The doctor’s name was Oliver Sacks and the medicine was L-Dopa.īorn in 1933, Oliver’s curiosity was always a driving force in his life. That is, until the arrival of a new doctor and new medicine - an explosive combination that, in the summer of 1969, shook everyone to their core. The rest didn’t have any hope for the future - they were quietly expiring in specialized institutions. Forty years later, most of them were dead. Some of the survivors, however, were able to go on living for decades, stuck in a physical and mental limbo - not dead, but not quite alive either. Sometimes the wait was short, people lasting only a couple of months before dying.

Those that survived were left in a state that could hardly be called life - unable to control their bodies, they were left in the care of family members and specialized institutions, having no hope of treatment, quietly waiting for death to arrive. The name of the condition was Encephalitis Lethargica. In fact, she was one of the millions of victims of a global pandemic, that was about to claim the lives of almost 1.5 million people. She remained in this state for decades, only partially recovering her ability to speak and move in a short burst before freezing up again. “ Keep her quiet and feed her – she’ll be fine in a week.” But she wasn’t fine in a week, or a month, or a year, or 40 years. The doctor’s verdict was catatonia, a condition usually caused by schizophrenia. To her horror, when she woke up, she realized that her nightmare had come true - she was unable to move her body or respond in any way to her panicking parents. She dreamed of magic and enchantments, she saw herself become a “ living, sentient statue of stone”. In this dream, she was locked in an inaccessible castle, which had the shape of her own body. Back in 1926, when she was just 21, Rose had a dream. But what if it wasn’t like that? If, even after waking up, the nightmare continued? This is exactly what happened to Rose R (not her real name). We have all experienced that sense of relief when, upon waking up, we realize it was all just a bad dream. They seem to be one of the ways that we express, to ourselves, some of our deepest fears and anxieties.

Awakenings sacks