It's not 'all in your head' — neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan on psychosomatic illness

Psychosomatic illness: It's not 'all in your head' | 'Healing bowl' marked with double-headed dragon found | Medieval 'curse tablet' discovered in German latrine Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( December 18, 2023 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [X](  [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](  [] Top Science News [] [Psychosomatic illness: It's not 'all in your head']( (stellalevi via Getty Images) [Psychosomatic illness: It's not 'all in your head']( Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan, a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in the U.K., has spent her life treating psychosomatic illnesses, or disorders in which people suffer from debilitating physical symptoms that cannot be explained by a physical examination or medical investigation. Medicine has a long and ignominious history with conditions for which it cannot find a physical cause, often dismissing them with sexist terms such as "hysteria." But that is a fundamental misunderstanding of how these very real illnesses manifest. While many people with these conditions are told "it's all in your head," or dismissed as hypochondriacs, that's problematic, says O'Sullivan. As part of her work, she aims to reduce the stigma and clear up misunderstandings about psychosomatic illness. Live Science talked to O'Sullivan about why these conditions are so poorly understood, how they're diagnosed, and why treatments for them so often fail. [Read More]( [] History & Archaeology [] ['Healing bowl' marked with double-headed dragon found]( (Courtesy Zekai Erdal) ['Healing bowl' marked with double-headed dragon found]( Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered an 800-year-old healing bowl emblazoned with drawings of a scorpion, dog and double-headed dragon, meant to protect against animal bites. [Read More]( [] [Medieval 'curse tablet' discovered in German latrine]( [Medieval 'curse tablet' discovered in German latrine]( (Archeology in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (AIM-V)) A rolled-up piece of lead found in Germany was a 15th-century "curse tablet" for summoning Satan. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/15) [] Planet Earth [] [Sargasso Sea now hottest, most acidic in recorded history]( (Alison Wright/Getty Images) [Sargasso Sea now hottest, most acidic in recorded history]( The Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean is now at least 30% more acidic and 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was 40 years ago. [Read More]( [] Space [] [JWST finds universe's smallest 'failed star']( (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Luhman (Penn State University), and C. Alves de Oliveira (ESA)) [JWST finds universe's smallest 'failed star']( Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted what may be the smallest known brown dwarf, a "failed star" that's only three or four times larger than Jupiter. [Read More]( [] Technology [] [AI faces 'more real' than humans' — but only if they're white]( (Yuichiro Chino via Getty Images) [AI faces 'more real' than humans' — but only if they're white]( People deem AI faces as being more 'real' than pictures of the people the algorithms are trained on — but only if these AI-generated faces are white. [Read More]( [] Daily Quiz [] What is the most powerful class of flare the sun can produce? (Learn the answer [here](.) [Vote]( [X-class]( [Vote]( [A-class]( [Vote]( [Ultra-class]( [Vote]( [Solar-K](   [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:livescience@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( [Future]( Future US LLC © Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036