The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

 

'If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.'

Dr Oliver has mentioned strange neuro cases he has seen in his lifetime and I must warn you, they are scary. Read at your own discretion! The book has got a lot of stories, like:

'Dr. P reached out his hand and took hold of his wife's head, tried to lift it off, to put it on. He had apparently mistaken his wife for a hat.'

Jimmie, a lost mariner, couldn't undergo hypnosis-treatment because his extreme amnesia caused him to lose track of what the hypnotist was saying!

Christina, 27years old, a computer programmer, was admitted to remove stones from gallbladder where she had a dream, she was swaying to and fro, couldn't feel anything in her hands, kept dropping whatever she picked, truly a strange dream just before her operation.
But later that day, the dreams came true!

'if one asked such a patient to move his legs, he was apt to say: 'Sure, Doc, as soon as I find them.'

Another patient had a 'lazy' left leg. When he would wake up everytime, he felt fine, until he moved in the bed. Then he found, as he put it, 'someone's leg' in the bed-a severed human leg. When he threw out it out of bed, he somehow came after it-and now it was attached to him!

A sailor accidentally cut off his right index finger. For 4 years afterwards he was plagued by an intrusive phantom of the finger rigidly extended!

Mrs. S who sometimes will put on lipstick, and make up the right half of her face, leaving the left half neglected!

Mrs O'C who would hear Irish songs in the night in her mind! Somethings related to her past!

Bhagwawhandi P., a malignant brain tumour patient admitted in US would have reminiscences of India. So clear that she would get lost enjoying the dreams with her eyes open. The nurses would say, 'she is on a return journey to India' and soon she died!

Not at all intending to scare anyone, I felt after reading this that being 'normal' and being grateful for that will stay with me after reading this. Pure gem for Psychology lovers. Interesting and true account!

Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent tics or shout involuntary obscenities; who have been dismissed as autistic or retarded, yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales illuminate what it means to be human.