On Madness and the Demand for Recognition: A philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism by Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed (Oxford University Press, 2019), and how ‘soft and pure’ disciplines must take the lead to enrich our repertoire in how we think about ourselves and others today Book Review and Provocation by Kai Syng Tan […]
Latest articles
Psychosomatic Subjects and the Agencies of Addiction
Article Summary by Darin Weinberg In this article I show how debates in addiction science have, in various ways, echoed broader debates opposing freewill and determinism—or more specifically, a neurologically determinist understanding of human behaviour and more voluntaristic understandings of human behaviour as caused by choices. I show that this has resulted not only in […]
To Be or Not to Be: Is TB Elimination Possible in India Through a Humanistic Approach?
Reflection by Kesavan Rajasekharan Nayar India is one of the few countries where Tuberculosis is still widely prevalent. One of the oldest of human diseases in recorded history is still inhumanly ravaging lives despite India developing one of the most human-centred National Tuberculosis Programs way back in the sixties.1 It gave primacy to the people […]
Leçons De Ténèbres
Dr Mohammad Razai trained at University of Cambridge and is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Primary Care at St George’s University of London. When the time came, I was called to witness the anguish of his soul, as he slipped in and out of consciousness. His pulse was withering away. He exhaled one last gasp […]
Interrogating Medicine: A podcast on humanities and pain
In today’s podcast, EIC Brandy Schillace and Dr. Sara Wasson of Lancaster University discuss the medical humanities as a way of “interrogating medicine.” So often, the humanities (literature, history, anthropology, social science, arts and more) are treated as add-ons, or “soft” skills merely engaged to make the practice of medicine more empathetic or, in the […]
How Reality Hit Home as a Junior Doctor Resuscitating a Drowned Child
Dr Mohammad S Razai trained at University of Cambridge and is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Primary Care at St George’s University of London. In the blink of an eye, the tide had become too high and the wind too strong. The child, who was playing moments earlier in the sandy devon beach, had disappeared […]
Acting by Persuasion; Values and Rhetoric in Medical Certificates of Work Incapacity; A Qualitative Document Analysis
by Guri Aarseth When acting as experts for the Norwegian National Insurance Administration (NAV), should the GP first and foremost consider the interest of his/her patient, his/her own professional integrity or the interest of society? Values are present in nearly all texts; a legitimate medical certificate is supposed to be ‘neutral, professional and objective’ – […]
The Weaponizing of Religion against Healthcare: An Interview with John Fugelsang
Increasingly in the US, elements of religion have crept into medical and political discourse. The Bible has been invoked repeatedly, for instance, in discussion of women’s right to abortion, same sex marriage, adoption, coverage rights, and the list goes on. In today’s MH podcast, Brandy Schillace interviews John Fugelsang, host of Tell Me Everything on […]
Temporary Measures
What some call “burnout” is really an epidemic affecting future doctors, and short-term fixes aren’t the answer. By Amitha Kalaichandran, M.D. “It’s just a temporary measure,” the nurse told me. We were wheeling the patient – a teen girl – from her room in the intensive care unit (ICU) to the CT scanner on the […]
Cinema of Hope and Humanity: Introducing the World of Malayalam Filmmaker Jayaraj
by Khalid Ali, film and media correspondent Medical Humanities will focus on ‘Global Humanities’ as a theme for 2019. Film can be a powerful medium for raising awareness about current global challenges as well as revisiting historical tragedies that befell humanity, as in the first and second World Wars. It gives me great pleasure to […]