As an Australian family physician, Dr Gillian Deakin has treated hundreds of patients for symptoms such as unexplained pain, fatigue, weakness, and many other symptoms where all medical tests are normal.

She has been studying and working in medicine for over forty years and has been driven to write this book because she has seen so many people getting the run-around with these symptoms,  and spending a huge amount of time and money in a futile pursuit of answers.

“As a researcher, I keep in touch with the latest medical knowledge about what are now called functional disorders (this term seems confusing, I know, but bear with me!). This book is my attempt to get this vital information to you.

The first thing you need to know is that, because functional disorders are not like usual physical conditions, you need to look for the answer in a different place:

DIFFERENT CAUSE -  DIFFERENT SOLUTION.

Of course, all these symptoms occur with physical conditions, but you are here because your doctor has ruled all of them out, right? And yet you are stuck with the symptom and no way out, until now.

What you will be reading in my book will change how you think about your symptoms and how you will go about recovering.

As a teacher of  trainee doctors, I know the standard curriculum has very little information about functional conditions.

You are not alone: up to one in three patients seeing their doctor may have a functional condition, and yet there are no commonly accepted guidelines on how to diagnose, let alone treat them.

Your condition does not fit any disease model and, therefore , standard treatments will not help.

But hope is at hand. As you read my book, you will come to understand how your condition arose, (and it’s not your fault!) and what you need to do to recover.