The Age of Diagnosis: The powerful investigation into the pros and cons of medical labels – a Sunday Times bestseller
Suzanne O’Sullivan
Mar 2025 · Hodder Press · Narrated by Suzanne O’Sullivan
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8 hr 47 min
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THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
A BEST BOOK OF 2025 IN THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, LONDON STANDARD, NEW STATESMAN AND IRISH TIMES
'Covers so many topics that have been troubling me but I hadn't been able to resolve myself - as a parent and a clinician. An absolutely absorbing read' - CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN
'A brilliant study of the dangers of overdiagnosis' - GUARDIAN
'Compassionate and bracingly independent thinking' - THE TIMES
From autism to allergies, ADHD to long Covid, more people are being labelled with medical conditions than ever before. But can a diagnosis do us more harm than good?
The boundaries between sickness and health are being redrawn.
Mental health categories are shifting and expanding all the time, radically altering what we consider to be 'normal'.
Genetic tests can now detect pathologies decades before people experience symptoms, and sometimes before they're even born.
And increased health screening draws more and more people into believing they are unwell.
An accurate diagnosis can bring greater understanding and of course improved treatment. But many diagnoses aren't as definitive as we think. And in some cases they risk turning healthy people into patients.
Drawing on the stories of real people, as well as decades of clinical practice and the latest medical research, Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan overturns long held assumptions and reframes how we think about illness and health.
*As heard on Good Morning Britain, Sky News, Radio 4 Today and more.*
A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
A BEST BOOK OF 2025 IN THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, LONDON STANDARD, NEW STATESMAN AND IRISH TIMES
'Covers so many topics that have been troubling me but I hadn't been able to resolve myself - as a parent and a clinician. An absolutely absorbing read' - CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN
'A brilliant study of the dangers of overdiagnosis' - GUARDIAN
'Compassionate and bracingly independent thinking' - THE TIMES
From autism to allergies, ADHD to long Covid, more people are being labelled with medical conditions than ever before. But can a diagnosis do us more harm than good?
The boundaries between sickness and health are being redrawn.
Mental health categories are shifting and expanding all the time, radically altering what we consider to be 'normal'.
Genetic tests can now detect pathologies decades before people experience symptoms, and sometimes before they're even born.
And increased health screening draws more and more people into believing they are unwell.
An accurate diagnosis can bring greater understanding and of course improved treatment. But many diagnoses aren't as definitive as we think. And in some cases they risk turning healthy people into patients.
Drawing on the stories of real people, as well as decades of clinical practice and the latest medical research, Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan overturns long held assumptions and reframes how we think about illness and health.
*As heard on Good Morning Britain, Sky News, Radio 4 Today and more.*
About the author
Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan has been a consultant in neurology since 2004, first working at The Royal London Hospital and now as a consultant in clinical neurophysiology and neurology at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and for a specialist unit based at the Epilepsy Society. She specialises in the investigation of complex epilepsy and also has an active interest in psychogenic disorders. Suzanne's first book It's All in Your Head, won both the Wellcome Book Prize and the Royal Society of Biology Book Prize and The Sleeping Beauties was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. She is from Dublin, Ireland.
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