Article Summary by Alice Chesterfield and Jordan Harvey Despite much controversy, the functional-organic distinction attempts to distinguish symptoms, signs, and syndromes that can be explained by diagnosable biological changes (‘organic’) from those that cannot (‘functional’). It appears across medicine but has particular relevance in neuropsychiatric settings where it is often central to treatment decisions and […]
Category: Journal Announcements
Narratives of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Healing Through Music in Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach
Article Summary by Neha Hejaz and Rajni Singh This article is an attempt to acknowledge the clinical uses of fictional narratives of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) within health care. The purpose of studying fiction lies in exploring the lives of individuals in an imaginative manner, offering a deeper existential understanding of problems, and developing of […]
Personalism and Boosting Organ ResERVOirs: A Consideration of Euthanasia by Removal of Vital Organs in the Canadian Context
Article Summary by Jamie Grunwald Canada’s decriminalisation of assisted death has elicited significant ethical implications for the use of assisted death in healthcare contexts. Euthanasia by removal of vital organs (ERVO) is a theoretical extension of medically assisted death with an increased plausibility of implementation in light of the rapid expansion of assisted death eligibility […]
Hospital Space Interpreted According to Heidegger’s Concepts of Care and Dwelling
Article Summary by Hye Youn Park In today’s era, hospitals have solidified their position as central hubs closely intertwined with human life, overcoming numerous diseases through remarkable progress in science and technology. Despite being the focal point of human existence, discussions about hospital spaces often linger within the therapeutic tool perspective, emphasizing the effectiveness of […]
Redefining Global Cardiac Surgery Through an Intersectionality Lens
Article Summary by Dominique Vervoort, Lina A Elfaki, Maria Servito, Karla Yael Herrera-Morales and Kudzai Kanyepi Around the world, more than six billion people are unable to undergo heart surgery. This is a result of an absence of surgeons and other health workers, insufficient money or health insurance, limited supplies, or a combination of factors. […]
“And Then It Spreads”: Contagion and Disease as Metaphors of Sociomoral Contamination in Charles Burns’ Graphic Novel Black Hole
Article Summary by Arindam Nandi and Avishek Parui This article examines how Charles Burns’ graphic novel Black Hole situates states of contagion and disease as metaphors of social and moral contamination. Set in suburban Seattle in the 1970s, Black Hole depicts the lives of a set of teenagers in the midst of navigating a sexually […]
Creative Writing Can Help Improve One’s Health: A South African Study Shows How
Article Summary by Dawn Garisch, Janet Giddy, Giles Griffin and Steve Reid From the beginning of recorded history, people in diverse cultures have embraced the idea that creative expression, including visual art, stories, dance and music, contributes to healing. In recent times the therapeutic benefit of expressive writing has been well researched in the global north, […]
How and Why to Use ‘Vulnerability’: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Disease Risk, Indeterminacy and Normality
Article Summary by Andrea Ford In recent years, you hear a lot about ’vulnerability’—for example, during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK the idea that some people are more vulnerable than others and should therefore be treated differently came up often. We thought it was interesting how vulnerability seemed to be used interchangeably with risk […]
They Are Not All Wolves: Menstruation, Young Adult Fiction and Nuancing the Teenage Boy
Article Summary by Jemma Walton Literary depictions of menstruation are scarce, despite the fierce interest which accompanied the 1970 publication of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; a Young Adult novel that ends with the young female protagonist thanking God for the arrival of her first period. However, an intensification in menstrual activism across […]
Creating Comics, Songs and Poems
Article Summary by Muna Al-Jawad, Neil Singh and Gaurish Chawla Decolonising is now a commonly used buzzword in higher education, but what does it feel like in practice? This paper captures the reflections – both analytical and creative – of three healthcare workers and academics in medical education in the UK. We hope to make […]