The Shaking Woman or a History of My Nerves
by Siri Hustvedt.
Henry Holt, 2010

Something strange happened to American novelist Siri Hustvedt when she was delivering a eulogy in honor of her late father a few years ago. As Hustvedt began to speak, wild spasms suddenly gripped her body, making her arms thrash and her knees knock. Bizarrely, even as she flailed uncontrollably, her voice remained calm and confident.

In the neurological memoir The Shaking Woman or a History of My Nerves, Hustvedt takes us on her personal journey as she tries to unravel reasons for her tremors (which mostly occur while speaking in public) and to explain the mysterious disconnect between her body and mind. Hustvedt’s deeply personal narrative reads at once like a detective novel, a medical history and a scientific critique. Through her own medical mystery, she keeps the reader engaged in the science by drawing connections to fascinating case stories from the medical literature.

Plagued by bouts of shaking, Hust­vedt wonders if she could be suffering from repressed grief, performance anxiety or, worse, epilepsy. “Am I looking for a narrative, a confabulation,” she writes, “to interpret a debility that is no more and no less than synaptic wiring and firing?” Filled with apprehension, she decides to see a psychiatrist and a neurologist and to get her brain scanned.

As an intimate witness to Hustvedt’s joys and sorrows at this point, the reader may end up wishing that the shaking will mean something on a personal level; that it’s more than just a physiological hiccup. But in the end, the doctors have no clear answers for Hustvedt, just as she has none for her readers. We are left wondering about the relation between the mental and the physical, between brain science and modern psychology. With the ballooning availability of psychiatric medications to deal with neurological disorders, these connections and questions seem more important than ever.

4 Comments

1. 1. xyliu0929 09:16 AM 3/20/10

   Trust yourself that it is not abnormal condition but a response that your body together with mind generates.
   it is ok as long as it does not affect your living, but if it does, do your best to avoid the bad influence.

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2. 2. Daniel35 08:05 PM 3/20/10

   Ask Dr. House.
   

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3. 3. Keats754 01:34 AM 3/21/10

   I would tell the "The Shaking Woman" that, even if it is found to be epilepsy, it is something that does not have to interrupt her life. I have been an epileptic for 23 years and, while it took three doctors and a visit to the Cleveland Clinic before the origin of my epilepsy was discovered and the most effective medications, it was worth it as I am able to go places, to work, do everyday activities, without the fear that a seizure will paralyze my day. I know of epileptics who are not so lucky and, for them, they have my heartfelt support. With my disorder, I have become fascinated with the human brain. A graduate course I took on neurological psychology went into more detail than neurons misfiring in the brain, talking about different disorders. The human brain is truly a fascinating organ.
   
   To the "The Shaking Woman", I would encourage her to continue to take a proactive approach. It can be a long journey until you find your answers, but it is certainly worth it. Don't give up.

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4. 4. showme 01:40 PM 3/21/10

   Are you sure it's not Lupus?

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