Mark Vonnegut
DoctorAuthor
United States
Mark Vonnegut is an American pediatrician who has practiced in Massachusetts and taught at Harvard Medical School. He has also written extensively about his experience with serious mental illness, beginning with the memoir The Eden Express. [1]
Career and work
Vonnegut entered Harvard Medical School at 28 and went on to become a pediatrician. He has run a pediatric practice in Quincy, Massachusetts, taught at Harvard Medical School, and cared for multiple generations of children in the same community. [5][1]
Alongside medicine, Vonnegut has written several books drawing on different parts of his life and work. The Eden Express (1975) recounts his early experience with serious mental illness; Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So (2010) follows his later life, including medical training and pediatric practice. In The Heart of Caring (2022), he reflected on four decades of practicing medicine and changes in the American healthcare system. [7]
What has been publicly discussed
Sources and other resourcesExpand to view the sources used in this profile and resources to learn more.
Sources used for this profile
The following sources contain information that supports the claims made on this page.
“Recovery and Service: On Being a Physician with Mental Illness” — AMA Journal of Ethics, 2016 Vonnegut’s first-person account of bipolar disorder, psychosis, medical practice, disclosure, treatment, and professional competence.
article or webpage“Mark Vonnegut: Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So” — The Diane Rehm Show, 2010 A long-form interview about diagnosis, hospitalization, medication, psychosis, and medical training.
article or webpage“Connecting strength and vulnerability of the creative brain” — PBS NewsHour, 2014 Includes Vonnegut’s account of voices, loss of sleep and eating, hospitalization, and repeated psychotic breaks.
article or webpage
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“Brian Wilson and I” — PBS American Masters, 2022 A first-person reflection on long-term illness, relapse, and creativity.
article or webpageJust Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So — Penguin Random House Supports Vonnegut’s medical training, pediatric career, memoir, and manic experiences.
book or publisher pageThe Heart of Caring — Penguin Random House Supports his four decades in pediatric medicine and reflections on healthcare.
book or publisher pagePenguin Random Housebook or publisher page
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Recommended books and other resources about Mark Vonnegut and their experiences.
- The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity — Mark VonnegutBook
Vonnegut’s first memoir about his early psychotic episodes, psychiatric treatment, and recovery.
- Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So — Mark VonnegutBook
His later memoir about illness, medical school, pediatrics, and recovery.
- The Heart of Caring — Mark VonnegutBook
Reflections from roughly forty years of pediatric practice.