A neurologist called Oliver Sacks wrote the book a man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales. The book that is classified under the genre of medical history was published in the year 1985. The primary idea behind this book is neurology: a science that generally deals with nervous systems disorders, particularly in the brain. In the book, Oliver Sacks discusses a field that deals with the nervous system known neuropsychology that is more less the same as neurology which focuses on observing the patients behavior exclusively. The target audience for this book is the fellow nursing students, clinical nurses, nursing educators and other related professionals in the medical field. The book is of great benefit to the readers as it explores unique and rare afflictions and disorders in the field of neurology in an engaging manner, various ways in which we can understand the minds inner working and also what makes us human.
The book by Oliver Sacks, ‘A Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' discusses various series of studies in the field of neurology hence divided into four main parts. In the first part of his work, Sacks duels on deficits in the ordinary functioning of the brain that gets construed as a result of neurological disorders. The author further claims that all neurological disorders tend to get defined as deficits of some kind by the rest of the medical community. According to Sacks, as a deficit, the paradigm of mental illness is too narrow. The reason for its narrowness is because it cannot be clearly understood as a deficit in a particular function of the brain because the disorders of the right hemisphere get marginalized. Also because the various ways and abilities of the subject to compensate for mental illness and making up for the deficit get underestimated by the paradigm.
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There are various patients that Sacks discusses on this first part of the book including one who was not able to distinguish between his wife's face and his hat due to a rare form of blindness that affected him. The patient with this unique type of blindness was known as Dr. P. also Jimmie G was another patient that could not remember things for more than a few seconds a condition known as Korsakov's syndrome. Another patient also discussed in this part is Christina who could not feel her own body because she lost her sense of proprioception. Also, the author explains the cerebral condition that Madeline suffers from that makes her unable to control her hands. Macgregor is another patient that the situation called Parkinson's prevents his mind from integrating any information from the vestibular system making him walk with a tilt.
Also, Mrs. S who is suffering from a stroke making her lose the ability of conceiving of her left side. Oliver elaborates on various ways that the patients can compensate for their deficiencies whether when they are conscious or unconscious in this first part of his book. Different patients got the ability to live relatively healthy lives since Sacks tried to help them train on how to work around their neurological problems. The patients that Sacks helped included Madeline, Christina, and Mr. Macgregor.
Another central idea from this book gets discussed in the second part where Oliver argues that abundances in a certain mental process may lead to conceiving of some kinds of neurological illness. Rather than Oliver restricting himself on an afflicted portion of the brain, usually how it's done in ordinary neurology, he decides to look further on the conditions action and also the impact brought about by neurological abundance on a patients day to day life. Sacks also talk about a syndrome known as Tourette and the various patients that are suffering from the condition. Tourette syndrome was a rare and relatively unknown syndrome until the mid-1970s. Later on, the Tourette condition was however established by the medical team to be a common condition during that decade. The various tests that the neurologists employed in examining patients and the mechanical formats used are some of the attributes that sack claimed lead to the low comprehension of the Tourettes condition to the doctors.
Also in some instances, some patients felt that some medical conditions construed as benefits to them. A good example is bouts of syphilis led to a feeling of lively and more energy to some patients in some instances. Some patients adopted a new attitude or behaviors as a way of compensating for their sense of confusion. These groups of patients are those that equalize themselves to the world as a way of reacting to their disorders. William Thompson is an example used by Sacks in his book illustrating a patient that decided to improvises endless identities that were contradicting to have a sense of ‘self' even though he was suffering for a condition that made him not to remember anything for long.
In the third part of this book, Oliver Sacks discusses cases where the perception of the patient world gets altered in a way that can get understood to be euphoric, otherworldly or visionary by a neurological condition. Some patients experienced seizures that were recurring in their temporal lobes of the brain since they reported that they heard loud and beautiful music in their heads. Another young girl also became nostalgic and euphoric which was a seizure that was strange that came about shortly after developing a terminal tumor. Also Donald, a patient that Sacks examined before while high on PCP killed his child and claimed to forget the act later. Later on, Donald reported of having a graphic detail of the act of killing his child again and again immediately after sustaining head trauma. Eventually, Donald could not make the visions go away but learned how to live with the new condition by developing various strategies to cope with his state.
Hildegard of Bingen who was a famous Christian mystic in the 12th century was another patient that Oliver Sacks discusses. Hildegard interpreted her visions as divine, but according to Sacks, she was having seizures that were recurring that led to her having hallucinations that were vivid. Hildegard's vision could get dismissed easily as merely physiological in origin in line with full medical information. But again her respect for her religious loyalty, intelligence and imagination still commanded respect.
