It is one of the most extraordinary cases in the history of science: the mating calls of insects were mistaken for a “sonic weapon” that led to a major diplomatic row. Since August 2017, the world media has been absorbed in the “attack” on diplomats from the American and Canadian Embassies in Cuba. While physicians treating victims have described it as a novel and perplexing condition that involves an array of complaints including brain damage, the authors present compelling evidence that mass psychogenic illness was the cause of “Havana Syndrome.” This mysterious condition that has baffled experts is explored across 11-chapters which offer insights by a prominent neurologist and an expert on psychogenic illness. A lively and enthralling read, the authors explore the history of similar scares from the 18th century belief that sounds from certain musical instruments were harmful to human health, to 19th century cases of “telephone shock,” and more contemporary panics involving people living near wind turbines that have been tied to a variety of health complaints. The authors provide dozens of examples of kindred episodes of mass hysteria throughout history, in addition to psychosomatic conditions and even the role of insects in triggering outbreaks. Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria is a scientific detective story and a case study in the social construction of mass psychogenic illness.

Meet your next crisis head on and get through it stronger than ever by using the hard-earned strategies and core principles from Marc Polymeropoulos, a highly decorated, 26-year operations officer with the CIA. Marc Polymeropoulos has had to live with the consequences of decisions made under the most high-stress circumstances you can imagine as a senior intelligence officer in the CIA, retiring from his 26 years of service as one of the CIA’s most decorated field officers. Though your crisis situations may not entail international counter terrorism as Marc’s did, in our age of social media and a 24-hour news cycle, the consequences of mishandling a crisis can escalate quickly, leaving irreparable damage to a company’s reputation and bottom line in its wake. In Clarity in Crisis, Marc shares how true leaders need to lead in and through times of crisis and thrive under conditions of ambiguity, rather than message their way out or duck from hard decisions. This book provides proven strategies and core principles that leaders can apply to meet any crisis head on and lead through it, including: The critical elements to managing crisis, such as knowing who you can always count on to execute under high-stress situations. An understanding of the importance of following and stressing key fundamentals and avoiding shortcuts that often do more harm than good. Implementation guidance from the “Mad Minute” section at the end of each chapter that summarizes key points and action items you can begin applying right away. How to gain confidence that you are ready for the next crisis and embrace any situation with no fear. Far from mere theory, Clarity in Crisis outlines the unique mindset and strategies Marc himself practiced and honed throughout his remarkable career. The core principles outlined in these pages will help you find unshakeable clarity in crisis and lead when others want to flee.

Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2021 'To compare any book to a Sacks is unfair, but this one lives up to it . . . I finished it feeling thrillingly unsettled, and wishing there was more.' James McConnachie, Sunday Times 'A study of diseases that we sometimes say are 'all in the mind', and an explanation of how unfair that characterisation is.' Tom Whipple, The Times Books of the Year In Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night. These disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and – more crucially – to treat them. What unites them is that they are all examples of a particular type of psychosomatic illness: medical disorders that are influenced as much by the idiosyncratic aspects of individual cultures as they are by human biology. Inspired by a poignant encounter with the sleeping refugee children of Sweden, Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called ‘mystery’ illnesses. From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O’Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn’t an illness? Reminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face. 'To compare any book to a Sacks is unfair, but this one lives up to it.' Sunday Times

