There could be no better time than now for light to be shined on the paranormal, the phenomena, from vampirism and telepathy to zombism, that have taken the New York Times Bestseller List by the throat, as it were.
If you are confused about the Goth creature you have living upstairs, indeed if you yourself are on occasion half paralyzed by your own weird experiences or by one half-whispered to you in confidence by a friend or relative, this book is definitely for you.
It is at once a lucid accounting of mainstream science's explanation for the paranormal and a comforting reminder that certain things we consider strange are just that and nothing dangerously more.
The author, Bobrow, a medical doctor, is a gentle guide into this strange world, and never demeaning.
By their very nature, paranormal phenomena don't always admit to the probing of science, and where the line is blurred between what is real and what is imagined, Bobrow keeps an open mind.
The Witch in the Waiting Room has come to do battle with a host of sceptics' accounts. It will make a believer out of those of you who aren't.

When Charles Darwin's ship, Beagle, anchored off Patagonia in 1831, the natives on the shore could see the ship's tiny rowboats, but they could not detect the huge ship itself. They were selectively blind to large sailing ships because nothing in their previous visual experience prepared them for it. For the Patagonian natives, their belief system determined their reality.
Nothing like this occurs in our experience, we smugly tell ourselves; we're open to whatever confronts us. We are trained in the scientific tradition, which means that we honor good evidence wherever it may lead us and no matter how challenging it may be. This attitude is flattering, but it is unfortunately incorrect. Scientists and healthcare professionals can be as prejudiced, bigoted, and narrow as anyone else, even when they are doing science in their area of expertise. As Whitehead put it, "The Universe is vast. Nothing is more curious than the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of its existing modes of knowledge. Sceptics and believers are all alike. At this moment scientists and sceptics are the leading dogmatists. Advance in detail is admitted: fundamental novelty is barred. This dogmatic common sense is the death of philosophical adventure. The Universe is vast."
The briefest review shows how stubbornly scientists and physicians can obstruct objective evidence, as Hal Hellman shows in his books Great Feuds in Medicine and Great Feuds in Science. Where does this attitude originate? I have often thought that many physicians suffer from IDS -- imagination deficiency syndrome. When we can't imagine how something could be true, our mind closes and for us, as for the Patagonians, the thing doesn't exist. As a remedy for IDS, I recommend Robert S. Bobrow's The Witch in the Waiting Room: A Physician Investigates Paranormal Phenomena in Medicine.
Bobrow is currently a clinical associate professor at the School of Medicine at New York's Stony Brook University and has practiced general medicine for over thirty years. He has a keen eye for things that don't fit into the conventional medical paradigm -- happenings that most medical professionals dismiss as chance events, flukes, anomalies, or "just one of those things." When Bobrow confronts anomalies, he, like Sherlock Holmes, gets out his magnifying glass and studies them intensely. He combs the medical literature for corroborative cases that have been reported by other observers. Where possible, he discusses the theoretical underpinnings of these events. The result is an invigorating romp through unexplained phenomena -- a kind of aerobics for the imagination.
The book is composed of twenty chapters devoted to witchcraft and voodoo, remote viewing and telepathy, distant healing, prayer, therapeutic touch, auditory hallucinations or "voices" that often convey benevolent information, lycanthropy (the delusion of being an animal), cacodemonomania (having sex with the devil), dying on time, near-death experiences, the collective unconscious, satanic ritual abuse, dreaming, hypnosis, xenoglossy (speaking in tongues), children who remember past lives, acupuncture, holographic patterns in life, electromagnetic perspectives in healing, temporal lobe influences on spiritual experiences, and the presence of witches in modern healthcare settings
The evidence for distant healing is much stronger, in my view, than Bobrow presents, but the many gems in the book make up for this minor quibble. Among them is his discussion of the correlation between a researcher's beliefs about a therapy and the outcome of randomized controlled trials. Why do different researchers, using similar methods, often come up with different results? Bobrow suggests that an experimenter's beliefs play a role in the outcomes of the experiment itself. This suggestion is based not in philosophical musings, but in actual instances from recent medical history. "Perhaps the attitudes and expectations of the researchers should be included in publications," he says, "the way funding sources and affiliations are" [p. 252].
Science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov said, "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not `Eureka!' (I found it!) but `That's funny....'" The Witch in the Waiting Room is a splendid exploration of "funny" things, things that don't fit in. Those who prefer a debunking approach to these controversial topics will need to go elsewhere; this book is for those whose imaginations are still intact and who want an imagination booster.
Bobrow shows repeatedly that beliefs, emotions, and meanings help configure our world. The result is a stimulating book that is a lubricant on the hinges of the imagination. The Witch in the Waiting Room may infuriate materialistic skeptics, but it will delight those who know that wonder remains a doorway to wisdom.

-- Larry Dossey, MD
Santa Fe, NM