Tag Archives: Psychiatrists

Drapetomania: A “disease” that never was

October 6, 2022

Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden   Two unidentified escaped slaves wearing ragged clothes. Photo by McPherson & Oliver, between 1861 and 1865. Liljenquist Family Collection, Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. “Slavery is next to hell.” – Harriet Tubman “And before I’d be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave…” – Oh, Freedom, […]

Mental hospital memories of another era

September 30, 2021

Robert Craig Brisbane, Queensland, Australia   The former St. Audry’s Hospital. Photo by Adrian S Pye. CC BY-SA 2.0. In 1964, having obtained a place to study medicine at Cambridge University, I was given the opportunity as a medical student to work as an assistant nurse for three months in a large residential mental hospital […]

Counseling

June 17, 2021

Migel Jayasinghe  England, UK This article was previously published by the author between the years of 2006 and 2018. The original publisher has since been lost and the article edited and republished by Hektoen International staff. Other appearances of this text elsewhere on the internet may be unauthorized.   Hampstead Heath, 1970 by Jo Brocklehurst. The British […]

The bedside manners of Ingmar Bergman’s celluloid physicians

August 13, 2020

Eelco Wijdicks Rochester, Minnesota, United States   Bergman directing the two psychiatrists in Face to Face (1976)—Courtesy, Everett Collection  The great humanitarian filmmaker and auteur Ingmar Bergman used physicians in his films much more frequently than his peers. Bergman’s full filmography, including two films (Thirst and Brink of Life) directed by but not written by Bergman, […]

Anosognosia

December 1, 2017

Michael Ellman  Chicago, IL, United States   South Pacific, 1950. Joseph Cable (William Tabbert) watches as Bloody Mary (Juanita Hall, top) and Liat (Betta St. John) perform the song “Happy Talk” “Joseph Cable, at your service! U.S. Marines, World War Two, retired—at ease, Doctor. Let’s be casual, shall we?” My patient is tall and ramrod […]