Hallucinations

Introduction

Oliver Sacks, author of Hallucinations. Sacks is a practicing physician and author of twelve books including,  The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Musicophilia,  Awakenings, The Mind’s Eye, and more. Oliver Sacks is known for his collections of neurological case histories. Hallucinations compares to the other books he has written in a non-fiction way. The topic that draws the connection between Hallucinations and the rest of his work is that they all fall under the study of the brain and the neurological experiences. In Hallucinations, Sacks draws attention to mind-altering episodes of both his patients and himself. He explains each feature and structure of the brain and how they correspond, operate and function. The theme of this book is the idea or concept that there is a neurological reason of why people experience hallucinations. Whether it’s a visual, sound, sense of touch, or sense of smell hallucination, it can still occur to common people in common situations. This does not always mean that that person has a diagnosis of a mental disorder.

Summary

“When the word “hallucination” first came into use, in the early sixteenth century, it denoted only “a wandering mind”” (Sacks, ix). This book gives goes into depth about the causes and explanation of one of the most arguable or questionable symptoms in today’s neurological field. Sacks explores the minds’ of a variety of normal, everyday people that are open about their hallucination episodes. He gives lots of examples of different people with different stories. The book begins with a discussion on Charles Bonnet Syndrome, which is a disease that occurs in the visually impaired. People that lack sight, often substitute vision for hallucinations. Next, he talks about hallucinatory smells, some people experience pleasant or unpleasant smells that are only noticed by them and in reality do not exist. Sacks then moves into auditory hallucinations. The brain creates an illusion of voices, noises, music or any type of sound that are not actually occurring. Sacks explains that the disease Parkinson can lead to hallucinations. He transitions into hallucinations due to drugs. Other causes of hallucinations that are mentioned are epilepsy, delirium, which is hallucinations that happen due to toxic levels of chemicals or brain damage, pseudo hallucinations of near sleep, and narcolepsy. In addition, hallucinations can also happen from PTSD. He then gives intake on what may make us see ghosts or spirits, and doppelgangers. Finally the book ends in a mind-blowing cause of hallucination that is way beyond our earthly knowledge and could possibly be the explanation for the reason of a very important topic that we humans question and debate upon all the time. This book is filled with, answers to questions, explanations, lots of research studies, personal experience and technical neurological reasons of the hallucinations presented. Oliver Sacks is an important character in the book because not only is he the author of the novel and a well known scientist and doctor, but he includes himself with personal experiences. The characters in the book are actual real people because it’s a non-fictional novel. These people are patients he’s examined which have ranged from encephalitis patients, migraine patients, those with phantom limbs, and the elderly. A quote that I found particularly intriguing was points and references that stood out to me the most and made me think. “More than a hundred thousand people in the United States have amputations every year, and the vast majority of them experience phantom limbs after their amputations” (Sacks, 272). This is intriguing because it can show the complexity of the mind and almost as your own mind is playing tricks on you. The patient can feel an itch on their “leg” but in reality the feeling in not present. This to me forms a non biological dimension to the brain. The brain is more than just a physical existence to the human body.

Analysis/Review

               

I would recommend the novel, Hallucinations because through his writing of patient case studies, compassion, personal experience, and wisdom, there can always be something gained through knowledge or learned.  I have learned many fascinating facts that have opened my mind. If you’re the type of person that goes for the non-fictional, educational books that leave your mind running with thoughts and ideas then you’ll want to read this book immediately. You should read this book because once you start, you can’t put it down. 

Book Review by Sophie H.