Journal of Medical Humanities最新文献

Converging evidence supports the idea that engaging in the arts can benefit mental health. However, the mechanisms underlying such effects are poorly understood. To gain insights that would be useful to the arts-in-health field, the current paper applied collaborative autoethnography to the questions, "How do artists manage their creative process? How might this process be helpful for adolescents with depression?" In an unstructured exchange that took place over 5 years, the two authors (a poet/teaching artist and a child and adolescent psychiatrist/researcher) explored the intersection of the artist's strategies for creative practice and mental health. Personal narratives, analytic memos, and detailed conversations exchanged through emails were collected and reviewed through the reflexive lens of collaborative autoethnography, by exploring the artist author's personal experiences from her creative practice, and the child psychiatrist author's reflexive responses, drawing on her patient care experience. Through the conversations, both authors became aware of the connection between the goal of the artist (to create art) and the goal of the physician (to aid in healing). The authors extracted six strategies and developed a concept framework, "artist mindset," which also had significant potential relevance to adolescents who are navigating depression. The artist mindset, a set of strategies that can promote creative practice but also holds promise in application to navigating depression, offers a helpful framework and a unique approach to treatment.

The dream of a universal cure has persisted throughout history, evolving from ancient myths to modern pseudoscience. This essay explores the cultural and cognitive resilience of the panacea archetype, tracing its transformation from ancient elixirs and patent medicines to contemporary pseudotreatments, including homeopathy, Radithor, MMS, and ivermectin. These so-called cures endure not merely due to misinformation but because they are embedded within emotionally and cognitively compelling narratives. Drawing from mythology, literature, cognitive psychology, and historical analysis, we examine how panaceas offer more than promises of healing: they provide meaning, control, and hope, especially during times of crisis and uncertainty. Key narrative patterns-heroic discoverers, persecuted truths, villainous establishments, and testimonial-driven validation-align with cognitive biases such as confirmation bias, illusion of causality, and need for cognitive closure. These dynamics are further amplified by digital echo chambers, institutional distrust, and the politicization of medical beliefs. The persistence of panaceas is not merely a failure of science communication but a reflection of deep human vulnerabilities-emotional, epistemological, and social. Understanding the structure and appeal of these narratives is essential not only for combating medical misinformation but also for restoring public trust in scientific and medical institutions.

This poem was inspired by our daughter Neela, who completed our puzzle, impossibly.

The aim in narrative medicine has been to develop a "narrative competence" towards patients' illness stories in the clinic through the close reading of literary texts followed by a creative activity. In this article, we suggest adjusting our conception of close reading and enlarging the curriculum by including fairy tales, especially those written by Hans Christian Andersen. We argue on a methodological level that a more affective version of close reading which foregrounds "attunement" can be facilitated by considering enchantment. Fairy tales were, and for many, still are, the first and most important introduction to enchantment as a way of knowing about suffering, loss, and death. A narratological approach to Andersen's fairy tales that stresses their critique of normative social and gender roles, their interest in symbolic narrative structures, and their focus on universal human suffering and awe, will be of benefit to practitioners, students, and patients.

In 2025, a decade will have passed since the death of Oliver Sacks, yet his legacy continues to resonate through publications and events dedicated to his memory. This article examines Sacks' enduring influence on neurosciences, highlighting his contributions to narrative medicine and his role as a key figure in the "third culture," which bridges science, the humanities, and the arts. While often criticized during his career for sensationalizing science and allegedly exploiting his patients by portraying them as a "freak show," Sacks ultimately gained recognition for humanizing medical practice. Furthermore, his work brought the complexities of neurological disorders into public awareness while emphasizing the subjective experiences of patients. Though some of his methods were unconventional within twentieth-century neurology, Sacks is best understood as part of a tradition within the neurosciences that prioritizes the subjective dimension of experience. This article situates Oliver Sacks' contributions within the broader frameworks of clinical humanities, offering a critical analysis of the context of his work. It also explores key challenges confronting the neurosciences of subjective experience, particularly the need to enhance the scientific rigor of verbal data analysis through qualitative and neurophenomenological methodologies. Given that the understanding of neurological and neuropsychological disorders cannot be fully captured through biological and behavioral variables alone, qualitative approaches that examine the subjective experiences of illness are indispensable. These methodologies not only promote a humane and inclusive perspective but also provide a rigorous framework for illuminating the subjective dimension.

In order to gain a greater understanding of what life is like for physicians and medical trainees experiencing mental illness, six book-length memoirs written by physicians and trainees were analyzed via thematic analysis. All exhibited elements of a recovery narrative. We then queried our data to explore two specific questions we felt would be of special interest to our audience along with a discussion of relevant literature to place our findings in context: (1) What factors are involved in the mental illness recovery journey of physicians and trainees? (2) What stressors do physicians and trainees face as part of their career that may impact how they experience their mental illness? Our analyses revealed that the authors' recovery journeys were fostered by mental health treatment, social supports, religion and/or spirituality, and personality traits. Physicians and trainees both experienced career stressors that impacted their mental health, and these stressors highlighted important issues such as barriers to treatment, medical licensure policies, and stigma. This study provides greater insight into not only some of the challenges of living with mental illness as a physician or trainee but also into what made recovery possible for them and how we might be able to support those who are struggling in the future. Discussing these important topics will hopefully reduce stigma for those experiencing mental illness and potentially influence public policy, specifically around de-stigmatizing physician licensure applications.

The use of elective egg freezing (EEF) has rapidly increased in recent years. Despite its popularity, scholars have documented a host of concerns in relation to the use of this technology, especially given aggressive advertising of EEF by the fertility industry as "insurance" and lack of data about success rates. Informed consent processes, and informed consent documents, are particularly important in situations, like EEF, where healthy people are undergoing interventions that are neither life nor health preserving. They are also crucial to ensure that people considering EEF are provided with direct unbiased information about the risks of engaging. In this paper, we build on the existing literature that has examined the unique concerns associated with EEF and crucial elements of consent for egg freezing, as well as similar interventions. Drawing from these sources, and focusing on the Canadian context, we identify seven elements that, at minimum, should be contained in consent documents for EEF to meet ethical standards of disclosure.