An Analysis Of Oliver Sacks The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat

'The man who mistook his wife for a hat' is a psychological novel, which focuses on people with many different neurological disorders. It was written by Oliver Sacks, and published in 1985. It recounts the case studies of many different individuals who are suffering from, and dealing with, these disorders. Not only does it discuss their experiences in great detail, but it also shows the emotional journey of these individuals, as well as the emotions of Sacks himself in response to this. The prime focus of the book is to highlight the capability of individuals to function well in society even if they are suffering from a disorder; it tries to show what they can achieve despite their disorders, rather than the disadvantages of them. This essay

This condition meant that although he struggled with a lot of everyday activities he was still very musically talented. In order to help deal with Tourette’s, Sacks prescribed him a medication called 'Haldol', which had the negative result of making him feel 'unlike himself'. As he had spent his whole life with Tourette's, he found it impossible to get used to the effects the medication had on him, such as ‘throwing him off balance and slowing down his reflexes’ he therefore stopped the medication, and decided to live without treatment. The second chapter in the section is also particularly interesting, it is called “The Cupids Disease” and it is the story of a 90 year old woman who spontaneously started feeling alive and young even in her old age. 70 years prior to this she discovered that she suffered from syphilis, which can interfere with certain parts of the cerebral cortex. Although she was offered treatment, she refused as she wanted to continue to feel young. Sacks respected her request and he prescribed her penicillin, which wouldn't reverse the damage that has

Just like the previous section, the first two case studies appeared to go into more depth. The first chapter is called “Reminiscence” and it discusses a woman called Mrs O’C who one day begins hearing music even though she had previously shown no signs of any neurological illness. IT became apparent after Sacks performed an EEG scan,that it was due to a stroke. Chapter two is called Incoherent Nostalgia and it focuses on a 63 year old woman who was institutionalized since she was 18 due to suffering from a serious case of parkinsonism, due to this she was prescribed with L-Dopa, which at first made her symptoms calm down and she began to experience normal movement and speech which was soon followed by an increased libido. She soon began to start retrieving old memories that she hadn’t thought about for over 40 years. Due to her sometimes inappropriate reactions to L-Dopa, she was given a smaller dosage, which caused her to forget everything she had experienced during that