The cruelty and failings of therapies for neurological diseases in French literature
Research article published in Progress in brain research (2013)
Abstract
In this chapter, excerpts from famous or little-known works of French literature are used to illustrate how eighteenth- and nineteenth-century physicians tried to treat neuropsychiatric illnesses. Although the causes were unknown to them, they did not hesitate to inflict suffering on their patients, who were often in an appalling condition to begin with. Novelists such as Gustave Flaubert, Alphonse Daudet, the Goncourt brothers, Georges Siménon, and Céline applied their writing talents to describing the use of leeches, bloodletting, vibratory treatments, suspension of the body, multiple painful injections, and brutal electrotherapy. These writers reveal how physicians used their imaginations not only boundlessly but also without pity, to treat their patients. Each literary work is presented with the medical justifications of the time, for example, the explanations of Cruveilhier, Charcot, Brown-Sequard, Sollier, Vincent, and Roussy.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Resumen
The cruelty and failings of therapies for neurological diseases in French literature.
Por qué esto importa para la hirudoterapia
This historical-literary article uses excerpts from French literature—including works by Flaubert, Daudet, the Goncourt brothers, Simenon, and Céline—to illustrate how 18th- and 19th-century physicians treated neuropsychiatric illnesses with painful interventions including leech application, bloodletting, vibratory treatments, suspension, injections, and electrotherapy. The authors present each literary passage alongside contemporary medical justifications from figures such as Cruveilhier, Charcot, Brown-Séquard, and others. For ASH's domain, this article offers cultural and historical context documenting how leeches were employed in neuropsychiatric practice, illustrating both the imagination and the lack of pity characterizing historical medical approaches. However, the article contains no original scientific data, clinical outcomes, or laboratory findings; it is a humanities-based work drawing on literary representations, and leeches are mentioned only as one of many historical interventions without focused analysis.
Citación
The cruelty and failings of therapies for neurological diseases in French literature
Walusinski O et al. · Progress in brain research, 2013
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Añadido a la biblioteca ASH: May 27, 2026 · Última actualización del sitio: June 18, 2026