Our best machines are made of sunshine; they are all light and clean because they are nothing but signals, electromagnetic waves, a section of the spectrum…Their engineers are sun-worshipers mediating a new scientific revolution associated with the night dream of post-industrial society. –Donna Haraway, “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” I frequent a park near my apartment…
Category: Mind, Brain and Behavior
Mental Load: On Mental Health and Anti-Fatness
In a segment from the 2010 documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, Dr. Joel Fuhrman states that “It wouldn’t be so terrible if people were well-educated and well-informed, they didn’t have to die and they could make that choice if they want to commit suicide with food” (Cross). This dichotomy is maintained throughout the film,…
Writing through the “Hydra” of Shell Shock
“The magazine is to fulfil a two-fold function. On the one hand it provides a means for the expression of two further activities – the wielding of pen and pencil; while, on the other, it acts as the link between each and every activity.” -The Hydra Hospital Magazine, New Series Vol. 1 (p.2) “Capt….
An Advent Meditation: Acknowledge Pain, Nurture Hope
I found myself tearing up at a church service on the first Sunday of the Advent season because a choir was onstage. The small choir, harmonious voices, and dedicated conductor prompted thoughts of my own father, who for years had led the choir at our small, Asian-American community church where I grew up. He now…
I’m not Lazy, I’m Ill
“I am not Lazy; I’m Ill”* Multiple sclerosis can feel like your body is gaslighting you. In high-stress mode, I lift my hands in front of my face to check if they are shaking. In Latino culture, we have a saying, “no me tiemba el pulso.” The literal translation is, “My pulse does…
Bits, Fragments, and Splinters: On the Difficulty of Writing an Article About Mental Health in Wartime Ukraine
This is the account of an attempt to write an article on the management of psychological disorders in wartime Ukraine. The attempt looks like a failure. But isn’t it fair to account for one’s failures, especially in academia ? Isn’t that the only way to understand them, in order to turn them into something else ?
“When work and thought forbid the heart to feel”: Henry Head and The Price of Wartime Medicine
The British neurologist and poet Henry Head (1861-1940) was positioned right at the fascinating intersection of modernist literature and early twentieth century science, although he is today perhaps of greater significance to the history of science than to literature. As the literary scholar Paul Peppis argues, “human” sciences such as psychology “examine phenomena of distinct…
“Who I used to be”: Chronic Pain, Identity Paralysis, and Forging a New Sense of Self
“I miss who I used to be,” she says softly. We sit for a moment, both considering the limitations of life lived with chronic pain and the sense of self felt left behind. She pauses for a moment, perhaps to consider the climate of this space – another clinic, another doctor, another evaluation, another day…
Sound(e)scaping Complex PTSD: The Self-Saboteur’s Memory
I temporarily lost my hearing a few months ago. Despite the world coming through in whispers, I learned I only see the world clearly through sound. I would not call this ability synesthesia, but it would make sense, like many other clinical terms, when applied to my life. I have tended to get…
Some Perspectives on Prophecies
Naomi Michalowicz // Now direct your eyes here, gaze at this people, your own Romans. Here is Caesar, and all the offspring of Iulus destined to live under the pole of heaven. This is the man, this is him, whom you so often hear promised you, Augustus Caesar, son of the Deified, who will…