Suzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish physician practising in Britain, specialising in

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

and clinical

neurophysiology Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience concerned with the functions of the nervous system and their mechanisms. The term ''neurophysiology'' originates from the Greek word ''νεῦρον'' ("nerve") and ''physiology'' (whic ...

. In addition to academic publications in her field, O'Sullivan is an author of award-winning non-fiction books, each focusing on medical casework related to her neurology specialty (cases that have been disguised/anonymised).

Early life and education

O'Sullivan is from Dublin, and studied medicine at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. She qualified as a doctor in 1991. O'Sullivan completed an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in creative writing at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, in 2015.

Career

O'Sullivan is a neurologist, clinical neurophysiologist, and writer (see following). As of 2015, she was a consultant neurologist at the

National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (informally the National Hospital or Queen Square) is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the f ...

in London. The main focuses of her work in neurology are in the treatment of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

patients, and on improving medical care for people with

psychosomatic Somatic symptom disorder, also known as somatoform disorder or somatization disorder, is chronic somatization. One or more chronic physical symptoms coincide with excessive and maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors connected to those symp ...

disorders. Included in her scholarly publications is work on

Functional Neurological Disorder Functional neurological symptom disorder (FNSD), also referred to as dissociative neurological symptom disorder (DNSD), is a condition in which patients experience neurological symptoms such as weakness, movement problems, sensory symptoms, and ...

(FND). As of 2025, O'Sullivan had authored four non-fiction books, concerned with

psychosomatic illness Somatic symptom disorder, also known as somatoform disorder or somatization disorder, is chronic somatization. One or more chronic physical symptoms coincide with excessive and maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors connected to those sympt ...

, epilepsy, and over-

medicalisation Medicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions, and thus become the subject of medical study, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment. Medicalization can be driven by new evid ...

in particular.

Awards and recognition

O'Sullivan's 2016 book, ''It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness'', was shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards—a bookshop-curated, reader-selected award—for the year of its publication, and in that year it won the £30,000

Wellcome Book Prize Wellcome Book Prize (2009–2019 — paused) is an annual British literary award sponsored by Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 ...

, and the

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

's General Book Prize, for "for an accessible, engaging and informative life sciences book written for a non-specialist audience", as well. An early work unrelated to her professional writing, the travel piece, "Going Off the Grid on Indonesia’s Forgotten Islands" (published in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'') won the Travel Writer of the Year Award, for longer form writing, from a trade group in 2018. The press release from the AITO can b
see here
Her book, ''The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness'', was shortlisted for the 2021 Royal Society Science Book Prize.This book prize appears variously with "Trivedi" and "Insight Investment" in its name, see other citations appearing. Note, the date of this announcement remains to be better sourced. The prize was won by

Merlin Sheldrake Merlin Sheldrake (born 1987) is a British mycologist and writer known for his work on mycorrhiza. Early life and education Merlin Sheldrake was born in 1987 in London to Rupert Sheldrake, an English author and parapsychology researcher, and ...

for '' Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures'', see also . The book also featured repeatedly in recommendations of the Next Big Idea Club throughout 2021 and 2022, Here, NBIC Staff refers to the NBIC byline, "Editors". Here, NBIC Staff refers to the NBIC byline, "Editors". Here, NBIC Staff refers to the NBIC byline, "Editors". and the organisation interviewed O'Sullivan regarding the book in its magazine in that period as well.

Popular works

Overview

The following are the four first hardcover English editions of O'Sullivan's books: * For the publication date, se
this link
* * *

''It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness'' (2015)

This, Sullivan's first book, was published by

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

in 2015, to positive reviews. It has been recognised by multiple nominations and awards. '' It's All in Your Head'' discusses issues surrounding

illness, with particular attention given to its neurological manifestations. Specifically, it explores the

mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anim ...

connection through stories of O’Sullivan's patients, looking compassionately at serious medical problems that arise through psychological mechanisms. As well, O'Sullivan considers the history of the

hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

from ancient to modern times, discusses diagnosis, causes, mechanisms and treatment of neurological psychosomatic disorders in the modern era. Among the characters it presents are: * Pauline, a woman experiencing since her mid-teens multiple unexplained and progressive medical issues, with symptoms including

seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

s and

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

; * Matthew, a man convinced he has

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

, who struggles to accept alternate explanations for his leg paralysis; and * Camilla, a lawyer, who experiences seizures, and cannot face their cause.

''Brainstorm: The Detective Stories from the World of Neurology'' (2018)

This, O'Sullivan's second book, ''Brainstorm'' published in 2018 by Chatto & Windus.is an account of how the study of

changed scientists’ understanding of the

human brain The human brain is the central organ (anatomy), organ of the nervous system, and with the spinal cord, comprises the central nervous system. It consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. The brain controls most of the activi ...

. It explores modern views and treatments for epilepsy, and looks at what each teaches about how the brain functions. Among the characters ''Brainstorm'' presents are: * Donal, who

hallucinate A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming (REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pseud ...

s cartoon dwarves; * Maya, who faces possible radical surgery to address her

; * Sharon, who experiences seizures who cause was other than diagnosed;

''The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness'' (2021)

This, O'Sullivan's third book, was published in April 2021 by Picador in England, and by Pantheon in the United States, and was lauded by

The Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

and other organisations. Brandy Schillace,

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the journal ''

Medical Humanities Medical humanities is an interdisciplinary field of medicine which includes the humanities (philosophy of medicine, medical ethics and bioethics, history of medicine, literary studies and religion), social science (psychology, medical sociology, m ...

'' at the time her review, writes in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' that O'Sullivan "uncovers... complex mechanisms while painting a picture of psychosomatic suffering that removes its associated stigma, and she asks us to think about illness in new ways." She concludes,

''The Sleeping Beauties'' offers a brilliant, nuanced and thoughtful look at the lived experience of illness while asking important questions about the relationship between body and mind. Dr. O’Sullivan’s rich prose weaves a tapestry as hauntingly beautiful as it is scientifically valid.

In this book, O’Sullivan travels to visit communities globally that are said to be affected by mass hysteria and culture bound syndromes—ways that specific cultures express distress, troubled thoughts, etc. Among the characters ''Brainstorm'' presents are: * schoolgirls in Colombia presenting with seizures, as an apparent contagious outbreak; * Kazakhstani townspeople presenting with apparent

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is caused by the species '' Trypanosoma b ...

, again apparently contagious; * the victims of

sonic weapon Sonic and ultrasonic weapons (USW) are weapons of various types that use sound to injure or incapacitate an opponent. Some sonic weapons make a focused beam of sound or of ultrasound; others produce an area field of sound. , military and police ...

attacks; *

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

ns presenting with 'crazy sickness'; and * a New York high school presenting with a

Tourette's Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinki ...

-like syndrome that is spreading.

''The Age of Diagnosis Sickness, Health and Why Medicine Has Gone Too Far'' (2025)

This, O'Sullivan's fourth book, was published in March 2025 by Thesis-Penguin Random House in England, to positive early reviews.

Personal life

O’Sullivan lives in London.