Another book that got lent to me. One thing I should say is that I love memoirs, a lot of my favourite books are memoirs, I'm not sure if it's because it adds the human element in more or what but I love them. This one tells the tale of a women with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Tourettes Syndrome. I don't know about you, but the first thing I thin of when I think of Tourettes are vocal tics, despite knowing they are incredibly rare. This book dispelled many of the notions about both OCD and Tourettes and showed how the combination of them contributed towards Wilensky's life.
Her life is covered from childhood (pre-diagnosis) to being diagnosed to her life now and how she copes with her disorder. In her childhood, Wilensky was continually subject to taunts for her motor tic which seemed to constitute a jerk of the neck by her family and in particular her father. People also found it difficult to understand why she was obsessed with stepping on lines or counting to a certain number, although many people have heard of OCD and Tourettes, they only know the manifestations seen in the media and cannot think outside the square.
When she finally seeks psychiatric help, and with her diagnosis faces the battle of knowing she can be partially cured by medication but also not being sure whether it will change who she is by changing how she acts. One thing I loved about this book is that unlike many memoirs, it wasn't extremely emotive. It would have been a difficult position to be in, but Wilensky seemed to face it with a strength of mind that many would envy.
Highly recommend it.
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