Head Cases: Stories of a Troubled America

books:

	• Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath Michael Paul Mason Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great read!

I had 2 traumatic brain injuries, one in '97 and the second in '05. I go to a FANTASTIC center for folks with brain injuries from Portsmouth, NH, and one of the program directors lent me this book that was meant for both the clients and the students (From local Colleges) to read. I borrowed this, and read it in a fairly short amount of time (considering my slower rate of comprehension). The chapter "Rob Rabe Cannot Cry" was very moving for me to read- I cannot cry since my first accident, and that chapter helped me put a name to it, and know I'm not alone.

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Revealing.

The author details the stories of his subjects with stark honesty and incredible compassion and empathy. His subjects are not brain injured people but rather people with brain injuries. He feircely defends their humanity throughout while never losing his own in the process.

It is unfortunately necessarily gloomy at times. This is the reality of living with the injury. Each injury is different, though, as each person is different.

This book also clearly illustrates how woefully inadequate and unequal to the task modern medicine is in this regard. If people are to survive this and remain people, then we, as a society, need to step up and help them do so.

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Tough to stomach but worth it

I heard about this book on NPR and thought I would give it a shot. I have never read anything quite like it. The author takes the time to introduce the people he meets and makes them more than their injuries.
Once I started I had a hard time putting it down. There isn't another book out there like this one. If you want to read about the real people behind brain injuries, this is the book for you.

Head Cases: Stories of a Troubled America

In providing several real-life experiences, author of Head Cases Michael Paul Mason brilliantly weaves together stories of the afflictions of brain-injured individuals into a comprehensive novel, bringing to light the gravity and significance of brain injuries as they exist in the United States. A "Brain Injury Case Manager," Mason uses his background knowledge, stemming from his previous occupation in a psychiatric ward to his multiple experiences visiting clients with serious brain injuries, as well as varied sources of respected information, to educate the reader on the outcomes of incidents to the brain. His common prose helps the reader relate to his understanding of each afflicted individual's situation, all the while providing for an in-depth perspective on the traumatic beginnings, tribulations, and results of a brain injury.

As a Case Manager, Mason travels from city to city on a nearly daily basis, following information provided to him from the family or guardians of people suffering from the most severe brain injuries. Mason's occupation leads him to evaluate each of the individuals that he visits, providing for a full analysis of character based on mobility, reasoning, communication, thought process, and a multitude of other factors. Typically, such analyses occur in an informal setting, with Mason meeting the patient either directly or with the patient and his/her representative or primary caretaker. Following these meetings, Mason then determines the best route of care for the brain-injured individual, providing help that was denied by other means that had been attempted to be accessed. In doing so, Mason truly brings hope to each of those that he meets.

Stated previously, the book is presented in a conversational, nearly-documentary type fashion, with each chapter representing a new individual with a new background, setting, conflict, and resolution. When one individual is presented, followed, and finished, the next brain-injured patient is discussed. By presenting his experiences in such a way, Mason seems to provide a sense of the perpetually-frustrating existence of brain injuries and our inability, even with our modern medicine, to appropriately care for such hardship. A common theme throughout the work, Mason claims that even with an increasing understanding of the workings of the brain and the potential problems that it may incur, the organ is simply too complex of an organ, with too many interlocking and correlated parts, to treat as one would treat any other injury. His stories exemplify that; they range from physical trauma to loss of certain function to complete changes in behavior and personality.

Each chapter begins by introducing a new story, a new person. Mason writes as if recalling an incident or experience to a friend, and it warmly and smoothly invites the reader into his thoughts and his story. Mason discusses his first impression of each individual, and then elaborates how he came to meet with the person as a result of his/her injury. As he leads the reader further into the story, Mason discusses his thought process through the same method of recalling a memory while he learns more about his patient, taking the reader along with him in his research. He provides his own insight and opinion to a certain extent, yet manages to maintain a certain objectivity in relaying his own memory to the reader, which increases his reliability as an author. Nonetheless, as Mason continues with his evaluation of each individual, the reader learns of the difficulties that were suffered as a result of the brain injury, and how the individual attempted to cope with it. Seeing that such attempts failed and Mason was contacted, future arrangements for treatment are made, and if enough time has passed to provide for a follow-up, Mason gives resolution to the story. Some endings prove to be of a positive light, with patients recovering to a certain extent; others bring to attention the harsh reality of brain-related injuries and the difficulty of returning to a lifestyle like anything that was experienced before it.

The most interesting "short story" that was described in this novel was in the chapter entitled The Hermit of Hollywood Boulevard, a depiction of the severely epileptic Cheyenne, a young man that experiences severe seizures. His affliction is a result of a snowboarding accident, after which he persistently experienced terrible migraines, followed by small (relatively-speaking) seizures, leading to grand mal seizures, the worst kind. This story was interesting to me because of the way that Cheyenne handled his seizures, and that he was still, outside of those brief moments, a perfectly functioning individual. Seemingly, this is one of the best beginnings to a recovery story, and something that is very important to Mason's evaluation. This was evident when Mason asked for a cup of coffee, simply to watch Cheyenne's motor and processing skills, claims, "It takes a certain cognition level to make coffee, and Cheyenne does it like you would do it, only when Cheyenne does it, it's a relief to me" (Head Cases 17).

Given my interest in the abilities of the brain to regenerate its tissues and deal with trauma, this book proved to be a great read. More than a simple non-fiction textbook with insensitive and non-personal accounts of patients and their injuries, Head Cases proved to be an educational, yet (in the realistic sense of the word) entertaining book. Dealing less with the technical aspect and more of the lasting, personal effects that the brain injuries had on each of the individuals, I found myself getting emotionally involved to a certain extent with the patients, seeing them as more than just cases for Mr. Mason. I recommend this book to individuals looking for just this; if one hopes to learn about the situation of brain injuries as it pertains to its effect on individuals and our society, while still learning valuable information regarding the processes and functioning of the brain, then this book is definitely for you!

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FINALLY!!!!!

I am the survivor of a Traumatic Brain Injury, and I am permanently disabled. This book was so refreshing, Michael does not gloss over the reality of a brain injury. He also provides examples of how no two brain injuries are alike, we are all different in what we struggle with. This book spoke so loudly to me, I reached out and contacted the author. He gives lectures all over the USA to Brain Injury Foundations and doctors, and his dedication to the brain injured population is something that is so needed. You see, he was a case manager for those of us with brain injuries. As my primary caregiver, my husband also found this book to be amazing. Can't recommend it enough!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Head Cases takes us into the dark side of the brain in an astonishing sequence of stories, at once true and strange, from the world of brain damage. Michael Paul Mason is one of an elite group of experts who coordinate care in the complicated aftermath of tragic injuries that can last a lifetime. On the road with Mason, we encounter survivors of brain injuries as they struggle to map and make sense of the new worlds they inhabit.

Underlying each of these survivors? stories is an exploration of the brain and its mysteries. When injured, the brain must figure out how to heal itself, reorganizing its physiology in order to do the job. Mason gives us a series of vivid glimpses into brain science, the last frontier of medicine, and we come away in awe of the miracles of the brain?s workings and astonished at the fragility of the brain and the sense of self, life, and order that resides there. Head Cases ?[achieves] through sympathy and curiosity insight like that which pulses through genuine literature? (The New York Sun); it is at once illuminating and deeply affecting.

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