Psychosocial Reactions to Plagues in the Cultural History of Medicine

Abstract

The aim of this work is to elucidate psychosocial reactions to plagues by analyzing three landmark descriptions from different eras: Thucydides' description of the plague of Athens (430bc) inThe History of the Peloponnesian War, Giovanni Boccaccio's description of the plague in Florence (1348) inThe Decameron, and Albert Camus' description inThe Plague(1947). Using a narrative inquiry, we found psychosocial reactions to be complex and ambivalent and could discern several coping strategies. We propose that this knowledge can help psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.