Hallucinations
Registered by gypsysmom of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on 7/21/2013
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I am a fan of Dr. Sacks writing and when I found this book at McNally Robinson for 30% off I had to have it.
Oliver Sacks was a brilliant neuroscientist but an even better writer. I have read at least 6 of his books and enjoyed every one of them. More to the point, I learned something from each one. This book is no exception. Unfortunately Sacks died a few weeks ago and, unless he had something in the works, his autobiography, On the Move, will be his last book. There are some of his older books that I have not read and I will savour them.
If I had ever thought about hallucinations I guess I would have thought that they were something people with mental health problems experienced. As Sacks has shown in the book hallucinations can be the result of many diseases or conditions and most of them are due to some change in the brain. Hallucinations can be visual, auditory, tactile or olfactory. They can last for a few seconds or persist for weeks. Many famous people including Sacks himself have experienced hallucinations.
Most people are reluctant to tell others that they have experienced hallucinations, fearing that doctors will diagnose them with a mental illness. That is a possible result. In the chapter called “Hearing Things” Sacks relates a 1973 experiment in which 8 people presented themselves at a variety of hospitals across the United States with a complaint of hearing voices. “They told the hospital staff that they could not really make out what the voices said but that they heard the words ‘empty’, ‘hollow’ and ‘thud’. Apart from this fabrication, they behaved normally and recounted their own (normal) past experiences and medical history.” All of these people were admitted to hospital for up to two months and diagnosed with schizophrenia or manic-depressive psychosis. None of the medical staff discovered that these patients were in an experiment. Interestingly, real patients figured it out. One said “You’re not crazy. You’re a journalist or a professor.”
I would think that people who have experienced hallucinations and not told anyone would be encouraged by this book. It is obvious that hallucinations are much more common than is believed. Since they can be signs of some abnormality in the brain it would be important to have the issue discussed and examined.
If I had ever thought about hallucinations I guess I would have thought that they were something people with mental health problems experienced. As Sacks has shown in the book hallucinations can be the result of many diseases or conditions and most of them are due to some change in the brain. Hallucinations can be visual, auditory, tactile or olfactory. They can last for a few seconds or persist for weeks. Many famous people including Sacks himself have experienced hallucinations.
Most people are reluctant to tell others that they have experienced hallucinations, fearing that doctors will diagnose them with a mental illness. That is a possible result. In the chapter called “Hearing Things” Sacks relates a 1973 experiment in which 8 people presented themselves at a variety of hospitals across the United States with a complaint of hearing voices. “They told the hospital staff that they could not really make out what the voices said but that they heard the words ‘empty’, ‘hollow’ and ‘thud’. Apart from this fabrication, they behaved normally and recounted their own (normal) past experiences and medical history.” All of these people were admitted to hospital for up to two months and diagnosed with schizophrenia or manic-depressive psychosis. None of the medical staff discovered that these patients were in an experiment. Interestingly, real patients figured it out. One said “You’re not crazy. You’re a journalist or a professor.”
I would think that people who have experienced hallucinations and not told anyone would be encouraged by this book. It is obvious that hallucinations are much more common than is believed. Since they can be signs of some abnormality in the brain it would be important to have the issue discussed and examined.
Journal Entry 3 by gypsysmom at Overlook in French River, Prince Edward Island Canada on Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Released 8 yrs ago (9/19/2015 UTC) at Overlook in French River, Prince Edward Island Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Despite the title of this book French River is not an hallucination but it is a picturesque little village and the overlook was crying out for a book to be released there. This release is for uppity's Oliver Sacks Memorial release challenge and for the 2015 September Sapphire release challenge and for the 2015 52 Towns in 52 Weeks release challenge.
