What Mandela taught me about language

Hint: it’s not just for communicating I mentioned in my previous post that I learned Hausa during my year in the north. That’s not the entire story, though. You see, from the start of my time in Gombe, I set out to learn Hausa. Right from orientation camp, I bought a language book and CDs …

Babel, Babble and the Bible

What an ancient story can teach us about getting through to one another Talking to one another is so easy to take for granted. There’s a particular Bible story about language that (whether you believe in the Bible or not) is quite instructive. It’s about the tower of Babel, and the part that has a bearing …

Talking ≠ Communication

And 3 things you might be taking for granted about getting through to others In my last post, “There’s a gap between doctors and patients (where words apparently go to die),” I talked about how we as doctors consistently miss the point of what patients are trying to say. (It happens vice versa too, of course, …

There’s a gap between doctors and patients

(where words apparently go to die) In my last post, I explained why anyone goes to see a doctor… When a health condition gets too much in the way of our ability to live our life as we want. My point there was that people don’t go to doctors for their symptoms, but so they can get …

Stigma and the Language of Mental Health in Mothers

This is an article I submitted as part of a series titled, “Mental Health: The Missing Piece in Maternal Health.” It’s a blog series co-hosted by the Maternal Health Task Force and the Mental Health Innovation Network at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as Dr. Jane Fisher of Monash University. Find the original article on the website of the Mental Health …

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