Mental And Physical Illness
Different Medical Time
McCallum lived in different medical times, with distinct diseases, infections, sanitary conditions, and medications. Lethal diseases during the period include tuberculosis, whooping cough, typhoid, and the Spanish influenza pandemic.
It was a time when mental illness was frequently misunderstood, when hygiene standards were vastly inferior, and when common colds could deteriorate into pneumonia, and ultimately death.
Mental Illness
Though not explicitly stated, there is sufficient anecdotal evidence that the diaries most likely contain unconscious accounts of mental illness.
Severe Mood Disorder
Hetty’s (McCallum’s wife) severe mood swings and erratic conduct are perplexing. Were these merely part of her personality or were they symptoms of a mental or psychological disorder?
Many of her tirades and irritability are explainable. She appeared to suffer from morning sickness, postpartum depression and premenstrual syndrome. However there are many episodes of unexplainable behavior. McCallum, understandably, was bewildered and struggled to cope with his wife’s frequent and severe mood swings.
Diary records of her conduct are consistent with modern day parameters of when a behavior might be diagnosed as a mental disorder such as persistence, severity, duration and recurrence. Increasing the possibility that Hetty may have suffered from a mental disorder is that her brother was committed to an insane asylum in 1913.
It is impossible to draw any definitive conclusions solely from 3rd party historical diary observations. It is left to experts to hypothesize what, if any, mental disorder Hetty may have had, and for readers to speculate for themselves.
Obsessive Behavior
Robert McCallum was an obsessive recorder of details. Not only does he keep track of nearly every household expenditure such as food and clothes but the exact time of train departures, how many nautical miles a steamship covered that day and a running tally of his gambling wins or losses.
In addition, he tracks the number and duration of his sexual exploits, when his wife’s monthly periods start and the precise time when his teenage daughter gets home on a Saturday night.
This collective behavior may simply be that of a person with a high attention to detail. Alternatively modern day experts might see these as signs as a potential condition of OCD (Obsessive-compulsive disorder).
Ailments Of The Time
The journals provide insight into the common physical illnesses of the time:
- Bilious attacks
- The Bot (botulism)
- Gripe
- Rick in the leg
- Piles (plenty of doses)
- The Clap (gonorrhea)
We also witness many familiar medical conditions that are just common today such as: abscesses, bronchitis, lower back pain, paralytic stroke and head colds.
Medications
During the period, pains were sometimes treated with belladonna and plasters, seasickness with beer, colds with hot gin. McCallum documents the medications of the time including carbolic acid, hot whiskey, poultices, salts in lemon drinks and various ointments.
He tells us of his visits to the doctors, and of the many doctor house visits.
He chuffs when he receives a flattering health chart, and complains about the nurses if sick ones don’t improve despite their care.
Amusing Incidents
We cringe but have fun at McCallum’s expense as he documents some of his amusing ailments:
- “Back-door trots” (diarrhea)
- “Boils on my nose” (not good for such an egotistical character)
- “Sore arse” (after a relentless dose of piles)
- “Severe sunburn” (after laying out all day on the beach in Tahiti)
- “Stomach poisoning” (after eating a batch of bad oysters)
- “Burnt cock” (symptoms of burning when peeing due to the clap)
Construction Accidents
McCallum was a builder by trade – on-site safety conditions were vastly different than todays standards. He documents many on-site incidents, some of which will be familiar to those in the industry even today.
- falling through scaffold
- lost fingers
- bricks falling on head
- falling from ladders
- blackened nails (after being hit by hammer)
- cut and jammed fingers
Sick Kiddies
We get an inside view of a typical family’s health issues over time. McCallum records morning sickness and childbirth. He is precise with documenting body temperatures.
We see his children sick and missing school with chickenpox, mumps, and measles. He documents everyday minor incidents such as “Bruce cut his lip after falling off his byke”.
We see his compassion and anguish like any parent as his children lie in pain, spending all night at their bedside, or “slept with the kiddies for comfort.”
Dental And Eye Care
We get a little insight into dental care of the time. There are toothaches, broken teeth and teeth knocked out. We share in McCallum’s visits to the dentist. We hear of getting his teeth ‘stuffed”, getting “plates” and of sore jaws.
Later in life, he records getting a new set of teeth (for £7) (equates to approx. NZ$1,000 in today’s dollars, British Pounds £500 or US$800). He notes the occasion of his “first meal with new teeth”.
Similarly, he documents incidents with his eyes; discomfort from infections, construction debris in the eye, pig styes, dressings, visits to the optician, and later on being tested for glasses.
