[5] Her father was a fisherman and unable to afford a doctor, and the family relied instead on the advice of friends and the town midwife.

The family reported that Olsson occasionally sat up and "mumble[d] prayers she had learned by rote in childhood".

[4] One doctor who visited Olsson was Johan Emil Almbladh, who thought that her sleep-state was a result of hysteria.

Upon the death of her brother in 1907, Olsson began crying hysterically, although she remained in an assumed coma.

[6] She reportedly did not touch any food that she received during her years in bed, and the family's maid never heard her speaking.

[3] Newspaper reporters from all over Europe and the United States travelled to Oknö to interview her, and she and her family went into hiding to avoid the attention.

He published a paper on her condition in 1912 titled La Dormeuse d'Oknö – 21 Ans de Stupeur.

Frödeström speculated that Olsson thought that she was seriously ill, and that she remained still with her eyes closed and refused to eat to elicit sympathy.