When nostalgia was a medical diagnosis

Think of something that makes you nostalgic. In 1688 a medical student in Basel gave that feeling a name, and for the next two centuries doctors treated it as an illness. A short look at how a diagnosis became an everyday word. Sources • Hofer J. (respondent), Harder J. J. (praeses). Dissertatio medica de nostalgia, oder Heimwehe. Basel: Jacob Bertsch, 22 June 1688. Universitätsbibliothek Basel, e-rara.ch. https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-18924 (Public Domain Mark) • Wellcome Collection. “The hidden history of homesickness.” https://wellcomecollection.org/storie... • Wellcome Collection catalogue record for the 1688 dissertation: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/... About the pictures The 1688 pages are scans of the original dissertation (Universitätsbibliothek Basel, via e-rara). The painted scenes — people, rooms, landscapes — are imagined illustrations, AI-assisted paintings made for this film, not historical records. Credits Written and narrated by Jack O’Sullivan. Original score. More of my writing: https://jackosullivan.co.uk Chapters 0:00 A familiar feeling 0:38 Basel, 1688 1:01 Animal spirits 1:22 A student far from home 1:43 Soldiers far from home 2:00 A diagnosis loses its standing 2:25 Home, or the past?