October 2024
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    I recently read Oliver Sack's "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat" and he emphasizes the importance of personal narratives in neurology and says that medicine has shifted away from these sources:

    "With the rise of neuroscience and all its wonders, it is even more important now to preserve the personal narrative, to see every patient as a unique being with his own history and strategies for adapting and surviving. Though our knowledge and insights may evolve and change, the phenomenology of human sickness and health remains fairly constant, and case history, careful and detailed descriptions of individual patients, can never become obsolete"

    He references a few books by esteemed neurologists that do this. And he specifically refers to these books, narrative-driven biographies about a single patient with a unique neurological disorder, as "pathographies" (as opposed to a biography).

    Which got me thinking…are there any well-known auto-pathographies in the literary world?

    Basically, I'm looking for any non-fiction books that are written by the patient themselves and that focus on their own psychiatric or neurological issues. And hopefully ones that are well-written and considered, more-or-less, highly regarded.

    Thank you for any recommendations you can provide!

    by bangeltigersaprem

    2 Comments

    1. I think Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan is exactly what you’re looking for. Absolutely riveting page turner

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