T.C. Robson -
Helpful Score: 1
Who knew psychiatry could be so...strange?
Dr. Gary Small relays his most interesting and awkward cases in 'The Naked Lady Who Stood On Her Head', a fantastic analysis of people's emotional intricacies and depths and the ways they're relayed in physical symptoms. Each case - a woman with an unintended overactive sexuality and a guy who feels like his left arm shouldn't be there are just two examples - reads like an episode of televison's 'House', a mysterious illness with a hidden surprise diagnosis just waiting to pop into the good doc's brain at any moment. Small highlights the progression of each case - and his experience and emotional maturity as a psychiatrist - in perfect detail, including snippets from his personal life that show an actual person behind the white coat.
Most helpful, though, is Small's elegant way of wording medical jargon and their definitions well enough for us regular folks to understand completely and for maximum enjoyment of each told case. If classes in the medical field were taught with as much wit and understanding as Small uses, I'd be front row in that room ready to take notes.
A brilliant book with a great message - psychiatrists are people too.
Dr. Gary Small relays his most interesting and awkward cases in 'The Naked Lady Who Stood On Her Head', a fantastic analysis of people's emotional intricacies and depths and the ways they're relayed in physical symptoms. Each case - a woman with an unintended overactive sexuality and a guy who feels like his left arm shouldn't be there are just two examples - reads like an episode of televison's 'House', a mysterious illness with a hidden surprise diagnosis just waiting to pop into the good doc's brain at any moment. Small highlights the progression of each case - and his experience and emotional maturity as a psychiatrist - in perfect detail, including snippets from his personal life that show an actual person behind the white coat.
Most helpful, though, is Small's elegant way of wording medical jargon and their definitions well enough for us regular folks to understand completely and for maximum enjoyment of each told case. If classes in the medical field were taught with as much wit and understanding as Small uses, I'd be front row in that room ready to take notes.
A brilliant book with a great message - psychiatrists are people too.
Cis H. (californiadreamin) reviewed The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head: A Psychiatrist's Stories of His Most Bizarre Cases on + 273 more book reviews
Enjoyable book covering Dr Gary Small's career from his early residency in 1978 through his practice and research to 2008. Realizing these cases are summarized for writing purposes, as many patients were treated for years by Dr Small, I found them interesting and educational. He weaves in small pieces of his personal life to show he's a person too, not only a psychiatrist. It's written in lay terms to allow the general public insight into some bizarre behavior brought on by mental illness.
