Med Head by James Patterson

★★★★☆

Med Head is heartbreaking and uplifting in equal parts. Patterson and Friedman portray Tourette's Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder through the first-person reflections of Corey Friedman, whose daily challenges seem to be more than he can bear. While Corey's specific afflictions may be foreign to the majority of readers, his introspection, desire for acceptance, and attempts to define himself will be understood by anyone who has ever had the joy of being a teenager.

Diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder early in his life, Corey often finds himself taking dozens of pills each day. The combination of certain medications is painful, often causing insomnia, inducing rage, or leading to a proliferation of the involuntary verbal and physical "tics" that make normalcy so difficult. The Friedman family is urged to continue each new regimen however, with the assurance that, eventually, some combination will successfully treat the conditions from which Corey suffers.

The reader is drawn into the day-to-day challenges of Corey's life through reflections on things as commonplace as doing homework, making friends, and trying new things. To Corey, each of these activities is a mountain to be climbed. His tics often earn him ridicule from classmates and exhausted expressions from the adults charged with insuring his success. The reader cringes ever so slightly when an excited Corey decides to write a curse word on the blackboard rather than the word of the day. His acknowledgment that alcohol brings the peace that his huge list of medications cannot tears at our hearts. Corey's athletic accomplishments have the opposite reaction, causing our hearts to sing with glee.

Most amazing of all is Corey's eventual recovery through self-imposed exposure to the elements via a wilderness camp and several therapy sessions at a local mental health facility. As he leaves the nightmare behind, Corey comes to sense the truth of what his dependence on psychiatric medication (and other substances) has done to him. Ironically, he must be forced into a situation where his brain doesn't have the option to misfire in order to break free of the prison where he has spent the majority of his life.

The book concludes with a series of instructive interviews in addition to information on Corey's various afflictions, the dangers of alcoholism, the nuanced definitions of various mental heath care professionals, and a list of additional resources.

Med Head is both engaging and enlightening, and might be used to initiate a variety of discussions on such issues as the mysteries of the human brain and the medical industry's failed attempts to treat every disorder, the importance of family and faith, the daunting struggles of adolescence, and the positive effects of patience and kindness.