Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: asylum

  • Corn, pellagra, and modern medicine—How an ancient disease was recognized in South Carolina’s state lunatic asylum

    Brody FoglemanHarsh JhaNoel BrownleeJuliSu DiMucci-WardSpartanburg, South Carolina, United States Pellagra is a disease of vitamin B3 (niacin) deficiency. Niacin is the precursor for many physiologic processes involving nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), an enzyme that carries out long biochemical processes essential to a wide range of metabolic functions. While the understanding of niacin physiology is relatively…

  • “On Being Sane in Insane Places”1: Psychiatric hospitalization as seen by Gabriel García Márquez and Dr. David Rosenhan

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden Literature and science may complement each other. Sometimes they actually describe the same phenomenon. Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) was a Colombian novelist, journalist, and short story writer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. His short story “I Only Came to Use the Phone” (1978), part of the collection…

  • Dr. William Minor and the Oxford English Dictionary

    JMS Pearce Hull, England, UK After the first dictionary of English words (Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabetical… 1604) many dictionaries aimed to provide typical spelling, meaning, and often pronunciation, etymology, synonyms, and quotations. A New English Dictionary was an important advance reflecting everyday language compiled by the first professional lexicographer, John Kersey the Younger, in 1702.…

  • “Do I look gay to you?”

    Elena HillNew York, United States When I first went to Tijuana to the US-Mexican border to volunteer as a physician, I was expecting to see women fleeing abuse, men escaping gang violence, and families pursuing a better life. I was not expecting to see a large LGBTQ population. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that…

  • Erich Heckel: in a lunatic asylum

    Erich Heckel (1883–1970) was one of the founding members of Die Brücke (“The Bridge”), formed in Dresden in 1905 as a bohemian group of artists in rebellion against the older, established norms. In this painting, he depicts four inmates confined to a mental institution for reasons not explained. The squalid and disheveled man in the…

  • Letters from the asylum

    Nicholas KangAuckland, New Zealand After cutting off his ear, Vincent van Gogh spent a year in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence confined to a mental asylum. Despite several major relapses during his stay, he continued to work prolifically, completing more than 140 paintings including masterpieces such as Starry Night, Irises, and Almond Blossom. Three months after leaving, he was…