Boekrecensie – ‘De Tao van Gezondheid’ door Conny Coppen
‘De Tao van gezondheid’ is een inspirerend spiritueel èn praktisch toepasbaar boek waarin Conny Coppen haar jarenlange professionele kennis van de natuurgeneeskundige therapie in helder taalgebruik uitlegt. Het boek sprak me direct aan door te beloven om op basis van Chinese geneeskundige principes de beginselen van het Taoïsme uit te leggen, aan de hand van lichamelijke klachten en praktische tips. Ik ben zelf werkzaam als arts binnen de psychiatrie en ik vind het ontzettend belangrijk om altijd te blijven verdiepen in overtuigingen die onder mijn patiënten leven of enige handvaten te kunnen bieden om zich verder te ontwikkelen. Met Tao en de Chinese geneeskunst was ik nog niet bekend. Conny…
Book Review – ‘The Mountain War’ by Dr. Isaak Barasch
”How beautifully the little birds are singing in the wood today. As if they didn’t have a care in the world. They are twittering and trilling all around and do not allow themselves to be disturbed by all the ugliness that has been enacted in this vicinity for months now.” Sometimes, you incidentally stumble upon a book that turns out to be both an incredible narration as well as a highly important work of history. ”The Mountain War” is exactly that. The book holds the diary entries of army physician Isaak A. Barasch, a Jewish Hungarian stationed at the Italian fronts during the First World War between 1914 and 1918.…
Book Review – ‘Beating Drug Addiction in Tehran: A Women’s Clinic’ by Dr. Kate Dolan
Professor Kate Dolan is one of the worldwide leading scientists and clinicians in the field of HIV, safe drug use, and methadone programs. In 1986 she founded with some of her colleagues the first needle and syringe program in Australia, which happened to be the third in the world. In the decades after she was closely involved with the establishment of treatment centers for women in Iran as well as the provision of methadone treatment to women in Irani prisons. ”I asked if I could take off my hejab in the car and she says ‘Are you crazy?’ If the police see you, they will put you in jail.’ We…
Book Review – ‘Catastrophic Rupture’ by Dr. K. Jane Lee
‘’I needed to be with her. Not because I felt a deep love or bond (to be honest, I felt neither) but rather because that is what I thought a good parent would do, and I needed to feel like a good parent.’’ Dr. Kimberly Jane Lee is a paediatric critical care physician, who is used to seeing absolute tragedies on an almost daily base. As a physician she is prepared to treat these children, take critical stands in decision-making, and to a certain extend support their families. However, when her own personal life takes a turn, she realises only how little real empathy she was able to bring up. …
Geweld in de GGZ is niet iets dat er nu eenmaal bij hoort
[Eerder gepubliceerd op Trouw]
Sarah Halimi’s murder and the moral challenges of Forensic Psychiatry
[Repost from the Times of Israel] Yesterday, on the 25th of April 2021, approximately 25.000 people gathered in Paris to demonstrate against the Supreme Court of Cassation’s decision to declare the killer of Sarah Halimi z”l as not criminally responsible for the gruesome and tragic murder, that took place just over four years ago. Not only in Paris, but also in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, London and other cities around the world, Jews and others gathered to demand justice for Halimi. Dr. Sarah Attal-Halimi z”l was a beloved Orthodox-Jewish mother and grandmother, who dedicated her life to caring for others as a family physician. On the night of the 4th of…
How to Reflect on Yom HaShoah: Some Thoughts and Recommendations
Tonight marks the start of Yom HaShoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day (יום הזיכרון לשואה). During this day, the world stands still to remember and reflect on the tragedies and horrors that were performed by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. We will light candles, delve into testimonies of survivors, and honour the memories of the 6 million Jews, who were systematically hunted, brought to the depths of evil, and then murdered. Here in Israel, tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock, the whole country will stand still in a two-minute silence of solemn reflection. As the sirens will roar through the streets, and the whole country will pause all activities, our hearts will…
One month after the oil spill, Israelis remain uninformed about health risks
[Repost from the Times of Israel] Today, March 17th 2021, marks exactly one month after a large oil spill reached the shores of Israel. Over a few days, about 170km of Israel’s Mediterranean coastal line slowly blackened up with thick tar. During the first weekend after the disaster, as well as the following weeks, many Israelis showed their most involved and caring side, when they decided to spend precious free hours digging through the beach sand, filling up garbage bag after garbage bag with the black tar. This all while being highly encouraged by local municipalities, by the Nature Park authorities, as well as by family, friends, and community members.…
Lack of transparency about oil spill endangers public health – opinion
[Repost from the Jerusalem Post] In recent days, both the Israeli and international media showed horrifying images of dead and blackened sea turtles, birds, and fish washed up on the Israeli seashores. Cause: a large oil spill, most likely due to a leaking ship, which now is damaging approximately 170 km. (40%) of Israel’s coast. Although the first oil was already found on a few beaches on February 17, the event was only briefly mentioned a day later in relation to a dead whale calf, which washed up on the shores just south of Tel Aviv. A more accurate extent of the disaster became clear during the weekend, after thousands of…
After the COVID-19 pandemic, we will need time to grief and heal
[Repost from the Times of Israel] February 2021, almost a full year after Israel confirmed its first coronavirus patient. Slowly but surely the world seems to brighten up a bit again: the virus mechanism is better understood, many knowledge gaps in our understanding of the pathophysiology (and treatment) of the coronavirus disease have been investigated, and worldwide vaccine programs have started up. Especially with the latter, a small spark of hope has been provided that there will be an end to the pandemic. And not just that, but the end might actually be near. We all long for this end, and for our lives to return to normal: to how…
