Fire in the Brain: Clinical Tales of Hallucination

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A beautiful pianist hears her music drowned out by the voice of God. A young woman calmly watches the gang rape of her girlfriend and herself. A shy schoolboy turns to his invisible best friend to wreak bloody vengeance. In Fire in the Brain, Ronald K. Siegel shows how even the sober brain can create the sights and sounds of artificial heavens and hells. Here we find gods and demons, living playmates and dead friends, even UFOs--all astonishingly vivid yet entirely illusory. With the wit and compassion of Oliver ...
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More About This Book

Overview

A beautiful pianist hears her music drowned out by the voice of God. A young woman calmly watches the gang rape of her girlfriend and herself. A shy schoolboy turns to his invisible best friend to wreak bloody vengeance. In Fire in the Brain, Ronald K. Siegel shows how even the sober brain can create the sights and sounds of artificial heavens and hells. Here we find gods and demons, living playmates and dead friends, even UFOs--all astonishingly vivid yet entirely illusory. With the wit and compassion of Oliver Sacks and with psychological detective work worthy of Sherlock Holmes, Siegel reveals the topography of the hallucinatory world through seventeen riveting case histories. Readers will meet a young girl who insists that a dragon named Chopsticks is her frequent companion; a pool shark desperate to discover the trigger for his horrifying LSD flashbacks; and an elderly woman whose doppelganger rescues her from a violent intruder at the eleventh hour. Their stories, and over a dozen more, reveal the commonalities of the hallucinating brain, whether our hallucinations are induced by drugs, dreams, severe trauma, or the delirium of illness. Omni magazine said that the author "probably knows more about how drugs work than anyone else alive." In this masterfully orchestrated blend of scientific fact and bizarre yet compelling anecdotes, Siegel demonstrates that his brilliance goes beyond psychopharmacology into the fascinating natural workings--as well as the dark side--of the human mind.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Siegel evokes bizarre visions with a novelist's skill, explaining the nature of hallucination through 17 spine-tingling stories. (Mar.)
School Library Journal
YA-- Siegel, a neuropsychiatrist who studies brain changes that occur under the influence of drugs, sensory deprivation, dreams, torture, and the like presents 17 fascinating case studies he's encountered. From the horrifying tale of two young women who were drugged with ketamine and repeatedly raped, to the clinical description of a man's being flayed alive while suffering no pain, each tale reads like a Poe horror story. The author himself has participated in many experiences, from going into the isolation tank to being locked in a cage for four days with no food or water. His clear, matter-of-fact style makes these cases both vivid and memorable. They're enough to turn anyone off simple aspirin!-- Diana C. Hirsch, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, MD
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780452269538
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 3/1/1993
  • Pages: 288
  • Product dimensions: 7.00 (w) x 5.00 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Table of Contents

Preface 1
Introduction 4
Pt. 1 Visionary Drugs 13
1 The Psychonaut and the Shaman 15
2 Conversations with God in C-Sharp Minor 32
3 Rape in a Dali Landscape 46
4 Flashback and Deadball 63
Pt. II Dreams 81
5 The Succubus 83
6 UFO 91
7 Daymare 111
8 Sheila and the Swastikas 117
Pt. III Imaginary Companions 137
9 The Girl with Dragon Eyes 139
10 Channeling 159
11 Alone 168
12 Take a Picture 185
13 Sergeant Tommy 200
Pt. IV Life-Threatening Danger 209
14 The Cage 211
15 Doppelganger 229
16 The Scream 237
17 Death 246
Afterword 257
Bibliography 258
Acknowledgments 274
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