Courtesy Paramount Pictures. In a recent article in The New York Times, entitled “Why Doctors Need Stories,” Peter Kramer makes the case for the use of the anecdote or vignette to fully understand a patient’s experience. Rather than relying on empirical data alone, doctors are factoring in patients’ narratives, viewing them as an important part… Read more »
In 1997, Steven Bratman, MD, coined the term “orthorexia” to address a particular kind of disordered eating that he personally experienced, and saw in his practice and in his community. Ortho, meaning “right” and orexia, referring to the condition of the appetite, describes an individual who is obsessed with “right” or healthy eating. This is… Read more »
Painting by By Maria Raquel Cochez. Long ago in my practice, I worked with a woman who was struggling with bulimia. She would binge and purge daily, a struggle that she didn’t want, but couldn’t see how she could stop. She was ashamed and demoralized. One day, I put some clay in front of her… Read more »
I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. –George Carlin I’m going into 2014 considering all the events of the last year, and what the New Year will bring. While I feel the urge to self-assess and get on the bandwagon of New Year’s resolution-making, I am trying to think of… Read more »
Mark Rothko In The Courage to Create (1975), May stated: In human beings courage is necessary to make being and becoming possible. An assertion of the self, a commitment, is essential if the self is to have any reality.… Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values.… It is the foundation that… Read more »
Photo by Jennifer Rensel. I was an art major in college. I studied painting. I was immersed in the New York art scene, as my school was just two hours north of the city. The small, liberal arts school I attended encouraged this involvement. We were to go down and see the shows, go to… Read more »
Line drawing by Pearson Scott Foresman. Six years ago I was in a taxi with my father in Istanbul, Turkey driving to a cemetery. During the two previous trips I had taken to Turkey with him, I did not accompany him on this part of the journey. He would go, and my sister and I… Read more »
Photo by Edith Schreurs. Dedicated to the Amazing Healers at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle WA There was a moment in the ER that I’ll never forget. My mother had just been transported from the island she lives on near Seattle to the major trauma hospital downtown. My sister was visiting from Los Angeles and had… Read more »
Photob by Evan-Amos. According to the Binge Eating Disorder Association, “Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder in the United States. An estimated 3.5% of women, 2% of men, and 30% to 40% of those seeking weight loss treatments can be clinically diagnosed with binge eating disorder. The disorder impacts people of… Read more »
Jacob de Backer’s Last Judgment, circa 1580. I recently watched the film Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, with Steve Carell and Keira Knightley. Without giving it all away, Carell’s character, Dodge, is faced, as is all of humanity, with the imminent end of the world. An asteroid is on course to… Read more »
