Search results for ""Author Patrick Allegaert""

Where does reality end and fantasy begin? When can we talk about an hallucination? How do we bridge the gap between our world and others, and imagine or research what is happening 'elsewhere'? Another World opens the gateway to alternative realities. It shows how science and art have explored the unknown areas of the mind for the last two centuries. As innovative as it is offbeat, this story begins with selections from the oeuvres of four amazing creative thinkers, each of whom have generated a different world. From walking pencils to flying bicycles, materialised ghosts and optical illusions, nothing is too odd for this book and its curious insights into the human mind. Text in English, French, and Dutch.

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At the beginning of the war, not a single European army was prepared in any sense, to deal with the large numbers of victims in a humanitarian way. The firepower of the armies was increased, the defense reinforced, but victim care continued to lag seriously behind. Philanthropy, private initiative and the courageous efforts of many individuals had to make up for the failing medical care during the war. As the war progressed, medical care also developed and organization and relief improved. The greatest breakthrough was, however, the recognition - albeit reluctantly - of mental trauma caused by the war. During World War I, many soldiers fell victim to bizarre, anxious and disturbed behavior, which was sometimes referred to as "shell shock". The army commanders seemed reluctant to recognize a formal diagnosis, questioning whether men were really traumatized or simply cowards who were trying to stay away from the horrific and terrifying reality of the Front. Whereas in the early 20th century, the focus was mainly on the shock itself and the outward physical symptoms, today there is a far more in-depth exploration of the complex nature of the human reaction to extreme stress as a result of traumatic events, like war. There is a recognition of a deep, life-affecting condition termed as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. This book is an emotive study of the suffering of war, which can be overwhelming. Offering both analysis and reflection, this intensely moving book looks at the way in which psychiatrists, reporters, artists and war photographers currently perceive and treat the psychological suffering, the often invisible legacy of those involved in war and human conflict.

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Madness deranges, throws us off balance, and makes us lose our footing. Yet some writers claim that madness is an enlargement of normality. But how can that which we cannot control belong to 'normality'? And what is normality? For more than 30 years, the permanent display on psychiatry has been the very heart of the Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent. The history of psychiatry is the inspiration for new thematic exhibitions every year, in which the museum seeks to dislodge entrenched views and deep-rooted stigmas and reframe them in the context of today. In October 2019, this permanent display received a make-over and has been presented under the title 'Unhinged', in which the Museum Dr. Guislain offers a fresh look at its own history as a museum. The richly illustrated publication explores the boundaries of the traditional and goes in search of the sane in the insane. It provides an overview of psychiatry on the basis of five contemporary themes that enter into dialogue with each other: 'power and powerlessness', 'body and mind', 'architecture', 'classification' and 'imagination'. Historical documents are also put side by side with contemporary art, creating a dynamic interpretation. This new approach reflects today's 'crazy' society, in which, happily, increasing attention is being paid to psychological vulnerability, but in which mental health care is also facing new challenges more than ever.

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