Mark Vonnegut (born May 11, 1947) is an American

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

and

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

ist. He is the son of writer

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

. He is the brother of

Edith Vonnegut Edith "Edie" Vonnegut (born 1949 in Schenectady, New York) is an American painter. Her work—most of which juxtaposes heavenly beings and mundane activities—has been showcased at galleries across the United States, and is featured in the boo ...

and Nanette Vonnegut. He described himself in the preface to his 1975 book as "a

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

, son of a

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

hero, BA in religion, (with a) genetic disposition to

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

Education

Mark Vonnegut (whom his parents named after

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

) graduated from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

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 The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, he filed an application with the draft board to be considered a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, which was denied. After taking the

psychological examination Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...

, he was given a

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psychi ...

4-F classification and avoided

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

into the U.S. military. During his undergraduate years, he set out to become a Unitarian minister. He eventually abandoned that goal.

Writing

He is the author of ''

The Eden Express ''The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity'' () is a 1975 memoir by Mark Vonnegut, son of American writer Kurt Vonnegut, about Mark's experiences in the late 1960s and his major psychotic breakdown and recovery. After his recovery, he undertook the ...

'' (1975), which describes his trip to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

to set up a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

with his friends and his personal experiences with schizophrenia, 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 Powell Lake is a lake in the northern Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward ...

, 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 Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. Standard

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

did not help him, and most of his doctors said his case was hopeless. Vonnegut first attributed his recovery to orthomolecular

megavitamin therapy Megavitamin therapy is the use of large doses of vitamins, often many times greater than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) in the attempt to prevent or treat diseases. Megavitamin therapy is typically used in alternative medicine by practit ...

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". 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. Like ''The Eden Express'', it is autobiographical.

Medical career

After the publication of his first book, Vonnegut studied medicine at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

and later came to the conclusion that he actually had

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. 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

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

Personal life

He married in 1975. He had a son, Eli James Vonnegut (b. 1980).

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vonnegut, Mark Vonnegut family Swarthmore College alumni Harvard Medical School alumni American pediatricians Place of birth missing (living people) People with schizophrenia 1947 births Living people American male writers American people of German descent