The Age of Diagnosis is an interesting read that will explain why so many people are diagnosed with ADHD and autism and other illnesses we may hear so much about. While the ideas presented in the book don't feel new there were some bits that were interesting to read. Anyone interested in these aspects of medicine and wants a new point of view will enjoy it.

I thought this book was going to be more generic and not specific to some topics. In my opnion, by just talking about some illnesseses, many things can be left out. It is an interesting read if the topics covered are of your interest. I can't have a full opinion on whether these are accurate as I don't know much about them or don't lnow anyone suffering from most of these.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

I wrote and rewrote this review, unsure of exactly how to phrase how angry I am about what I read and the harm it will do.

This book could cost people their lives, that’s not hyperbole, these diagnoses can be life saving for many people.

There are six chapters on different diagnoses, Huntington's Cancer Gene, ADHD, Depression And Neurodiversity, and Syndrome without a Name.

It's a bizarre collection, chronic illnesses, developmental disabilities, genetic disorders, cancer and conditions that are not diagnosis in the first place. Neither Neurodiversity nor Syndrome Without a Name are diagnoses, so I’m baffled as to why there in here.

The one thing many of these conditions have in common is they are not diagnosed by a blood test or scan but by asking questions and making a judgement call. O'Sullivan seems to believe this makes these diagnoses inherently unreliable, but this kind of diagnosis does require a level of competence and compassion that appears beyond Dr'O Sullivan.

She seems to have some bizarre ideas about how diagnosis works. She is under the impression that if you don't diagnose illnesses and disabilities they will just go away, that people will recover, which is so mind-numbingly baffling I don't understand how she got a medical degree!

She seems to think life with a diagnosis, and therefore one of the 16 million disabled people in the UK, cannot be as fulfilling as not having a diagnosis and therefore not being a disabled person. Honestly this suggests an issue with Dr O’Sullivan’s lack of imagination that with anyone receiving a diagnosis.

For most of the conditions in the book I can’t speak to what it’s like to be diagnosed with any of these conditions. I can when it comes to autism and ADHD. I also know what it’s like to not be diagnosed for several decades and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I wouldn’t even wish it on Dr O’Sullivan.

Dr O’Sullivan’s grasp on what it’s like to have either of these conditions is slight. She appears not to understand that the spectrum does not run from mild to severe. Her examples for ‘mild’ autism are wild: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Anthony Hopkins, and Robbie Williams.

Ah yes, I’m sure the average neurodivergent adult in the UK lives just like they do. That’s feasible on Universal Credit! (The unemployment and poverty rates for both autism and ADHD are much higher than the general population, universal credit will be a reality for most).

The thing that came across in these chapters is she has no understanding of what it feels like to not understand how your brain works and that when you don’t understand that you try and make your brain work like everyone else’s or you try and pretend you do, this absolutely takes a toll.

But we live in a society where autism and ADHD have gone undiagnosed for decades in millions of people, there are many studies looking at the effects of late diagnosis. These have found not being diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD until adulthood can contribute to academic under achievement and educational problems, increased prevelance of anxiety and depression, higher rates offending behaviour and imprisonment, divorce, driving accidents, unemployment, suicidal thoughts and behaviours and other mental health issues, difficulties at work, substance abuse, increased medical incidents and injuries, chaotic home life, increased psychiatric conditions, social problems, increased vulnerability to sexual abuse in women, and chronic pain.

The thing this book doesn’t explain is what kind of doctor, even what kind of person thinks taking action so that these litany of issues don’t happen or are less severe, is a bad thing?

Firstly, the premise/subtitle of the book is what intrigued me most. But it turns out the book really wasn't for me.
I really disliked this book.
I feel like this book would only be interesting if you have a specific interest in the topics/illnesses in the book. It is certainly very niche. It was very heavy going, with lots of medical jargon and statistics - so it took me a while to get used to O'Sullivan's writing form and style.

I enjoyed the chapter on Autism and ADHD, and the mentions of Dementia - but again, this is only because I have a specific interest in these ailments. The rest of the book was pretty much redundant for me.

Make sure you check out the topics and chapters before buying! Make sure it is actually something of interest!

As patients we now have access to so much more information and choices around our own health and medical care. But, this book challenges the presumption that diagnosis, or labelling something, is always a good thing. It raises many conundrums and dilemmas using real cases to illustrate the issues raised. Is it necessarily helpful to know you will get a debilitating illness if you have no symptoms of it now? Is the ability to seemingly detect signs of cancer much earlier leading to unnecessary treatment and surgery? Is the ability to self-diagnose and the broadening of definitions actually a dis-service rather than empowering?

This book was a fascinating read and helped to give a range of perspective on the value and challenges of the increasing ability to diagnose. I kept talking about this book as I was reading it as it challenged some of my own assumptions and expectations. A really thought-provoking read.

"Let's leave diagnosis for those who are unequivocally sick and find a way to be more tolerant of difference and imperfections that still allows people to live an unencumbered life." argues Suzanne O'Sullivan

Suzanne O'Sullivan has written an incredibly important book that is truly needed at this point in time. This is a book that questions society's need to label every individual who feels that their life and feelings and health don't fit a perceived norm. Everyone is demanding perfection of themselves.

The argument is clearly made that with so many being diagnosed of diseases/"disorders', it does not always lead to substantial improvements in longterm health.

Redrawing boundaries and redefining symptoms between sickness and health is impacting greatly on society.

Suzanne O'Sullivan draws our attention to the need for greater balance in diagnosis and treatment and how predictive medicine can advise people of potential health problems which may never occur or take many years to show but in the meantime lead to years of fear and waiting for symptoms. The book identifies that diagnoses have the power to create illness when there is no disease.

The book explores range of conditions; ADHD , autism, Long Covid, Huntingdon's disease.

