Okay, before we start, let’s get rid of the elephant in the room… this is the best book title I have ever seen.
Okay, now back to scheduled programming.
In The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks collects more than twenty stories of patients with diverse neurological issues.
Each story brings a more human aspect to the ailments by bringing light to the medical details of the diseases while illustrating how those diseases play out in a patient’s thoughts and actions.
- Audible Audiobook
- Oliver Sacks (Author) – Jonathan Davis, Oliver Sacks – introduction (Narrators)
- English (Publication Language)
- 06/21/2011 (Publication Date) – Audible Studios (Publisher)
The three key takeaways from the book are:
- A story can do more to tell the facts about a disease than a historical document ever could
- To react to their neurological illnesses, some patients figure out methods to work around their issues
- Medical evaluations of the mentally ill tend to focus on deficiencies and rather than any powers and benefits
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Lesson One: A story can do more to tell the facts about a disease than a historical document ever could
In a case history, the detached information of conditions does not fully capture life with an illness.
Instead, to center on the patient, as the disease’s story introduces a “who” that corresponds to the “what.”
Being able to put a ‘face to the name’ brings together the disease by turning a case history into a story.
Telling the story of disease as a narrative rather than a case history illustrates components of the condition that you only see when you’re suffering from the disease. These components can’t be fully embraced with a list of symptoms and treatments.
Rather than a series of textbooks and case studies, the biography of a patient can offer more than just a baseline of impacts on the body.
The impact that can be achieved by putting a name and face to a story instantly makes it far more relatable.
So, instead of being “a patient with a malignant brain tumor that causes reminiscent hallucinations,” you have Bhagawhandi P.
Bhagawhandi was a teenage girl who struggled with a tumor all her life. She lived increasing periods of dream states in which she sees images of India, her childhood home.
These stories make the science far more accessible to a broader audience.
If you’re anything like me, you’re no doctor (although if you are a doctor, please keep reading…).
The average reader like me will get bogged down by all the scientific jargon and concepts.
Instead, through these stories, the average reader can better understand the disease.
Lesson Two: To react to their neurological illnesses, some patients figure out methods to work around their issues
Throughout the book, many patients learn to cope with their neurological diseases and found ways to live a somewhat healthy life.
Christina lost feeling in her body, a condition called proprioception. Still, she discovered how to move her body by applying her vision to guide her.
Using only her eyes, she could learn how to move frequently and life a regular daily life.
Or, look at Mr. MacGregor, who lost his ability to perceive when his body was leaning to one side.
*potentially bad joke coming*
Don’t worry, he’s all right now…
Anyway, he had specially made glasses with a level that would tell him when he was leaning to one side. With that, he could immediately fix his posture and not lose his balance.
Don’t get me wrong, many patients have difficulties living with their disorders. Some will never regain normal function.
However, as with the examples we spoke about, sometimes you can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles, at least to an extent.
Now, the problem or disease may not be cured, but the desire for functionality is strong enough to inspire the patient to find ways to work around it.
These tactics, such as Mr. MacGregor’s glasses, can also be useful to other patients.
Lesson Three: Medical evaluations of the mentally ill tend to focus on deficiencies and rather than any powers and benefits
Assessments can be inadequate to understand a patient and what treatment could help them fully.
Neurological evaluations specifically focus on deficits, defects, and abnormalities. All of these parts of the review involve a negative connotation.
There is less of an emphasis on abilities, and any definite abnormalities.
It is more powerful to see the music, story, personality, and inspiration behind a human, rather than formal and detached notes in a chart or dots on a graph.
These evaluations tend to focus too much on what is wrong and not enough on what is right.
By digging deeper and looking into specific narratives, you’ll get a greater insight into what is intact, or preserved.
Focusing only on the negative and what is lost or in excess could mean overlooking not just aspects of a patient’s personality that could contribute to a better way of life. It could also mean ignoring a vital clue as to what the best treatment might be in that patient’s individual case.
My Personal Takeaway
There is a lot to unpack from a book like this.
For starters, if you’re an interested and curious mind like me, you’ll enjoy reading this book just to learn something.
However, there is still a lot anyone can learn from the book.
At times, we feel as though we face impossible challenges.
However, these are times where we look to create new solutions and focus on abilities, rather than disabilities.
Also, when doing further research on a topic, you can look at the personal narratives, not just the facts. While a story is never subjective, it is almost impossible to get a full picture only looking at numbers and graphs.
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a Swedish university student, marketing professional, and life-long learner. Here at BookSummaryClub I summarize my favorite non-fiction books into easily digested posts. Hope you like what you’re reading!
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