Literary Medicine: Brain Disease and Doctors in Novels, Theater, and Film

Literary Medicine – Brain Disease and Doctors in Novels, Theater, and Film

by Julien Ed Bogousslavsky
Classical and modern literature is full of patients with interesting neurological, cognitive, or psychiatric diseases, often including detailed and accurate descriptions, which suggests the authors were inspired by observations of real people. In many cases these literary portrayals of diseases even predate their formal identification by medical science. Fictional literature encompasses nearly all kinds of disorders affecting the nervous system, with certain favorites such as memory loss and behavioral syndromes. There are even unique observations that cannot be found in scientific and clinical literature because of the lack of appropriate studies. Not only does literature offer a creative and humane look at disorders of the brain and mind, but just as authors have been inspired by medicine and real disorders, clinicians have also gained knowledge from literary depictions of the disorders they encounter in their daily practice. This book provides an amazing and fascinating look at neurological conditions, patients, and doctors in literature and film in a way which is both nostalgic and novel.

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