In the final part of this book, Oliver Sacks ideally look at the significant side of the mentally challenged patients. Sacks came to realize that the intellectual beauty of disabled patients views of the world later on in his career even though at the beginning the whole working with disabled intelligent patients was a bit depressing. Ideally, the main point in this chapter is concreteness which shows the reality as a set of material things and not abstract concepts in the conceiving of the world's view. There is a special connection with the concrete world from many of the intellectually disabled patients that Sacks interacts with. In a way, it seems like the lack of abstract thought in the minds of the patients gets compensated for. Rebecca is an example of a disabled patient who is an intellectual as she has a poetic imagery gift. Rebecca has exciting ways of using words to render emotions that are complex in concrete ways and can describe her feeling in intricate material terms in as much as she has a very low IQ.
Martin is another example of a disabled patient who is intellectual knows about the Jonah Sebastian Bach sophisticated appreciation music since he has perfect knowledge of western musical history. The two twins John and Michael also have profound gifts in the field of mathematics in spite of having mental deficiencies. Towards the end of the chapter, Sacks notes bitterly that the two twins lost their mathematical prowess after they got separated from one another something that was of great joy in their lives.
Sacks also discuss with José who was an excellent artist with an autistic condition. Sacks concluded that José used his drawing to forge a connection to the outside world in as much as he did not talk much and seemed closed off from other people. According to Sacks, autistic people should not get marginalized and treated as social outcasts, but they should get help so as they can learn how to develop their unique gifts.
This book a man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales is an essential book with regards to the neurological field. The book explains various medical conditions and how some medical conditions have a positive impact on patients. The author further narrates how he had to change his personal view on the disabled patients after realizing that behind their disability there is an intellectual side of them that made them amazing individuals. The book further discusses a lot of case studies of various patients that have lost the ability to recognize objects or people and also patients that have lost their memory and can't recall any past events. Patients with alien limbs; patients gifted with uncanny artistic and mathematical talents but the general public dismisses them as retarded; patients that shout obscenities involuntarily after getting stricken with violent antics or grimaces.
Dr. Sacks narrates the brilliant tales in a way that is genuinely human addressing significant areas splendidly and sympathetically that is inconceivably strange. The tales enable us to enter the neurological impaired world with our hearts and imagine what it feels like to live and behave like them since they are studies of life struggling against incredible adversities. When fighting the human subject, the suffering and affliction are some of the various responsibilities in the medical field that Dr. Sacks as a great healer and prolific writer never loses sight of in due course.
My favorite part when I was reading this fantastic work by Oliver Sacks is the part where some patients benefited in a way from some health conditions. The part I am specifically referring to is the excesses, where a patient feels too well, and that feeling prompts her to visit Dr. Sacks' clinic. After her 80th birthday, Natasha who was initially a shy woman begins to feel like a young woman. She starts to feel frisky and begins to take an interest in young men. The new behavior caught the attention of her friends since it was a strange one from Natasha. Dr. Sacks does not see any concern with the behavior, and he gets confused until Natasha explains that while working on a brothel several years ago she contracted syphilis.
Natasha worries that the potential neurological effects of syphilis are catching up with her although the disease had vanished a long time ago. With that suggestion from the patient, Sacks runs some few tests, and indeed he determines that her cerebral cortex has been getting stimulated by the condition known as neurosyphilis. The damage is irreversible, and the feeling of euphoria and friskiness will not subside to her relief though she gets treated with penicillin to rid the bacteria from the brain known as spirochetes. In this part, Sacks tries to help patients by coming against the set limits of what neurology can do. The condition of excesses has made Natasha get a taste of seductive excitement and exuberance, and she does not want her positive symptom to go away even though she knows that she needs to seek treatment.
The book is essential to the nursing practice since Dr. Sacks highlights a lot of conditions and how the impact someone's health either positively or negatively. Patients with some conditions also need guidance to utilize on their strengths, for example, individuals suffering from the autistic condition hence the book gives excellent insights on how the people practicing nursing can get to help them. The book also encourages anyone practicing nursing always to take time and learn the various conditions affecting the patients and note down how they react to things to determine the best way to relate with them
In my opinion, this book a man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales is one of the best works of literature that gives meaning and educative insights in line with the medical history. The author who is neurologist does a great job of compiling various case studies of medical conditions and how they affect the patient's brain. The author further gives recommendations on how to handle people with certain conditions. Sacks also help the patient to know the various ways they can cope up with their situations. Sacks in this book, helps the readers understand and feel what other people with the rare conditions are going through.
Reference
Sacks, Oliver, 1933-2015. (1985). The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales. New York: Summit Books,
