{"product_id":"the-sleeping-beauties-and-other-stories-of-mystery-illness-9781524748371","title":"The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness","description":"In Sweden, hundreds of refugee children fall into a state that resembles sleep for months or years at a time. In Le Roy, a town in upstate New York, teenage girls develop involuntary twitches and seizures that spread like a conta­gion. In the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, employees experience headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises during the night. These are only a few of the many sus­pected culture-bound psychosomatic syndromes--specific sets of symptoms that exist in a particular culture or environment--that affect people throughout the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Sleeping Beauties, \u003c\/i\u003eDr. Suzanne O'Sullivan--an award-winning Irish neurologist--investigates psychosomatic disorders, traveling the world to visit communi­ties suffering from these so-called mystery illnesses. From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua to the heart of the María Mountains in Colombia, 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 are recounted with compassion and humanity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In examining the complexity of psychogenic illness, O'Sullivan has written a book of both fascination and se­rious concern as these syndromes continue to proliferate around the globe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSUZANNE O'SULLIVAN\u003c\/b\u003e is an Irish neurologist working in Britain. Her first book, \u003ci\u003eIs It All in Your Head?: True Stories of Imaginary Illness, \u003c\/i\u003e won the 2016 Wellcome Book Prize and the Royal Society of Biology General Book Prize. She lives in London.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Pantheon Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50380030968082,"sku":"9781524748371","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_48d9105e-2629-4c84-9d8d-0b960ad27d8c.jpg?v=1728673599","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-sleeping-beauties-and-other-stories-of-mystery-illness-9781524748371","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}