Awakenings (book)

Awakenings is a 1973 non-fiction book by neurologist Oliver Sacks. The book documents Sacks' experiences working with a group of catatonic patients at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx, New York. These patients had been in a decades-long akinetic mutism state following a bout of encephalitis lethargica (sleeping sickness) in the 1920s.

In 1969, Sacks administered the drug L-DOPA (levodopa) to these patients, an experimental treatment for Parkinson's disease. The book chronicles the dramatic and often unpredictable effects of L-DOPA, which temporarily "awakened" many of the patients from their frozen states. While initially promising, the benefits of the drug proved to be short-lived for many, with patients developing debilitating side effects or relapsing into their catatonic state.

The book explores the complex neurological and psychological aspects of consciousness, identity, and the human spirit. It delves into the patients' individual stories and their struggles to reintegrate into a world that had moved on without them. Awakenings is notable for its compassionate and insightful portrayal of these individuals and for raising profound questions about the nature of illness, treatment, and the limits of medical intervention.

Awakenings was adapted into a play by Harold Pinter and, more famously, into a 1990 film starring Robin Williams as Dr. Malcolm Sayer (a fictionalized version of Oliver Sacks) and Robert De Niro as one of the patients, Leonard Lowe. The film significantly increased the book's popularity and brought greater attention to the plight of individuals with neurological disorders.