A book, a gift, a fear of confinement for mental illness complicated by traumatic brain injury; and the much denied chronic fatigue which I know to be most debilitating and for years too; back to the gift, is the book Asylum, Inside Grangegorman, just released by Professor Brendan Kelly. As I have outlined before I am presently reading Oliver Sacks books … Awakenings has so much to teach us and if anyone has dealings with mental illness, diseases like Parkinsons, neurological conditions or for that matter traumatic brain injury, I suggest first listening to Professor Sacks, link below. Do we have the detail in the written word now? Reading the book I think we lose out on detail but more so in the joint adventure of physician and patient to find a solution to create a better life for other people. This is the “Altruism” of the other cultures and their priorities. Too many insurance claims have caused “Fear in Physicians” to encourage their patients/clients to contribute especially so in Psychiatry, ironically, the area where medical people shun. When St. Brendan’s or as it was known in my time, Grangegorman was being decommissioned I recall that much correspondence and personal belongings of those confined there often for decades, was available and I wrote to politicians to ask that these letters be archived. Awakenings reiterates the importance of such archives. Professor Kelly’s book is next on my agenda followed by the “Birds Nest” novel but having the background of Awakenings gives me hope.