Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

13 reviews

dev921's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

em_the_wallflower's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Suicide

hanjackson's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

2.25

This is a difficult one to rate. It has almost 40 years of raving reviews and is on the '100 books to read before you die' scratch off I have had for 10 years now... But part of me thinks this is on the poster for genre diversity. The one word I can think to describe this nowadays: dated.

I can see why in 1985, Sacks' time as a neurologist and his stories were taboo. However in 2024 it is lacking. The dated language and words when speaking of certain conditions makes it a hard to listen to the book, even though the words we see as insults now were clinically accepted in the 80s.

Definitely an insightful look into the medical past but as a book, hard to make it through -- especially when comparing it to the modern stars of the medical memoir such as Adam Kay and Kathryn Mannix. The book needed to be a tad more self-aware.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical content, Dementia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

pinkpanther's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual content

kat_smith24's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

Though the language is outdated and paternalistic, this book offers a surprisingly nuanced approach to (at the time) rarer neurological disorders.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

ominousevent's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Mental illness and Medical content

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

eve81's review

informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Ableism and War

carysisamelt's review against another edition

informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

an extremely interesting book, even in the 21st century. however, there is a lot of things that made me uncomfortable when reading this, namely the use of the r-slur (though used as an actually medical term, someone should definitely revise this) and the complete inaccuracy when describing autism. i really liked the start but ending with the chapter “simpletons” (or name to that effect) left a sour taste in my mouth. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Schizophrenia/Psychosis