Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

11 reviews

pinkpanther's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I received this as a gift after stumbling across the title while working at a university bookstore. I thought the content sounded fascinating.
"The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" is a collection of different case studies from renowned neuroscientist Oliver Sacks. Each chapter chronicles a different patient suffering with a different type of memory-related issue.
I really enjoyed how this book was organized and presented. There were sections that grouped related cases together, and there was an introduction for each section to give a high-level overview of what was going to be discussed. Each case and patient were discussed thoughtfully; however, it is quickly evident that this book was written many years ago because some of the terminology used felt insensitive. The mind is a wild and fascinating place, and I think it is riveting to learn about different instances of medical anomalies.
If you are interested in or studying the mind, I recommend this work, and I will certainly keep Oliver Sacks's work in mind to pick up in the future.

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ominousevent's review against another edition

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It was interesting to learn a bit about things that can happen to brains, but I really don’t like the way Sacks talks about his patients (as if they are specimens, in many cases not really fully human), and some of his theories seem to be supported by nothing more than his affection for his own ideas. Not recommended.

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navayiota's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

At the start of the book, I was 100% sure this would be a 5 star read. Even though the words used for the patients are now considered slurs, the doctor still handled them with care and compassion, and recognised the ableism that is often present in neurodivergent people's lives. That was surprising to me, since even nowadays I hear doctors completely invalidate me, others, our experiences and trauma. I was so prepared to love this book. And I still love the first 15 or so chapters, those will always be dear to me, but damn, it really went downhill in the last couple of chapters... It felt like they were written by a completely different person. So condescending and dismissive, and it was incredibly hard to get through. Little moments of compassion still came through, but it felt like searching in the trash for food that hasn't rotted. It was really disappointing and somewhat triggering to hear about people who weren't that different from me being called stupid and basically a waste of time and resources. I felt betrayed, since I had come to really like and trust the author. I'm not even sure how I feel about what the book ends on, I agree that society often decides an autistic person is useless and doesn't even give them the chance to show their skills and interests, to earn their place in society, but the way it was said felt so patronising. As if a disabled person is completely unable to do this by themselves, and need someone else to first give them permission. I understand that all this was written during a time where people were locked up simply for being different, so it definitely would have been a lot harder to do things by themselves back then.. but I feel like context could have been added. (the edition I listened to was released in 2019 and there were other edits in it, so I don't see why this couldn't have been one of them) I think this should be mandatory reading for people who want to learn about the struggles of neurodivergent people in the past, and recommended reading for people interested in psychology. The language used is pretty understandable but still scientific, and I can recall most of the disorders easily. This is well written, and I like it even though I'm disappointed with it.

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sunn_bleach's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

3.0

Interesting but in a way I didn’t expect. This is very much a neurology book written in the early 80s, with all the language and paradigms that implies. The dead-serious use of the word “retarded” and unironic appeals to Freud and Luria are kind of shocking for 40+ years later. But I’m kind of struck at how much Sacks so obviously cared for his patients as people, not just case studies. That kind of narrative is important for humanizing the humans we treat.

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zoebill96's review

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challenging informative slow-paced

2.5

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laurataylor's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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angelfireeast24's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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imoran's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative

3.75

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beca_reads's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

1.0

This book was alright until he started talking about Tourette's. As someone with a tic disorder in the process of getting a diagnosis of Tourette's and an ex Psychology student I was let down massively down at the way he portrayed those who have tics. It started off bad during a chapter titled "Whitty, Ticcy, Ray" Sacks discussed mainly how he used a drug called Haldol (an antipsychotic which is commonly used for those with Tourette's) had completely got rid of rays tics, personally this is hard to believe as there is no current cure for Tourette's, and I felt that the way Sacks wrote about this gave false hope to those that have the condition. Medications are commonly used for Tourette's syndrome, but they are only able to control motor and vocal tics, I can't fully get rid of them. Sacks also spent time talking to Ray about curing his tics and life without tics, if the medication had not worked the way it did this would have given a sense of false hope which is damaging. Sacks does make some good points more at the beginning of the chapter- "was it possible that Tourette's was not a rarity, but rather common" This is completely true 1 in 100 school aged children have Tourette's. May Main issues with Sacks writing is the use of the word "possessed" in relation to those with Tourette's and titles his other chapter on Tourette's this. This frustrated me as this is a medical professional using such damaging language about a condition where people are very much not "possessed or need an exorcism" as some people like to think. By him using this language it perpetuates the idea that those with Tourette's are possessed. This book is one of the top books on Psychology students reading lists and these are students that are likely to work in the future with people who have Tourette's. Learning this language at an early stage in their career from some who is widely looked up to in the field is just dangerous. It is going to stop those with Tourette's accessing the help they need from medical professionals as they have a warped perception on the condition. After the second chapter on Tourette's I choose to DNF the book.

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