Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Creativity

  • Traumatic experience and creativity: René Magritte

    Mirjana Stojkovic-IvkovicBelgrade, Serbia A painter’s creativity often results from artistic inspiration, but it can also be a manifestation of fear, pain, and suffering. René Magritte (1898–1967), a Belgian painter and great figure in modern art, expressed his thoughts and his feelings on the canvas. His unique style and original ideas make him one of the…

  • Handmaidens of anatomy

    Elisabeth BranderSt. Louis, Missouri, United States Some of the most well-known images in the history of anatomy are the woodcut écorché figures that appear in Andreas Vesalius’s De humani corporis fabrica, published in 1543. Rather than lying inert on a dissection table, they stride boldly through a pastoral landscape as if still alive, showing their…

  • When daydreaming becomes a problem

    S.T GamageColombo, Sri Lanka “They say there’s no harm in daydreaming, but there is.”— Charlaine Harris An excessive amount of daydreaming can lead to a psychological condition called maladaptive daydreaming (MD). It is also known as daydreaming disorder. Professor Eliezer Somer from the University of Haifa, Israel, first identified this condition. It is a disorder…

  • Personal magic – creativity and Shamanic ways for wellbeing

    Kate HawkesPortland, Oregon, United States The key to healing and wellness is, most agree, a combination of mind-body dynamics and, perhaps spirit. How the three interact and what happens when they do is the subject of studies and surmise, hard fact and anecdote. I have no doubt that when an individual is actively engaged in…

  • The perfection of illness

    Zohaib AhmadPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States It is often but little appreciated that the creative and the consummate can be conceived in the throes of disease. The process of being ill can change people, not only through the mental stress, but also through the neurological changes inherent in neurodegenerative diseases such as in Alzheimer’s disease, where…

  • Lord Howard Florey and the use of visual art in medicine

    Vincent CracoliciChicago, Illinois, United States Art and medicine: Skills for creative problem solving Despite similar training, all physicians are not equally skilled in recognizing and solving clinical problems. Those who have been remarkably innovative in their specialty often share similar characteristics with one another. Though gifted in the technical aspects of their fields, many of…

  • Enhanced creativity in later life

    Melissa Castora-BinkleyElizabeth HandingSouth Florida The increased capacity for creativity in later life is not a new concept. Both professional and amateur artists alike have created some of their best works in later life. Galenson1 described some well-known lifetime artists such as, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Virginia Woolf, and Robert Frost who were arguably past their “prime” when…