The London Film Festival (10-21 October 2018) explores children and adolescents’ mental health Review by Dr Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent. The 62nd British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival (LFF) returns in October with a selection of thought-provoking films from 75 countries. It is indeed a ‘globally diverse event’ as highlighted by its […]
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PTSD and Fatalité Intérieure: Pawel Pawlikowski’s ‘Cold War’
Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland 2018). Reviewed by Prof. Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell College, New York. Cold War is a film set mostly in Poland in the Communist era from 1949 to the 1960s. The majority of scenes are shot under a grim, steel-grey sky, befitting the spirit-crushing oppression that prevailed in that time and place. But the […]
CFP: Regarding the Pain of Others
Regarding the Pain of Others: What emotions have to do in the History of Humanitarian Images? (Geneva 4-5 July 2019) Taking the title of Susan Sontag’s seminal work as a starting point, this workshop aims at re-opening an old debate about the potentialities of exhibiting other’s suffering in order to promote a culture of peace, prevent […]
Using photography to enhance GP trainees’ reflective practice and professional development
Few would argue against the value of the ability to reflect upon one’s actions and one’s practice more broadly. According to photographic artist Rutherford, general practitioner Emer Forde, together with colleagues Jacqueline Priego-Hernandez, Aurelia Butcher and Clare Wedderburn, ‘reflection can foster professionalism, empathy and attitudinal changes’. In making this point, they highlight the Royal College […]
Interview: Robbie Duschinsky, AE at MH, and Jane Macnaughton 28th March 2018
Jane Macnaughton has been a leader in the field of health humanities in Britain, from her position over 18 years as Co-Director of the Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham University. During this time, she has continued work as a clinician. She was part of the core group that set up the Association for […]
Blind alleys and dead ends: researching innovation in late 20th century surgery
How do medical innovations evolve? In “Blind alleys and dead ends: researching innovation in late 20th century surgery,” Harriet Palfreman and Roger Kneebone examine the fortunes of a surgical innovation—the PCCL (percutaneous cholecystolithotomy) treatment of gallstones—in the late 20th century. In 1988, eight patients underwent the procedure, which required extracting the gallstones using an endoscope […]
Lissa: A Story About Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution
Sherine Hamdy and Coleman Nye (writers), Sarula Bao and Caroline Brewer (art), Marc Parenteau (lettering), Lissa: A Story About Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution (2017), University of Toronto Press, 302 pp, £12.99. Reviewed by Dr Glyn Morgan Lissa is the first book in a new series from University of Toronto Press with the punningly pleasant […]
Women, ‘madness’ and exercise
“Exercise is not politically neutral,” writes Jennifer Jane Hardes. That is, “within what has been declared a ‘risk society’ exercise ought to be examined critically as a new potential mode of self-regulation.” In what is both a concise and rich account “of knowledges about exercise and women’s mental health that emerged throughout the late 19th […]
Celebrating Gounod at Tavistock House on his Bicentenary
This blog post is from Prof Desmond (Des) O’Neill, a geriatrician and cultural gerontologist. O’Neill is a Professor in Medical Gerontology and co-chair of the Medical and Health Humanities group at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Wikipedia is a marvellous source of information but its open structure leaves it vulnerable to practical jokes. An entertaining example […]
Eating disorders, interpretation and the case for creative bibliotherapy research
Is reading good for you? Emily Troscianko takes a long look at bibliotherapy and its therapeutic implications for eating disorders. As she points out in ‘Fiction-reading for good or ill: eating disorders, interpretation and the case for creative bibliotherapy research‘, little is known about the efficacy of such interventions, despite the wide use of fiction […]