Oliver Sacks Research

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

https://cogsci.ucsd.edu/~nunez/COGS1_F07/Stiles_rdg.pdf

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat consists of a series of brief case studies surrounding neurological disorders. The first study is about a musician named Dr. P who has a rare form of face blindness and is unable to recognize familiar objects and people. He even attempts to pick up his wife’s head, thinking that it was his hat.

 

Cotard’s Syndrome (Walking Corpse Syndrome)

Cotard’s syndrome is a rare neuropsychiatric condition where the person becomes delusional and believes that parts of their body are missing, they are dying, dead, soulless, or never existed. It can occur with other neurological conditions and mental illnesses, usually with severe depression. People with Cotard’s syndrome have paranoid hallucinations related to death, isolation from family and friends, and may refuse to eat.

In a 2008 case study, a woman believed that she was dead and smelled like rotting flesh and wanted to be taken to a morgue. She had delusions where she thought “paramedics” were trying to burn down her house. She felt hopeless and had decreased energy and appetite and was reluctant to take medication and eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

https://www.healthline.com/health/cotard-delusion#complications

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695744/