153. We’re Not Getting Sicker — We’re Overdiagnosed

Suzanne O'Sullivan is a neurologist who sees many patients with psychosomatic disorders. Their symptoms may be psychological in origin, but their pain is real and physical — and the way we practice medicine, she argues, is making those and other health problems worse.   SOURCES: Suzanne O'Sullivan , neurologist and author of The Age of Diagnosis How Our Obsession with Medical Labels Is Making Us Sicker.   RESOURCES: The Age of Diagnosis: How Our Obsession with Medical Labels Is Making Us Sicker , by Suzanne O'Sullivan (2025). " Associations of Depression, Anxiety, Worry, Perceived Stress, and Loneliness Prior to Infection With Risk of Post-COVID-19 Conditions, " by Siwen Wang, Luwei Quan, Jorge Chavarro, Natalie Slopen, Laura Kubzansky, Karestan Koenen, Jae Hee Kang, Marc G. Weisskopf, Westyn Branch-Elliman, and Andrea Roberts (JAMA Psychiatry, 2022). " How beliefs about coronavirus disease (COVID) influence COVID-like symptoms? – A longitudinal study. " by Liron Rozenkrantz, Tobias Kube, Michael H Bernstein, and John D.E. Gabrieli (Health Psychology, 2022). " Risk factors for worsening of somatic symptom burden in a prospective cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic, " by Petra Engelmann, Bernd Löwe, Thomas Theo Brehm, Angelika Weigel, Felix Ullrich, Marylyn Addo, Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch, Ansgar Lohse, and Anne Toussaint (Frontier Psychology, 2022). The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness, by Suzanne O'Sullivan (2021). Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology , by Suzanne O'Sullivan (2018). " The Trauma of Facing Deportation, " by Rachel Aviv (The New Yorker, 2017). It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness , by Suzanne O'Sullivan (2015). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma , by Bessel van der Kolk (2014). " Explaining the Rise in Youth Suicide, " by David Cutler, Edward Glaeser, and Karen Norberg (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2001).   EXTRAS: Counted Out , documentary (2024). " Bringing Data to Life, " by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023). " Adding Ten Healthy Years to Your Life, " by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023). " America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up, " by Freakonomics Radio (2019). Race to Nowhere, documentary (2010). Data Science for Everyone . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.