Mark Vonnegut

Mark Vonnegut (born May 11, 1947) is an American pediatrician and memoirist. He is the son of writer Kurt Vonnegut. He is the brother of Edith Vonnegut and Nanette Vonnegut. He described himself in the preface to his 1975 book as "a hippie, son of a counterculture hero, BA in religion, (with a) genetic disposition to schizophrenia."[1]:preface

Mark Vonnegut
Born (1947-05-11) May 11, 1947
OccupationPediatrician, memoirist
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
GenreMemoir
Notable works
SpouseBarbara
Children2
ParentsKurt Vonnegut (father)
RelativesEdith Vonnegut (sister)

Education

Mark Vonnegut (whom his parents named after Mark Twain[2]) graduated from Swarthmore College in 1969. He briefly worked at Duthie Books and was also briefly chief of a 20-man detachment of special state police that provided the security for Boston State Hospital. During the Vietnam War, he filed an application with the draft board to be considered a conscientious objector, which was denied. After taking the psychological examination, he was given a psychiatric 4-F classification and avoided conscription into the U.S. military.[1]

During his undergraduate years, he set out to become a Unitarian minister. He eventually abandoned that goal.[3]:33

Writing

He is the author of The Eden Express (1975), which describes his trip to British Columbia to set up a commune with his friends and his personal experiences with schizophrenia,[4] which at that time he attributed to stress, diet and, in part, drug use. During this period, he lived mainly at the commune at Powell Lake, located 18 kilometres by boat from the nearest road or electricity. The book is widely cited as useful for those coping with schizophrenia.

On February 14, 1971, he was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and committed to Hollywood Hospital in Vancouver.[3]:37 Standard psychotherapy did not help him, and most of his doctors said his case was hopeless.

Vonnegut first attributed his recovery to orthomolecular megavitamin therapy and then wrote The Eden Express. In this book, he states that "approximately a third - improve without any treatment. Whatever shrink happens to be standing around when such remissions occur is usually willing to assume credit".[1]:267 From the book, one can see that he was trying to decide if it is the therapy or the ever-changing medications that are the most effective for treatment. Vonnegut does not presently attribute his recovery to vitamins. In reality, such situations take years of trial and error treatment to figure out what actually is effective treatment since the diagnostic tools are based on statistics (a group of symptoms and how long they last and what is the age of the patient), making them inherently weak on predictability. This is made worse given the short duration of any treatment because of the prohibitive costs of long term productive treatment.

Vonnegut published an article in The New England Journal of Medicine, December 27, 2007, and has published several short pieces on pediatrics and other topics in The Boston Globe and The Patriot Ledger. He has served on the National Institute for Health Consensus Conference on ADHD since November 1999.

Vonnegut published his second book, Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So, in 2010.[5] Like The Eden Express, it is autobiographical.[6]

Medical career

After the publication of his first book, Vonnegut studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and later came to the conclusion that he actually had bipolar disorder.[7] Vonnegut, despite odds against him, graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1979. After graduation, Vonnegut completed a pediatric Internship and Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

He has practiced pediatrics for over 30 years, opening his own practice, M.V. Pediatrics, in 2001. He is currently a pediatrician in Quincy, Massachusetts.[8]

Personal life

He married in 1975.[9] He had a son, Eli James Vonnegut (b. 1980).[10][11]

References
  1. Vonnegut, Mark (1975). The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity. New York City: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-543-9.
  2. Vonnegut, Kurt (July 7, 1979). "The Necessary Miracle". The Nation. Retrieved December 6, 2010..
  3. Vonnegut, Mark (2010). Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So. New York City: Delacorte Press. ISBN 978-0-385-34379-4.
  4. Sullivan, James (October 7, 2014). "A celebration of Kurt Vonnegut on the Cape". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  5. Wanucha, Genevieve (October 19, 2010). "'Only More So': Mark Vonnegut's Battle With Bipolar". NPR.org. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  6. Ritchie, Kathy (October 19, 2010). "Interview: Mark Vonnegut, M.D., author of Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So". Memoirville. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  7. Vonnegut, Mark (May 17, 2003). "Mark Vonnegut Speaks at Convention". NAMI. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  8. Vonnegut, Mark. "A Few Thoughts From Dr. Vonnegut". MV Pediatrics. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  9. Horne, Jed (November 3, 1975). "Mark Vonnegut Traces His Harrowing Journey Through Wildest Schizophrenia". People. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  10. "Weddings/Celebrations: Lydon Friedrich, Eli Vonnegut". The New York Times. May 9, 2004. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  11. "Eli Vonnegut". FindTheData.com.
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