Abstract Details

Title Treating Melancholia in the Home: Theoretical Wisdom and Grim Reality in the Career and Life of EC Seguin

Topic History of Neurology

Presentation(s) S57 - (-)

Poster/Presentation
Number 003

Objective

Background EC Seguin was one of the early core 19th century neurologists who participated in the development of neurology as a specialty in the United States.

Design/Methods Examination of published writings by Seguin, newspaper articles covering the death of his family, and primary source documents, including letters, cemetery archives, and Seguin's Last Will and Testament.

Results Born in France, but raised from early childhood in the United States, Seguin published widely, developed a high-profile New York City practice, and was named Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System at the College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York) in 1874. Typical of the era, he studied neurological disorders, but also several conditions that today would be considered in the realm of psychiatry. One of his seminal papers was titled "The treatment of mild cases of melancholia at home" (1876). Contrary to the wide-spread practice of isolating patients in either rest homes or asylums, Seguin introduced and formalized treatment of depression within the household. Against this academic backdrop, Seguin returned home on October 31, 1882, to discover that his own wife, afflicted with longstanding depression and treated at home, had committed suicide after murdering their three children. Newspaper accounts and printed interviews of Seguin's brother-in-law confirmed that Mrs. Seguin had been treated utilizing home therapy with at least some of the methods described in Seguin's seminal treatise.

Conclusions The grim dichotomy between the confidently written manuscript and the reality of the treatment failure is a neurological lesson in humility regarding diseases and their unpredictable outcomes.

Authors/Disclosures
Christopher Goetz, MD, FAAN (Rush University Medical Center) PRESENTER	The institution of Dr. Goetz has received research support from Michael J. Fox Foundation. The institution of Dr. Goetz has received research support from NIH. The institution of Dr. Goetz has received research support from Department of Defense. Dr. Goetz has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Goetz has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Goetz has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care.
Donald H. Harter, MD, FAAN	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file

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