Hardback: While I was convinced the woman was afflicted not by a bodily disease, but rather that some emotional trouble grieved her, it happened at that very moment I was examining her, this was confirmed. Someone coming from the theatre mentioned her had seen Pylades dancing. Indeed, at that instant, her expression and colour of her face was greatly altered. Attentive, my hand laid on the woman's wrist and I observed her pulse was irregular, suddenly, violently agitated, which points to a troubled mind. - Galen, c AD 150.
Most of us accept the way our heart flutters when we set eyes on the one we secretly admire, or the sweat on the 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 people 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 Matthew's case, he was told that his leg paralysis could not be explained by any neurological disease. Although the consultant neurologist had not gone as far as to call his paralysis psychosomatic, she was wondering about a psychological cause.
"How can you say that? Just because the tests are normal, you assume I'm mad. That's what doctors say when they don't know what's wrong," Matthew said.
"I do know what's wrong, Matthew. I'm trying to tell you what's wrong," replied the neurologist.
"But it feels so real, it can't be nothing."
"It feels real because it is real."
In Matthew's case, he was told that his leg paralysis could not be explained by any neurological disease. Although the consultant neurologist had not gone as far as to call his paralysis psychosomatic, she was wondering about a psychological cause.
"How can you say that? Just because the tests are normal, you assume I'm mad. That's what doctors say when they don't know what's wrong," Matthew said.
"I do know what's wrong, Matthew. I'm trying to tell you what's wrong," replied the neurologist.
"But it feels so real, it can't be nothing."
"It feels real because it is real."
In It's All In Your Head (2015), consultant neurologist Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan takes us on a journey through the very real world of psychosomatic illness. 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.
About the author: Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan has been a consultant in neurology since 2004, first working at The Royal London Hospital and now as a consultant in clinical neurophysiology and neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and for a specialist unit based at the Epilepsy Society. In that role, she has developed an expertise in working with patients with psychogenic disorders alongside her work with those suffering with physical diseases such as epilepsy. This is her first book.
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