Embodying Suicidal Emotions in England, 1700-1860
The ‘drooping of despondency’, Ella Sbaraini analyses a variety of source material to explore how the embodied nature of suicidal feelings in the past
The Perils and Possibilities of Retrospective Diagnosis
Anna Jamieson explores researchers’ urge to retrospectively diagnose historical and literary figures, outlining the dangers and possibilities of such diagnostic endeavours.
What is Sub-Optimal Health?
Lijiaozi Cheng discusses the concept of sub-optimal health and the Chinese government’s colour-based “health code” for containing COVID-19 A label for me A few years ago, I was doing my masters in Edinburgh and
(Not) Looking at Historical Medical Images
How do researchers respond to the politics, ethics and emotions raised by archival medical images? Michaela Clark reviews the workshop ‘Emotions and Ethics: the Use and Abuse of Historical Images’, organised by AboutFace, 17 June 2020.
Muzzles, parrots and lifejackets: the uneasy objectification of the face mask
As lockdown eases and face coverings become mandatory in certain situations, Harriet Barratt uses object relations theory to consider the emotional responses that the mask engenders.
The Gendered Spectacle of Suffering
Lucy Weir explores the gendered nature of critical responses to on-stage violence I am an art historian by training, though my expertise lies in performance, from dance and theatre to live art. Throughout my
Learning how to listen
Megan Griffin explores how the listening skills gained as a professional musician have benefited her practice as a medical doctor.
Prescribing Restraint: Patient Liberty and Movement in the Insane Asylum
Vesna Curlic explores the debates around patient liberty and restraint in asylum spaces In 1890, an anonymous patient at Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries, Scotland wrote a piece for the institutional magazine, The New
The Dementia “Epidemic”: Examining Illness Metaphors in a Time of Pandemic
Avril Tynan examines the dementia “epidemic” and the problems posed by illness metaphors in the context of coronavirus.
Speaking into Silence: Adolescent Illness Narrative
Amy Ryder discusses the lack of age-appropriate books and spaces for ill teens, and the flourishing of adolescent-authored illness narratives online During my time working for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s