Dr. Oliver Sacks had a connection to Gould Farm, both as a visitor and as someone who referred patients to the therapeutic community. Known for his compassionate approach to neurology and psychiatry, Dr. Sacks saw the value of environments that prioritized healing through meaningful work, community, and connection to the land. Gould Farm, a sanctuary for those living with mental health challenges, embodies this holistic approach to well-being.
The recent release of Oliver Sacks: Letters offers a window into his thoughts on life, medicine, and human relationships. In one particularly moving letter from 2006, Sacks writes to a college student with bipolar disorder, reflecting on the significance of personhood beyond a diagnosis. He mentions Gould Farm, underscoring how a place like this can provide space for growth and healing:
To Wendy, a college student who had written to Dr. Sacks about her bipolar disorder, Nov. 14, 2006.
What seems to me less stressed, and most in need of stressing, is that you are an individual — unique — with gifts and genes which no one else in the world exactly duplicates — and that means you have a true place and role in evolution, and in the present. That you have bipolar disorder, in a sense are bipolar, does not begin to encompass the whole of you — it is a what, while you are a you. You have to hold to this sense of a personhood (“personality” is not quite the word, it has got too Hollywoodized) — Coleridge talked about “personeity,” which is deeper than any “condition” you have, and perhaps these (relatively) gentle years at Gould Farm will allow you to realize this (realize it, in both senses — understand and actualize). You have much to hope and to live for. So, my best to you and keep in touch.
Dr. Sacks’ legacy reminds us that holding hope for recovery is about more than addressing symptoms; it’s about embracing the entirety of who someone is. Gould Farm is honored to have been part of his life's work and continues to carry forward the spirit of care and radical hospitality that he so deeply admired.
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