Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan

If you look at the brain in a different way, so you mentioned FMR,

rise so that's where you look at blood flow activity in the brain if you look at that you will see slightly different patterns of activation of people having these seizures to otherwise healthy people because you will see increased connectivity say between the emotional parts of the brain and the motor parts of the brain so something is going on that shouldn't be but it's not necessarily a brain disease per se but rather this emotional part of the brain is connecting in some way to the motor part of the brain to produce these symptoms in a way that it shouldn't

rise so that's where you look at blood flow activity in the brain if you look at that you will see slightly different patterns of activation of people having these seizures to otherwise healthy people because you will see increased connectivity say between the emotional parts of the brain and the motor parts of the brain so something is going on that shouldn't be but it's not necessarily a brain disease per se but rather this emotional part of the brain is connecting in some way to the motor part of the brain to produce these symptoms in a way that it shouldn't

rise so that's where you look at blood flow activity in the brain if you look at that you will see slightly different patterns of activation of people having these seizures to otherwise healthy people because you will see increased connectivity say between the emotional parts of the brain and the motor parts of the brain so something is going on that shouldn't be but it's not necessarily a brain disease per se but rather this emotional part of the brain is connecting in some way to the motor part of the brain to produce these symptoms in a way that it shouldn't

The purpose of writing the book was very often this something affects really young people. And I was seeing these young people who are having hundreds of seizures every week. And I would explain to them what was wrong with them. And it was like I was reinventing the wheel or something. I am seeing it every day. but they can't even believe that such a thing exists in the world.

The purpose of writing the book was very often this something affects really young people. And I was seeing these young people who are having hundreds of seizures every week. And I would explain to them what was wrong with them. And it was like I was reinventing the wheel or something. I am seeing it every day. but they can't even believe that such a thing exists in the world.

The purpose of writing the book was very often this something affects really young people. And I was seeing these young people who are having hundreds of seizures every week. And I would explain to them what was wrong with them. And it was like I was reinventing the wheel or something. I am seeing it every day. but they can't even believe that such a thing exists in the world.

Absolutely. Well, I always say to people, imagine your next door neighbors in a wheelchair. You understand that they've got multiple sclerosis or motor neuron disease. And obviously you've got a huge amount of sympathy for that and support for that. And then next week someone tells you, well, actually their nervous system is normal. This has a purely psychological cause.

Absolutely. Well, I always say to people, imagine your next door neighbors in a wheelchair. You understand that they've got multiple sclerosis or motor neuron disease. And obviously you've got a huge amount of sympathy for that and support for that. And then next week someone tells you, well, actually their nervous system is normal. This has a purely psychological cause.

Absolutely. Well, I always say to people, imagine your next door neighbors in a wheelchair. You understand that they've got multiple sclerosis or motor neuron disease. And obviously you've got a huge amount of sympathy for that and support for that. And then next week someone tells you, well, actually their nervous system is normal. This has a purely psychological cause.

Even the most caring and understanding a person, there's something in us that kind of says, oh,

Even the most caring and understanding a person, there's something in us that kind of says, oh,

Even the most caring and understanding a person, there's something in us that kind of says, oh,

I think a lot of it's like they need attention. I think that's where the problem arises is that people think that they need attention. Yeah. Even though you can tell people it's not consciously generated, people secretly think that people are doing it on purpose and that they're doing it for attention.

I think a lot of it's like they need attention. I think that's where the problem arises is that people think that they need attention. Yeah. Even though you can tell people it's not consciously generated, people secretly think that people are doing it on purpose and that they're doing it for attention.

I think a lot of it's like they need attention. I think that's where the problem arises is that people think that they need attention. Yeah. Even though you can tell people it's not consciously generated, people secretly think that people are doing it on purpose and that they're doing it for attention.

And they could stop doing it if they wanted to. And again, I say to my patients, so many analogies in life for this. Imagine something terribly frightening has just happened to you. Your heart rate goes up to 120 beats per minute. It's really happening. You're not doing it on purpose. If I told you snap out of it, slow your heart down, you wouldn't be able to do it.

And they could stop doing it if they wanted to. And again, I say to my patients, so many analogies in life for this. Imagine something terribly frightening has just happened to you. Your heart rate goes up to 120 beats per minute. It's really happening. You're not doing it on purpose. If I told you snap out of it, slow your heart down, you wouldn't be able to do it.

And they could stop doing it if they wanted to. And again, I say to my patients, so many analogies in life for this. Imagine something terribly frightening has just happened to you. Your heart rate goes up to 120 beats per minute. It's really happening. You're not doing it on purpose. If I told you snap out of it, slow your heart down, you wouldn't be able to do it.

So it's the same with these sort of seizures. When my heart races because I'm frightened, it's not because of a heart disease, but neither am I doing it on purpose and neither could I stop it.