Als Ich Die Nackte Dame Im Kopfstand Fand (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
I have mixed feelings about this memoir. There are parts of me that really enjoyed learning about different types of disorders, and information about the field overall, but I still feel uncomfortable about other points. My 'expertise' in the field is limited to what I learned, and more importantly retained, in Intro to Psychology and Human Development in college. So in other words, not much at all. As a result, I cannot critique the information presented and its accuracy or inaccuracy. Thus the issues I have are with other aspects of the memoir.In terms of writing style, this was ok. Not great. Just ok. There were parts in the novel that seem overly sappy and forced. For example, sections where the author(s) add in a snippet about their own life/lives, such as getting frisky after a tough day at the office, that doesn't add to the story line. Now, obviously a memoir is about a person's life, and is not necessarily limited to a certain aspect of it, however, this particular memoir's focus is on Dr. Small's career, and besides that, the snippets do not pertain to anything at all. It makes reading this awkward at points, and it is distracting if nothing else.My main issue with this memoir is an ethical one. Yes, Dr. Small puts a disclaimer at the beginning to let the reader know that information about the cases and individuals presented have been changed so as to protect the identities of anyone involved. However, it still makes me uncomfortable to think that any of these cases could be recognized by a former/current patient or their friends and family. I know that if I was a featured patient in this memoir, or knew someone who was, I would be mortified. I would have a hard time trusting any psychiatrist again, because of it. So while the information may be changed, I don't think that's a guarantee that it has been changed enough. It makes me uncomfortable, and while I did read this by choice, I almost feel like it is a bit voyeuristic in nature. Studying the extremes of human behavior helps us understand the psychological middle ground that most of us inhabit and makes us think about our complex mental apparatus that we take for granted. Thus I enjoy the writings of Oliver Sacks, and I enjoyed reading “The Naked Lady Who Stood on her Head: A Psychiatrist’s Stories of His Most Bizarre Cases” by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan. This 2010 books looks in detail at 15 unusual, if not bizarre, cases from a psychiatrist’s 30 years of practice in Boston and Los Angeles. The second chapter recounts the young woman from the title of the book whom Dr. Small saw early in his career, in the fall of 1979. The woman, a Jane Doe, was indeed naked and standing on her head in an examining room at Massachusetts General after Boston police had her wandering and babbling through the streets of Boston’s North End. Small was unable to get the woman to talk, and his initial examination revealed nothing obviously physically wrong with her. As he awaited the results of lab tests, he tried to interview the patient again, and offered her a cup of orange juice. Her demeanor quickly changed from a blank stare to and inquisitive look. She asked for more orange juice. “In an instant I realized it was nothing I’d said but something I’d done that got her to talk. More precisely, it was the orange juice. And that cup of OJ was also the key to what caused her bizarre behavior. Her blood sugar had obviously crashed, and she had been suffering from acute hypoglycemia.” The story continued as we find out more than just the problems the 19-year-old had controlling her diabetes. Readers get to know that she had an acting career (which her mother opposed) and a yen for yoga. Dr. Small’s diagnostic skills, both for physical and psychological problems, are shown to be acute. Reading the other stories that showcase Dr. Small’s ability to get to the root of problems both physical and psychological, I thought of inevitable cases he must have faced that he wasn’t able to solve. It’s natural to highlight your successes and downplay failures, but I wanted to read about someone he wasn’t able to cure. The final chapter answered my call. “Sigmund Fraud” tells us of his mentor Dr. Larry Klein who showed signs of paranoia and depression and in 2008 asked to have therapy with Dr. Small. After a series of tests, Dr. Klein was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and none of Dr. Small’s medical skills could delay, much less cure, that. Dr. Klein deteriorated, soon needed 24-hour home care, and died. In the afterward, Dr. Small comments on the fear of many Americans about undergoing therapy, indeed the fear of any self-reflection. “Many people who could benefit from seeing a psychiatrist choose not to because of their fear and denial. We spend years of our lives in school and college studying any number of topics, yet the idea of taking a few hours to study ourselves seems foreign to so many.”
What do You think about Als Ich Die Nackte Dame Im Kopfstand Fand (2012)?
Pretty decent book on some of the more unusual cases the author has dealt with over the years.
—Mbonga78
Yes, the cases were strange and interested, but the telling was a bit dry and clinical.
—Catlover1960
