A MOLECULE AWAY FROM MADNESS: Tales of A Hijacked

Brain. Sarah Manning Peskin

Do you enjoy true mysteries?

Immerse yourself in this amazing book where researchers struggle to unravel why brain illness occurs. Dr Sarah Peskin, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, gives readers a glimpse into the complexity of medical science as she reveals how many brain illnesses are related to three causes of molecular decline: DNA mutations, rogue proteins, and ingested invaders.

DNA mutations such as those causing Huntington’s Disease are a change in the DNA sequence of an organism. A breakthrough came when the exact nucleotide sequence of Huntington’s was identified by a Huntington’s sufferer and scientist Nancy Wexler, leading to a drug that in trials proved 85% successful in short-circuiting the mechanisms setting Huntington’s in motion.

Rogue proteins that attack brain cells causing cognitive malfunction posed another mystery for determined medical scientists. A bright student suddenly lost her sense of time, descending into a fantasy world of the walking dead because the protein molecules created by her body to protect against infection went berserk.

The invaders, “environmental toxins, illicit drugs, and pharmaceuticals that are not normally part of the human body”, can cause immense brain function disruption. Perskin speculates that Abraham Lincoln’s unpredictable behaviour before his election to presidency was related to his ingestion of “blue mass” prescribed for his bowel problems. The medication would fail the guidelines of the Office of Drug Control today.

Through this book, the reader, whether layman or expert, steps into the complex world of medical research, where sometimes great leaps forward are assigned to the wrong scientist, where scientists work tirelessly together often for little reward, building on each other’s discoveries, always questioning. This is a wonderful work — a must read for the curious.

Julie Martin

POTATOES AND OTHER CRITERIA: A MEMOIR OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. Kim E Garthwaite

Who would believe the ability to peel potatoes was a criterion for judging sanity? Throughout this hard-hitting, very personal and sometimes funny memoir, Kim E Garthwaite, a registered nurse, uses the many incarnations of a potato as a metaphor for her state of health during her eightyear struggle with mental illness. Her style reflects the sharp insightful wit of Kathy Lette or Liane Moriarty.

Kim had her normal brain function hijacked after the birth of her second child when the post-traumatic effects of her childhood abuse swamped her. Her memoir is unputdownable, fascinating, shocking in its descriptions of the many therapies and treatments she endured, learned from and challenged, as she battled to survive. At each stage of her journey, she augments her story with excerpts from the clinical notes made by her nurses, counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists. Her commentary, hilarious at times, gives a patient’s view, overlaid with her own medical knowledge, of the complexities of mental health treatments. The book haunts me, even though it is filled with hope.

Kim is now a clinical nutritionist, yoga teacher, speaker for Beyond Blue and founder of Don’t Ever Think All Is Lost (DETAIL)® a support for those with an experience of anxiety and depression. She has found a way out of the black maze of despair through her persistent, analytical searches: a holistic balance of traditional medical therapies, other disciplines, connection and service to others which sustains her mental health. Through open discussion of mental health conditions, we, as a society, can overcome the associated societal stigma. This is one of the most powerful and haunting memoirs I have ever read. I highly recommend it.

Julie Martin

THE CROSSING Sophie Matterson

Early last year, we published an article about Sophie Matterson and her 5000km trek across Australia, from West Coast to East Coast, with 5 camels which she caught and trained from the wild.

Sophie has published a memoir about her journey, which is out now. This is an epic story of leaving everything behind to find purpose, adventure and love. Sophie, a former Samford Steiner School pupil and one time member of Samford Golden Valley Pony Club, trained as a photographer and film maker. She spent four years learning all about camels both in Australia and overseas, before deciding to embark on her adventure.

Sophie trained her camels, Jude, Delilah, Clayton, Charlie and Mac, while working at Uluru Camel Tours. She also made her own camel saddles in the workshop. In March

2020, Sophie trucked the camels from Uluru to Shark Bay in Western Australia - in itself a 5-day adventure, before setting off on her trek, just as covid had begun to take hold.

The most challenging section of the trek was the 1,400 kms from Laverton to Coober Pedy, following the Anne Beadell Highway which is nothing more than a grader track through the Great Victoria Desert. With only one roadhouse along the track and up to 20 days walk between water points, she arrived at Mount Clarence Station north of Coober Pedy in October 2020.

Sophie decided to split the trek into two halves, resting the camels over the summer months when it is too hot to walk through Central Australia. The camels were trucked to Beltana Station in the Flinders Ranges for summer agistment, and then returned to Mount Clarence in May 2021 having gained condition from rest and good feed.

Her thirteen-month solo crossing was the ultimate test of resilience and selfsufficiency – with each State in various forms of lockdown, Sophie would often walk for weeks without seeing another soul. She crossed harsh, remote deserts, navigated treacherously beautiful salt lakes, and visited country towns and isolated cattle

Book Reviews

stations.

Along the way she survived life-and-death situations, fell in love in the middle of the Outback, and slowly began to trust herself and her own abilities.

‘ The Crossing is as profound as it is moving - a tapestry of adventure, love and, of course, camels.’ Tim Cope, author of On the Trail of Genghis Khan.

Don’t miss reading all about this epic adventure, available in bookstores, online and as an audiobook.

Dr Trish Moloney

Dr Carol McPhail

Dr Ammara Chaudhry

Dr Michelle Ledbury

Dr David O’Regan

Dr Ben McCullough

Dr Christopher Whitney

Dr Lauren Prictor

Dr Claire Bugler