Over My Head is the common story of head trauma viewed from an odd view: the injured brain itself. If you look for a purely scientific factbook on head injury, you might get disappointed reading this book, but if you want to gain an insight into how such a patient really feels, you have picked up the right book.

In the atmosphere that Claudia creates in her book, you can breathe the smell of perplexity, see how simply simple things can go neglected and hear what shouts silently inside a “shattered self”. The only element which is not in accordance with this smashed picture is the accuracy with which the story is told. Dr. Claudia Osborn’s life changes after a head injury so abruptly that goes invisible; “neglect” which is the strange and bitter product of the loss of reference can be sorely felt from Claudia’s memoirs. Lack of insight into one’s disabilities precludes any attempt to alleviate them. In the rehabilitation program giving insight remains a cornerstone, a double edged sword that is both painful and invigorating.

The memory deficits are also vividly pictured not from the view point of psychological and clinical tests, but from the mishap around a person who painfully lives with them. Over My Head provides vivid moments which you see not the disease, but the patient with the disease. In this book, the reader along with the writer rediscovers that our most lovely -and often forgotten- pleasure can be mental agility. The hard path that Claudia and all others in similar conditions strive to walk is rephrased neatly for a general as well as an expert reader.

Perhaps those involved in the science of the mind, such as psychologists, neurologists and neuroscientists, would like more details about the rehabilitation program, particulars which might inadvertently be neglected in a book intended for general readers. Now that she is back, Claudia is one of those rare travelers in the strange voyage of recovery who can share with us her rare adventures. Books of this sort are not abundant.

Arash Fazl, M.D.; School of Intelligent Systems; Tehran, Iran.

Categories: General