Literature and medicine

Intenstive Care by Danielle Ofri


Winthrop Cohen - An elderly man is treated by a psychiatrist for depression. But the depression is caused by his reflections on his actions as a young man during the war. The psychiatrist treats him according to the guidelines - on the surface appearing to be successful, the Mr Cohen is able to return to work. However, he does not thank the psychiatrist, instead, a question is asked...

'Winthrop Cohen’s clinical depression responded to a short course of antidepressant medication and psychodynamic psychotherapy focused on clarifying and interpreting his wartime trauma in the context of his biography and intimate relations. After eight weeks, he no longer stared off into space or looked agitated or seriously depressed. He returned to work. His wife and daughter thanked me for treating this ‘breakdown’. But Winthrop Cohen never thanked me. To the contrary, at our last meeting, he implied that I was part of the societal collusion to cover up the threatening implications of war experiences such as his.

"I can put it away again. I don’t feel the same pressure. I can sleep, and eat, and fornicate again. But you know as well as I do that what’s bothering me can’t be treated or cured. Job said: ‘I will maintain my integrity. I will hold on to my righteousness’. I did neither. I soiled myself as I was soiled. I lost my humanity as those around me did the same. You don’t have any answers. Nor do I. Save to live with it. To realize I did the worst is to understand how ordinary men do bad things. How ordinary Americans were so anti-Semitic at that time. How ordinary Germans did what did during the Holocaust. How all of us are capable of murder. In the midst of war when all hell breaks loose and you are empowered to act with impunity, you can do horror and be decorated for it. And you can dine out for decades telling war stories, stories that are untrue. Because who can face up to the reality of the evil we did? Only the patriotic memories last. The killing is forgotten. The suffering remembered, because it is legitimate to speak of it. What can’t be said – I mean in public – is what I did. What dos that tell you about the soul?" '.


The words of Mr Cohen are more reflective than that of the psychiatrist.