Two medical experts offer a convincing explanation of the mysterious illness afflicting US embassy personnel in Cuba and similar outbreaks throughout history. This is the story of how much of the world came to believe in something that never happened. In August 2017, the American State Department announced that their embassy staff in Havana, Cuba, had been attacked by a sonic weapon that left diplomats with brain damage and other health problems. Though these embassy officials and their families experienced real symptoms of illness, in fact there was no attack, nor any mysterious "sonic weapon." Incredibly, the strange sound reported by embassy personnel was probably the buzzing of cicadas nearby. In this in-depth investigation, a medical sociologist and a neurologist provide convincing scientific evidence that this incident is just the most recent example of mass psychogenic illness, formerly called mass hysteria. The authors explain that psychogenic illness is best thought of as a collective stress response, the opposite of the placebo effect. Just as a belief that one will recover from an illness can aid the process of recovery, a negative belief about an alleged hazard can induce illness. The condition is real and should never be dismissed as "all in their heads." The authors go on to show how "Havana Syndrome" fits into a pattern of similar illnesses that have occurred in many places throughout history. There are precedents for acoustical scares, such as "telephone sickness" and "wind turbine syndrome." There are also documented cases of psychogenic reactions to insects. And social contagion is as old as the "dancing manias" of the Middle Ages. This is a fascinating study of social psychology, demonstrating the subtle and intricate connection between mind and body.

History is being made in U.S.-Cuban relations. Now in paperback and updated to tell the real story behind the stunning December 17, 2014, announcement by President Obama and President Castro of their move to restore full diplomatic relations, this powerful book is essential to understanding ongoing efforts toward normalization in a new era of engagement. Challenging the conventional wisdom of perpetual conflict and aggression between the United States and Cuba since 1959, Back Channel to Cuba chronicles a surprising, untold history of bilateral efforts toward rapprochement and reconciliation. William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh here present a remarkably new and relevant account, describing how, despite the intense political clamor surrounding efforts to improve relations with Havana, negotiations have been conducted by every presidential administration since Eisenhower's through secret, back-channel diplomacy. From John F. Kennedy's offering of an olive branch to Fidel Castro after the missile crisis, to Henry Kissinger's top secret quest for normalization, to Barack Obama's promise of a new approach, LeoGrande and Kornbluh uncovered hundreds of formerly secret U.S. documents and conducted interviews with dozens of negotiators, intermediaries, and policy makers, including Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter. They reveal a fifty-year record of dialogue and negotiations, both open and furtive, that provides the historical foundation for the dramatic breakthrough in U.S.-Cuba ties.

New Ebook And paperback book: A ROAD OF FIRE : THE HAVANA SYNDROME, LIBYAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2021, OIL AND GAS – THE ENERGY CRISIS IN RUSSIA, USA AND EUROPE CIA , INTELLIGENCE, PANDEMIC, ELECTIONS, MONEY – CLAIRVOYANT/ PSYCHIC WORLD PREDICTIONS 2021 – 2022 AUTHORS : DIMITRINKA STAIKOVA, STOYANKA STAIKOVA, IVELINA STAIKOVA PUBLISHED : OCTOBER 19, 2021 Buy the Paperback Book from Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JVFF5YD

Havana syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms reported by United States and Canadian embassy staff in Cuba dating back to late 2016 as well as subsequently in some other countries, including the United States, Austria, and German. Sounds was so loud that night it awoke the official assigned to the U.S. embassy in Cuba who was trying to sleep at home in Havana.The civil servant felt intense pressure to the face after the stabbing noise. Pain, nausea, and dizziness followed.When the mysterious commotion in the dark of night stopped, the symptoms didn't go away and the dizziness and trouble concentrating lingered, making it harder to continue working at the embassy.What exactly happened that night in Havana in 2016 is not known, but the same thing started occurring to other embassy staffers and U.S. intelligence officers in Havana and elsewhere, according to a report in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Health. The victims of the Havana syndrome reported hearing strange sounds, steady pulses of pressure in their heads, and several other bizarre physical sensations. The health problems typically had a sudden onset: the victim would suddenly begin hearing strange grating noises that they perceived as coming from a specific direction. Some of them experienced it as a pressure or a vibration; or as a sensation comparable to driving a car with the window partly rolled down. The duration of these noises ranged from 20 seconds to 30 minutes, and always happened while the diplomats were either at home or in hotel rooms. Other people nearby, family members and guests in neighboring rooms, did not report hearing anything. KINDLY GET A COPY OF THIS BOOK.