The Thief of Souls and Other Essays on Health and Illness

This collection of original essays recounts the author's experiences with unusual illnesses, and investigates what they reveal about the relationship between mind and body. The mind-body connection appears proven by scientific research, but our culture holds tight to Descartes' idea that the self is a mind in control of a body. The complex illnesses discussed here challenge the Cartesian tradition and suggest the body is as integral to the individual as the mind. Although illnesses influenced by the mind were once categorized as hysterical ailments, they cause real suffering and contribute to our rising need for health care. The essays here blend memoir with research and discuss repetitive strain injury (sometimes called a form of social hysteria), functional dysphonia (a rare, long-term form of laryngitis), idiopathic dermatitis, mental ailments such as psychosis and clinical depression, and the mind-body questions inherent in the challenge of diagnosis.