![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth
Sadly, when it comes to ... such borderline theories, I have no spiel to offer, and sometimes revert to being a jerk. In this case, I suggested that they both might be magnetized. As an experiment, I said, he and his wife should float on their backs in their swimming pool to see if they both pointed north. I was guessing that they had a pool. I was right. They never came back. [p. 102]
There are some fascinating case studies here (ovarian teratoma, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's) and Ropper stresses the importance of listening to the patient's account of their problem, as well as observing the physical signs of it. Unfortunately Ropper presents as rather arrogant, very much the leader of any team he's in. (He does make one mistaken diagnosis: the patient dies: he doesn't tell the patient's family about his mistake.)
He's also dismissive of 'conversion disorders' -- the modern term for hysteria and psychosomatic issues -- and rather too fond of describing his patients' physical appearance. The chapter on brain death was especially interesting, but also horrific because it read as though one patient's reputation affected how he (well, his body) was treated by hospital staff.
Interesting and well-written but I prefer the humility and compassion of authors such as Oliver Sacks. That said, I did laugh at the episode I've quoted at the top of this review... despite knowing that those people were experiencing what they perceived as a medical issue, and that they were paying for medical care.
