The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience, and the Secret World of Sleep by Dr. Guy Leschziner

Author:Dr. Guy Leschziner [Leschziner, Guy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471176371
Amazon: B07J4R1R13
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2019-03-29T16:00:00+00:00

The sense of rebirth in her is palpable, and I think it is as much a result of restored regular sleep as the resolution of her seizures. But I cannot help but feel sad that she has gone for more than thirty years undiagnosed and untreated. ‘I can’t be resentful or bitter about what happened to me as a youngster. But I do honestly think it would have helped me so much if I had been diagnosed so much earlier in my life. This is not self-pity, but I’ve missed out on all the years of my life. I have missed out on so many things.’

In Chapter 5, on Robert and his sleep-talking, I have cautioned about taking things at face value. Janice’s story illustrates the flipside of the coin. I suspect that if it hadn’t been for her traumatic upbringing, and the behavioural issues, she would have been taken more seriously. Rather than assuming this was part and parcel of her psychological distress, treated with sedatives and antipsychotic drugs, she would have seen a neurologist sooner. The impact of her epilepsy on her entire adult life may have been lessened.

And, for me, the lesson from Janice has been to believe what you are being told, or at least not to dismiss matters. It is difficult in clinic sometimes to unravel the biological from the psychological, and I am sure that I am as guilty as others of jumping to conclusions in the face of someone who is obviously mentally unwell or psychologically distressed. But Janice has taught me to start from the default position of belief rather than disbelief, and to look for clear evidence to support the physical or psychological.

In Janice’s case, however, an important factor is the rarity of her condition, and the fact that few people are familiar with it. And therein lies her motivation, her intense desire to tell her story: to prevent others with similar conditions from suffering for decades, like she did.

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