Over My Head: a Doctor's Own Story of Head Injury from the Inside Looking Out

The book is written by Osborn looking back on the rehab process and uses excerpts from her notebooks and diaries to help the biography along.

Some journal entries quoted in the book have been edited by me for clarity. My intention is to candidly portray what it is like to live with a head injury.

Premorbidly, Osborn worked as an intern doctor in a local American hospital. Osborn's head injury was caused when out cycling with one of her friends. A large lorry turned the corner on the wrong side of the road and hit her head on. She lay in a coma in hospital for two weeks. Although the book does not give Osborn's exact diagnosis it appears that she must have had damage to her frontal lobe as following the injury she has several higher cognitive functional difficulties such as an inability to plan, memory difficulties, concentration etc.

Osborn has a remarkably short hospital stay due to discharge to live her friend who also happens to be a doctor. Osborn returned to work in the weeks following her injury to teach her students and to treat her patients. She found it difficult, could not remember patients or what their diagnoses were. Osborn had all of her medical knowledge left intact following the accident. Following the difficulties Osborn found at work she contacted her neurosurgeon for an appointment where it was suggested that she went to join a rehab program. Following several tests Osborn started at the New York University Head Trauma Program.

There are advantages to having a head injury: for one, you can hide your own Easter eggs. Anonymous.

Osborn stayed with the program for two terms (normal length being one term) and was taught strategies to overcome difficulties such as orientation using a diary and a map, a notebook to keep note of everything that she knew about people etc. Patients were expected to speak out about their difficulties and to learn from their mistakes. What made it harder for Osborne was having live in New York in a variety of places until she got her own flat. She had lots of support from both family and friends which enabled her to gain a lot from the HTP program.

Following the HTP program Osborn was able to start Occupational Trials which was a scheme where patients worked in a local hospital with a safety of if they went wrong they had people there to sort them out. Osborn worked in an office and also a greenhouse doing rehab with patients of the hospital. Osborn followed this by working back home in Detroit doing medical research part time. Osborn never returned to her practise of memory but the book appears to say that she is glad that she didn't in the end as she wouldn't have been able to manage it following her injury.

I felt that this was a good book to read to see how a person was able to conquer their brain injury and put themselves back in a similar place as to when they started. I found it difficult to read due to the differences between the healthcare systems in the UK and the USA. In the UK people would be sent to rehabilitation hospitals and given Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language Therapy before returning to their own homes and maybe attending day centres. In the USA it appears people live out on their own and our able to attend sessions each day a very short time following head injury.

Osborn, C.L. (2000). Over my head - A Doctor's Own Story of Head Injury from the Inside Looking Out. Andrews McMeel Publishing: Kansas City


Thank you very much, Claudia ...   September 28, 1998
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

I can only echo the comments of other readers who said, "Me, too." My copy is full of Post-its and underlines, so I can easily find special things again. I, too, cried when I read many parts.

Melinda Quinn


As an 18 year veteran of rehabilitation,thanks Claudia.   June 7, 1998
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Having lost both my physical health and ability to practice my profession, I then lost most of my psychological health. My struggle to deal with medical problems, severe limitations, and a broken sense of self has been going on for many years. Tonight as I read of Claudia's loss of her dreams and her struggle to regain the ability to function, I cried with the pain of loss, the relief of recognition and the joy of connection.

Reading this book ends some of the isolation that I have felt on my own journey toward my highest level of health. As I admire Claudia's determination, courage and humor, I become more respectful of myself as I live with my fractured dreams and permanently changed self.

Early in my struggle, when all I could imagine to wish for was a complete return of health, a wise person said, "you must find meaning in the struggle". In the writing of this book, Claudia has created glorious meaning out of her struggle. Thanks, Claudia, for the empathy, humor, hope, and inspiration you have given me. Reading your story of survival, grief, acceptance and new life makes me feel proud of my survival, my struggle and my still emerging "new" life.


A must-read for anyone suffering loss of cognition and self.   April 8, 1998
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Publishers Weekly, reviewed Over My Head on March 15, 1998, and said, "This is an exceptionally well written and engaging account of one woman's experiences, thoughts, feelings and relationships as she slowly navigates a terrible corner in her life and ultimately finds a new identity." This should be a must-read for tbi and medical professionals but would be valuable to anyone grieving over their loss of cognition and identity.