Article Summary by Steven Brown and Paula Reavey In this article for June’s special issue, Steven Brown and Paula Reavey discuss “vital spaces” and “mental health.” As a Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at The Open University, Brown is particularly interested in ‘vulnerable’ populations whose memories are often treated as problematic. Paula Reavey, a Professor […]
Category: Journal Announcements
A New Outlook on Psychosomatics?: June’s Special Issue
Brandy Schillace in conversation with Dr. Monica Greco What are Biopolitics? And what, for that matter, are psychosomatics? Join us today on the podcast to hear a preview of our June special issue with Monica Greco. Let’s look at an example: ‘Smokers and obese people “soft targets” for NHS savings’, says a surgeon quoted in […]
On Illness and Value: Biopolitics, Psychosomatics, Participating Bodies
Article Summary by Monica Greco In its heyday, around the mid-twentieth century, psychosomatic medicine was heralded as a new science of body/mind relations that held the promise of transforming medicine as a whole. Sixty years on, the field has achieved no more than a respectable position as a research specialism within a model of practice […]
Agency, Embodiment and Enactment in Psychosomatic Theory and Practice
Article Summary by Laurence Kirmayer and Ana Gómez-Carrillo I know so little about the activity of the pineal gland Really, what do I have in common with my body. — Anna Swir (1996, p. 62) This quote from a poem by Anna Swir speaks to the problem of agency in illness experience: What can we […]
“Pulling the World In and Pushing it Away”: Participating Bodies and Survival Strategies
Article Summary by Robbie Duschinsky What do thinking, eating and engaging in sex have in common? This seems a strange question. Participation in thinking, food and sex are really quite different activities. But Monica Greco’s work helps us think about the meaning of participation. In this paper we draw on ideas from Greco and Lauren […]
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 […]
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’ – […]
When Pigs Fly Emotional Support Animals, Service Dogs and the Politics of Legitimacy across Species Boundaries
by Justyna Wlodarczyk About a year ago, I attended a lecture by a prominent expert in therapy dogs who used the term “emotional support animal” in his talk, accompanied by an image of a pig on a plane in the PowerPoint presentation. The mere mention of the term was enough to get the audience – […]
Being Well Together: Human-Animal Collaboration, Companionship and the Promotion of Health and Wellbeing
by Robert Kirk, Neil Pemberton and Tom Quick This research forum is titled Being Well Together: human-animal collaboration, companionship and the promotion of health and wellbeing, It grew out a meeting at the University of Manchester in September 2018, supported by the UK’s Wellcome Trust. We invited academics working in disciplines across the humanities and […]
The Politics of Female Pain: Women’s Citizenship, Twilight Sleep and the Early Birth Control Movement
by Lauren MacIvor Thompson Thanks for reading “The Politics of Female Pain: Women’s Citizenship, Twilight Sleep, and the Early Birth Control Movement” in this month’s issue of Medical Humanities! If you are interested in the contemporary issues surrounding women’s health, pregnancy, and labor and delivery, this article will help shed some light on how we […]