Dissociation

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"We need more data. We need more information," says Emmett O'Neill, author of a new book on disassociative psychosematic seizures. "The closest we can get to understanding the mechanism is to suggest that this is related to dissociation", he adds. 'I want my patients to understand that these sort of things happen normally in life,' writes O'Neill.

Michael Shermer speaks with award-winning Irish neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan about her work exploring the complexity of psychogenic illness affecting people all around the world. Her book The Sleeping Beauties, documents her investigation of psychosomatic disorders as she traveled the world visiting communities suffering from these so-called mystery illnesses. 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 — both fascinating and of serious concern — are recounted with compassion and humanity as these syndromes continue to proliferate around the globe.