ABSTRACT
In March 1962, The Times newspaper reported the strange case of a man whose asthma had apparently been cured by the death of his wife. According to his general practitioner, the patient had quite suddenly developed asthma at the age of forty-five, but clinical tests had revealed no evidence of allergy to the familiar array of immediate environmental triggers, such as pollen and dust. However, a clue to the possible emotional and domestic origins of his illness emerged when it became apparent that the man had ‘never had an attack of asthma’ since the death of his ‘formidable and overpowering wife.’ With little hint of irony, the report concluded that the patient ‘had obviously been allergic to his wife.’ 1