Anecdotal stories from individuals explore the impact positive and negative of diagnosis. With the rise of genetic testing, she expresses concerns but also acknowledges benefits. But it is the lack of definitive evidence and stretching the borders of diagnosis that are truly put into the spotlight to make us question the broader individual and societal impact.

Suzanne O'Sullivan writes with compassion and challenge and ultimately wants the best care for all in society .

This is a powerful book- one you will need to talk about and reflect upon especially if you have family members with certain diagnosed conditions. This is a book that isn't against diagnosis but questions how diagnosis is made; the science and research behind the ever changing supposed symptoms /evidence which define a condition; how does society actually support the broader community after a diagnosis( if at all) ; the impact on individuals who are suffering extreme and hard symptoms of a condition and how the broadening of diagnoses is leading to diluting of funding and support for them; and the broad impaction lives by defining individuals with a "label "

Highly readable - a book that opens the door to a wider debate and challenges us to question all we may be told and the impact on ourselves and loved one.
This book will be put alongside Ultra Processed People as a must read of 2025

The final points that this book is written before the impact of AI on medicine and health care in the future certainly left me with an undercurrent of concern if diagnoses could be made via computer data, algorithms etc

I have EDS and Pots and long covid and found the chapter at the end of the book on Darcy’s story frankly awful. Gaslighting at its finest.

O'Sullivan did a great job of summarizing an issue that's been on my mind for a very long time. However, I didn't come to this book with my mind made up; far from it. I have a lot of mixed and contradictory feelings about the modern push for diagnosis.

For full disclosure, I was diagnosed with autism as an adult and I'm not unlike some of the individuals O'Sullivan describes-- for me, it was wonderful to feel I understood the social and behavioural issues I'd had all my life. Up until that point, I felt that I was just not very good at being a human and considered it a failure on my part, so to have an answer to why I was that way was incredibly powerful. But, let's be real, I passed for neurotypical for close to thirty years. I don't have particularly high support needs. Years ago, I would have lived my life as someone socially-awkward and described merely as "eccentric." How helpful, really, is the diagnosis of people like me when focus on us takes essential care away from those whose autism results in severe disabilities?

I'm also really glad the author touched upon just how easy it is to buy a diagnosis through private healthcare. I've seen it happen with friends and family members. If you're willing to spend the money, it is astonishingly easy to get a diagnosis or a prescription. An acquaintance of mine once told me how they had lied about being depressed to get medication because it would help her sleep!

O'Sullivan makes a lot of important points and what shines through most of all is that she genuinely seems to care for her patients and the people receiving inadequate care because of our tendency to over-diagnose.

I'm a lecturer in public health and I've recently attended a lecture series on overdiagnosis of autism and ADHD, so I was naturally interested in reading this book. It's my first book of Suzanne's, and I'll be seeking out her previous ones on the strength of it! Each chapter was thought-provoking (and provocative, but backed up by solid research), and I liked the mix of evidence-based discussion (including the referencing of Cochrane reviews) and patient stories. There's also lots of examples that I'd love to reuse (with attribution) in lectures, for example the misconceptions around understandings of men's risk of prostate cancer, and the (sometimes) damage done by celebrity disclosures of a certain condition that drive up screening when screening may not be needed, or may not be the best use of limited resources. I learned something from each section, but the chapters on cancer and genetics testing and on neurodivergence were my most-highlighted. This would be a really good focus read for a non-fiction or health-related book group.

I was already familiar with O’Sullivan’s excellent work prior to picking up this book.
If anything, I am often on the opposite camp when it comes to medicine, but I like to challenge my opinions and learn more, and this was a great book for that.
As for the other aspects, I always find that O’Sullivan’s heart is in the right place. ‘What has happened to you?’ Not, ‘what’s wrong with you?’
Though, the biological maker-research also does not deal with what’s wrong with someone - I understand the author’s point, but I find it oversimplified at times.
The chapter about ADHD, neurodiversity and depression - I am curious to know what those who are the most qualified will have to say about that.
I respect and agree with the focus on sociological, psychological and personal circumstances and wider understanding of change. I wish this book were more balanced though.
As someone who has many neurodiverse family members and works with those with ASD and ADHD, I hope science can enlighten whys, hows but mostly how life can improve for everyone. The author wishes the same, however seems to have made up her mind on the reasons for (or the lack thereof) some conditions.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. This was a well written and fasicnating book about the way diagnosis has changed and what that means for our health.

This was a thoughtful and interesting look into the current medical world and the changes in the way people are diagnosed and medicalised.

O'Sullivan is balanced in her interviews and opinions and takes care to never actually come down on one side of the debate or the other and her look into the ethics of genetic testing were fascinating.

From experience I know that actually getting a diagnosis for a health condition does relieve some of the pressures in daily life but it is also a label that you do have to live with.

The Age of Diagnosis discusses many conditions such as Huntington’s disease, Lyme disease, long Covid, cancer, autism and ADHD. The question of diagnosis is considered throughout with the idea that a diagnosis can be negative. Healthy people are turned into patients through genetic testing and diagnosis. Ultimately, a diagnosis changes over time to envelop more people and include more symptoms. This can be both negative and positive as seen by Autism with low and high functioning autistic people.

This was really good and I had a great time reading it. It opened my mind to things I hadn’t considered before and made me question things. My favourite parts were the discussion on autism, ADHD and Lyme disease. I personally do think we are going too far with medicine in science and this book illustrates that. For example, people who think they have Lyme disease but have never encountered the ticks or bacteria that leads to the disease. Plus this talked about the issue of paying for a diagnosis through private healthcare. I really agreed with the autism section on how the diagnosis has expanded so much to include high functioning people and people who cannot function on their own. This was really good and I think it’s an important read.