a fluent style that makes it read more like a novel than medical case reports. Her mistakes are just as interesting as her triumphs, and despite her experience she is not arrogant or dismissive of the mysteries that remain unsolved in her field. This is a reminder of and a testament to the remarkable advances of science and despite it all, the humbling refusal of the human body to reveal all of its secrets to us. May all doctors take note.

This is the the first time that I have ever been inspired enough to write a review on Amazon. This book truly is life changing for people who have struggle with mysterious illnesses and symptoms for years and who have desperately searched in vain for an answer. As someone who has struggled with "chronic fatigue" for years, I completely relate to the experiences described in this book.The books is a very sympathetic description of a range of patients that the doctor has seen over the years. The stories are heart wrenching while being completely perplexing at the same time. The patients return over and over to the emergency room with a galaxy of mysterious symptoms, but no testing shows any physical problems. Dr. O'Sullivan describes over and over her discussions with these patients, telling them clearly, but politely that their illnesses are not due to physical ailments, but rather due to the unconscious mind's feedback onto to the body. As one partially paralyzed patient says "...the nervous system is like a computer, ... my hardware is intact and the wires are all in the right place, but I have a software problem that keeps my legs from receiving the instruction to move." Dr. O'Sullivan refutes over and over again the accusation that patients with functional illnesses are somehow responsible for their illnesses and that they can simply choose to get better. The ailments are real and recovery is frequently long and difficult. The treatment that she offers is one that should be common sense - a cleaner mental space. Everyone who is in a position where they struggle day to day is susceptible to negative feelings, both conscious and unconscious, and therapy can help, sometimes dramatically. Dr. O'Sullivan's books has convinced me that searching eternally externally for a cause of my symptoms can eventually turn into a fools errand. Sometimes searching within yourself you can find the truth that you have been seeking.There have been some long standing criticisms of treating physical illness with mental health treatments. I believe Dr. O'Sullivan's book addresses these effectively. First, she insists on fully testing all of her patients before concluding finally that they really have functional rather than physical illnesses. Second, if the stories that she tells are true, there are clear cut cases of major physical illnesses caused by psychological issues and successfully treated with therapy. One very prominent case is about a woman who is functionally blind, but regains her vision slowly as she undergoes psychological treatment. There are multiple stories of people with seizures who stop having seizures after treatment. Thus, Dr. O'Sullivan reports cases clearly caused by psychological trauma and successfully treated via mental health interventions. Dr. O'Sullivan gains your trust through her compassion, her erudition, and consummate professionalism. She is the opposite of so many snake oil quacks who foist their books on the desperate public.The weaknesses of the book are twofold. First, Dr. O'Sullivan is not very good about describing patients getting better. She alludes a few times to patients improving, but frequently her stories are disjointed and end abruptly with the patient nearly as ill as when they arrived. While I am sure this was frequently the case, as patients who recover don't return, it leaves the reader with a feeling of hopelessness. It seems an odd choice to tell stories about patients without knowing the conclusions or being able to report significant recoveries.The second major weakness is the frequent pedantic digression into 19th century science. While I am certain that some important first steps were made in the 19th century toward understanding functional illnesses, far more relevant to treatment today is psychology and psychiatry of the 21st century. What specific drugs or treatments available to us today will be effective to treat these illnesses? Dr. O'Sullivan leaves us guessing. She seems to always refer people to psychiatrists rather than psychologists, so she appears to indicate that she prefers a drugged approach.In summary, a fantastic book with some deeply touching stories and some very helpful advice for long time sufferers. It may have changed my life and hopefully also yours.

Written for all audiences, this book is both entertaining and educative. I was fascinated by the scope and history of the often misdiagnosed dissociative disorders. The author brings a mix of deep understanding and care for her patients into every chapter. This book totally changed my perspective on the topic.

So many people are offended when someone tells them their physical ailments or pains are "all in their head". The truth is that more than 80 % of illnesses and pain IS in fact caused by repressed emotions hidden in the unconscious. So, it IS in fact often times "All In Our Heads". This book is wonderful, but people are so offended by the title and the suggestion that their precious illnesses and pain are not "real". This writer does not say they are not real, she is merely trying to help people see they could be free of what ails them if they would address where they symptoms are in fact coming from. She provides case after case of people whose emotional struggles were so intense that the mind tried to protect them from the feeling or memory and caused a physical malady in order to distract them. Her book is more proof of the brilliant functioning of our unconscious minds that tried to keep us safe at all costs. This book and others like it can set people free. But their minds and egos stand in the way of understanding her message. I loved this book, and the brave author that spent so many years truly helping others and having the courage to write about them.