Subscribe to RSS
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2021-0299
“But man is not made for defeat”: insights into Ernest Hemingway’s dementia
“Mas o homem não foi feito para a derrota”: visões sobre a demência de Ernest Hemingway
ABSTRACT
Ernest Hemingway is widely regarded as one of the greatest fiction writers of all time. During his life, he demonstrated several signs of psychological suffering with gradual worsening and presentation of cognitive issues over his late years. Some of his symptoms and the course of his disease suggest that he might have suffered from an organic neurodegenerative condition that contributed to his decline, which culminated in his suicide in 1961. In this historical note, we discuss diagnostic hypotheses compatible with Hemingway’s illness, in light of biographical reports.
RESUMO
Ernest Hemingway é considerado um dos escritores mais lidos de todos os tempos. Durante sua vida, ele demonstrou diversos sinais de sofrimento psicológico com piora gradual durante seus últimos anos, associado à apresentação de distúrbios cognitivos. Alguns de seus sintomas, assim como o curso da doença, sugerem que ele talvez tenha padecido de uma condição neurodegenerativa orgânica que contribuiu para o seu declínio, culminando em seu suicídio em 1961. Nesta nota histórica, discutimos hipóteses diagnósticas compatíveis com a doença de Hemingway, à luz de relatos biográficos.
Authors’ contributions:
LC: organization, execution, writing of the first draft, writing of the final manuscript; HAGT: conception, review and critique, writing of the final manuscript.
Publication History
Received: 26 July 2021
Accepted: 04 October 2021
Article published online:
30 January 2023
© 2022. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua do Matoso 170, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20270-135, Brazil
-
REFERENCES
- 1 Wagner-Martin LW. A historical guide to Ernest Hemingway. 1. New York (NY): Oxford University Press; 2000. 256.
- 2 Hotchner AE. Papa Hemingway: a personal memoir. 1. New York (NY): Random House; 1966. 299.
- 3 Farah A. Hemingway’s brain. 1. Columbia (SC): University of South Carolina Press; 2017. 216.
- 4 Hemingway E. The old man and the sea: the Hemingway library edition. New York (NY): Scribner; 2020. 155.
- 5 The Nobel Prize Internet. Ernest Hemingway - Biographical. NobelPrize.org; 2021 Jul 7 Available from: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1954/hemingway/facts/
- 6 The Nobel Prize Internet. Ernest Hemingway - Facts. NobelPrize.org; 2021 Jul 7 Available from: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1954/hemingway/facts/
- 7 Jamison KR. Touched with fire: manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament. 1. New York (NY): The Free Press; 1996. 384.
- 8 Goodwin FK, Jamison KR. Manic-Depressive illness: bipolar disorders and recurrent depression. 2. New York (NY): Oxfor University Press; 2007. 1288.
- 9 Callahan BL, McLaren-Gradinaru M, Burles F, Laria G. How does dementia begin to manifest in bipolar disorder? A description of prodromal clinical and cognitive changes. J Alzheimers Dis 2021; 82 (02) 737-748 https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-201240
- 10 Dieguez S, ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated’: Ernest Hemingway’s near-death experience and declining health. Bogousslavsky J, Hennerici MG, Bäzner H, Bassetti C. Neurological disorders in famous artists - Part 3. Karger; 2010: 174-206
- 11 Martin CD. Ernest Hemingway: a psychological autopsy of a suicide. Psychiatry 2006; 69 (04) 351-361 https://doi.org/10.1521/psyc.2006.69.4.351
- 12 Trent B. Hemingway: could his suicide have been prevented?. CMAJ 1986; 135 (08) 933-934
- 13 Yalom ID, Yalom M. Ernest Hemingway. A psychiatric view. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1971; 24 (06) 485-494 https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1971.01750120001001
- 14 Olney NT, Spina S, Miller BL. Frontotemporal dementia. Neurol Clin 2017; 35 (02) 339-374 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncl.2017.01.008
- 15 Gomperts SN. Lewy body dementias: dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson disease dementia. Continuum (Minneap Minn) 2016; 22 (02) 435-463 https://doi.org/10.1212/CON.20210299202102990309
- 16 Iadecola C, Duering M, Hachinski V, Joutel A, Pendlebury ST, Schneider JA. et al. Vascular cognitive impairment and dementia: JACC scientific expert panel. J Am Coll Cardiol 2019; 73 (25) 3326-3344 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2019.04.034
- 17 Albayram O, Albayram S, Mannix R. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy - a blueprint for the bridge between neurological and psychiatric disorders. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10 (01) 424 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-01111-x
- 18 Rehm J, Hasan OSM, Black SE, Shield KD, Schwarzinger M. Alcohol use and dementia: a systematic scoping review. Alzheimers Res Ther 2019; 11 (01) 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-018-0453-0
- 19 Ropper AH. Neurosyphilis. N Eng J Med 2019; 381 (14) 1358-1363 https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1906228
- 20 Oosterloo M, Greef BTA, Bijslma EK, Durr A, Tabrizi SJ, Estevez-Fraga C. et al. Disease onset in Huntington’s disease: when is the conversion?. Mov Disord Clin Pract 2021; 8 (03) 352-360 https://doi.org/10.1002/mdc3.13148