Christmas with Charles Dickens - The Man of Letters as Syndrome-Spotter and Good Moralist

Abstract

Charles Dickens, as a writer, was also a great master of patient observation. He described more than 40 syndromes, some of which were named after characters and titles of his literary works. Within these he often referred to the connection between illness, poverty and social misery. Some of his descriptions have withstood the litmus test of time and are still used in today's medicine: Amongst these are the characters Frederick, Little Dorrit's uncle, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, Fat Joe after whom the Pickwick-syndrome was named, Tiny Tim who is beaten with Pott's disease, Ebenezer Scrooge, a victim of posttraumatic embitterment disorder, and Mr. Krook who dies from spontaneous human combustion. Charles Dickens loved animals, and he was a member and supporter of The Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals and actively engaged in public activities against vivisection. Furthermore he explicitly cared for children, and when his novel "Oliver Twist" appeared, the begging children received more alms, and the government improved the poor houses. Finally, there is probably no other author who has portrayed the power of Christmas so sensitively and impressively. Dickens hoped that in these days, just before the turn of the year, personal transformations would take place and redemption would be experienced as a result of new insights. For such transformations, he was convinced that man occasionally needs external stimuli.