Sleep Paralysis: Night-mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body Connection (Studies in Medical Anthropology) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been researching the subject of Nightmares and the shadow people for some time and I found this book to be the most complete work on the subject. Not only does the author fully explain the historical evidence for these paranormal sightings, but through strong scientific reasoning is able to theorize the cause of a current medical mystery known as "Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome." While other authors like to play off the spook and horror elements of this medical phenomenon, few actually attempt a concrete explanation beyond something as vague as "cultural stress". Dr. Adler has shown herself to be a world expert on the subject. She combines countless case studies and a thorough examination of ethnic beliefs with current theories on the mind-body relationship to propose a truly startling conclusion. A fast and informative read with great supporting research and solid science. If you are interested in this subject, this is the definitive work.

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Sleep Paralysis explores a distinctive form of nocturnal fright: the "night-mare," or incubus. In its original meaning a night-mare was the nocturnal visit of an evil being that threatened to press the life out of its victim. Today, it is known as sleep paralysis-a state of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness, when you are unable to move or speak and may experience vivid and often frightening hallucinations. Culture, history, and biology intersect to produce this terrifying sleep phenomenon. Although a relatively common experience across cultures, it is rarely recognized or understood in the contemporary United States.Shelley R. Adler's fifteen years of field and archival research focus on the ways in which night-mare attacks have been experienced and interpreted throughout history and across cultures and how, in a unique example of the effect of nocebo (placebo's evil twin), the combination of meaning and biology may result in sudden nocturnal death.

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The Epilepsies: Seizures, Syndromes and Management Review

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(More customer reviews)Until recently, this book was out of print and totally unavailable. ( I had to purchase it three times from used booksellers. One copy was destroyed in shipping, one was lost and the third one I had to purchase from one of those rip-off book dealers in Great Britain. )
BTW, this book is HARDBACK and not paperpack so you are getting what you paid for.
Other books to consider would be:
1) Handbook of Epilepsy Treatment 2nd ed. by Simon Shorvon
2) Status Epilepticus by Simon Shorvon
3) Photosensitive Epilepsy ( New Edition ) by F. A. Graham ( dated but interesting )
4) Partial Seizures and Interictal Disorders by David P. Moore
This book, The Epilepsies: Seizures, Syndromes and Management, has one of the best sections on photosensitive epilepsy in print( from pages 452-472 ). This section, alone, justifies the price and the entire book is of similar value and quality
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Note that the following are general comments about epilepsy and do NOT refer to this book.

In general, there is not much particularly interesting and useful regarding photosensitive epilepsy. To me, testing for photosensitive epilepsy by exposing the patient to a strobe pulsing at various frequencies is marginally diagnostic. ( Outside of discotheques, how often you you encounter pulse trains produced by strobes ? )
Fluorescent lights, computer video display terminals, the dotted lines on a road, fences, trees planted along a roadway, even the oscillations of quaking aspen leaves; NONE of these produce waveforms similar to a strobe. ( Strobes have very, very low duty cycles whereas more natural sources of repetitive flashing / blinking have much higher duty cycles - say from 1% for trees to 50% for fencing or blinking produced by various poorly designed pieces of electronic equipment.
There is an extremely interesting form of epilepsy called non-convulsive status epilepticus. There is a similar form of epilepsy accompanied by complete paralysis ( NOT Todd's Paralysis ) lasting hours or even a day with no postictal confusion. ( There is a reference to this in Moore but I cannot find the page )
It is my thesis that many, many people have a sub-clinical form of epilepsy, better described as cortical irritability, in which they have problems, specifically, with fluorescent lights and computer displays. ( The previous paragraph suggests that some individuals affected with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Multiple Chemical Sensitivities may actually have epilepsy ) There are also an enormous variety of reflex epilepsies.
Anyways, I'm warn out so enough is enough.


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The Epilepsies: Seizures, Syndromes and Management is the latest work from one of the world's leading experts and offers an exhaustive account of the classification and management of epileptic disorders. In thirteen chapters, Dr Panayiotopoulos gives clear and didactic guidance on the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing management of the full spectrum of epileptic syndromes with an insight and perception that only he can bring to the subject.This text is published in full colour throughout and is complemented by a pharmacopoeia and CD ROM with patient video-EEGs. An attractive, clear page layout and the accompanying supplementary material help the reader to easily identify the key components of each disorder, syndrome and seizure. Drawing on the author's outstanding collection of video-EEGs the accompanying CD ROM is cross-referenced within the text thus providing the reader with both a clinical and visual description of the various epileptic disorders and further aiding diagnosis.

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