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THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINCAL TALES

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A HAT

Crisol Garcia
10/23/15

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THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINCAL TALES

For the signature assignment I chose to do a book report on The Man who Mistook His
Wife For a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks. I choose this book do to it having
many stories and a wide range of illnesses and even sicknesses. The book has 24 stories and the
two that stood out to me where The Lost Mariner, and Cupids Diseases. These stories are
different but caught my interest due to what they were about.
The lost Mariner was about a man who forgot most of his memory. He is still stuck in the
year 1970 what day exactly or around what month is till unknown. Every day he doesnt
remember where he is or who the doctor is that is treating him. They think he lost his memory do
to him heavily drinking after the war where he was a soldier. His memory is very severe in the
long term memory and a little bit of the short term memory. The doctor tries different activities
for him to do but ones that take too long he forgets what he is doing. The doctor tries a tactic that
is very unprofessional by making him look into a mirror of him. Keep in mind that he thinks he
is 19 but right now he is in his 80s. Once he looks in the mirror what he sees spokes him and he
has a panic attack. The doctor tries to calm him down by asking questions about him and his life.
In which he starts to talk about his brother and how he is going to get married. Over time his
memory never comes back but he does remember the turns and passages of the hallways of the
clinic he is in.
What fascinates me about this story is the cut of year of his memory. He cant really put
an exact date on it but he does remember how old he is. Also they never really found out about
how he got amnesia just guesses. I would really like to see them have test on him and his brain to
see what the problem would be. He does get to meet his older brother in present time but doesnt
quite question why he looks so old. Also why doesnt he question more of where he is why is
there and who everybody is. If somebody had that severe of amnesia wouldnt he be confused on

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THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINCAL TALES

where they are and who everybody else is? This story very does fascinate me but I would like to
get more into the root of the problem.
The second story that interest me is Cupids Diseases. About a ninety year old women
who is very aroused with younger men and has been feeling very lively since recently. She went
to a doctor not because she knew she was sick but because she thought she was. Her friends
would tell her how flirt and giggly she is and not like before where she was very shy and timid
and now she has no control and acts on impulse. When the doctor ran some tests he found out
that she was positive for neurosyphilis. She knew that before she had syphilis when she worked
at a brothel but that her husband paid to get it treated for her. Getting neurosyphilis isnt unheard
of but hers came almost 70 years later. She did get it treated but only half way due to her loving
the feeling of being alive and the new found confidant.
What drew me to this was how she didnt want her treatment to be fully treated but only
half way. We hear of people hatting the way diseases make them feel and how it controls them.
This story is different from the rest because in this one there was a cure for her diseases but she
didnt want the full treatment she wanted to feel alive even if it was only for a little bit of time
due to her being in her nineties. This stands out because you read the other stories and hear how
sad they are and which some miracle could help them but not in this one. Oliver Sacks puts a
little bit of brightness in these story by showing how not all illnesses can ruin your life and its
really how you feel about it that can help you in so many ways. I would like to read about how
she did after the treatment and why it took so long for her to get the nerusyphilis so later in her
life time. I find it odd how he calls syphilis cupids disease. When I first read the title I thought it
was going to be about a guy who thinks hes cupid but it turns out to be about a sexual

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THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINCAL TALES

transmitted disease. This story was one I found interesting because it wasnt a sad one or a
horrible diseases one.
This book probably helped other psychologies in the past because it introduced new
found diseases and mental illnesses and showed how a doctor came a cross it and how he helped
the people in the end. Many illness and disease were finally given a name during his time even
though they have been around for a very long time. This book could help future psychologies in
the case where they find someone with an illness they cant figure out about and read this book
and think twice about their patient. Also it could help other future psychologies by helping them
understand that there are many types of diseases out there and them all very. That you wont
always have the same people have the same disease or illness. Also it show much on how not
everything can be cured just diagnosed. Even in today society where technology has advanced in
many parts and has helped us in many things also in the medicine world. But even with all that
we have today it still wont help every disease and illness out in the world. He did diagnose
many people in the book but was only able to cure few. But I guess that was okay with him
because he was finally able to give an answer to the familys that where suffering not knowing
what was going on with their loved ones.
This will help me in my career goal by seeing how not many but some people in these
world are. And if they cannot see me as a whole but in parts I know there not lying but telling me
the truth. My carrier goal is to be a prosecutor and I would like to know if the person has a
mental illness. So this book did show me the wide variety of illness that is out there and even
though they sound weird and unheard off they are telling the truth.

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THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINCAL TALES

Reference
Oliver S. THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINCAL TALES
(1985). Harper Perennial A Division of HarperCollinsPublisher