TE

“People with damage to their frontal lobe-whether as a result of head trauma... cancer... or a neurodegenerative disease, as with Alzheimer's patients-often undergo significant personality changes. In some cases, these changes are truly bizarre, combining noticeable disinhibition with little appreciation or concern about the consequences of one's actions.”
― Barbara K. Lipska, The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery

“You must be your own advocate... You can't rely solely on your doctors or you family or anyone else; you have to stay on top of your own care, no matter how sick or exhausted you feel. Learn everything you can about your disease and your diagnosis, locate the very best doctors, find out exactly what drugs and treatments your doctors are giving you and what they're supposed to do, never stop researching and asking questions, and check, check, check what the doctors tell you-get second and third opinions. All of this is up to you because ultimately no one else-not your family members who love you, or your doctors, who want you to survive-is responsible for your health. You need a support team, of course, but in the end, you run this race on your own.”
― Barbara K. Lipska, The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery

“Until quite recently, psychiatrists believed that schizophrenia was a psychological illness caused by stress and upbringing, particularly by the influence of a "schizophrenogenic mother" who did not provide her child with enough maternal warmth and care. Today, this theory has been soundly discredited. Schizophrenia, as we now know, is a disease caused by abnormal brain structure and function, just as heart disease is a product of faulty arteries.”
― Barbara K. Lipska, The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery

“She wondered if she made them uncomfortable. She was a big woman, and made no attempt at being pretty. Her hair was short and often uncombed, and she didn't bother with makeup. She was bitterly comfortable inside her own body, in a way women often weren't, and sometimes that unsettled people.”
― Leslie J. Anderson, The Unmothers