Medicine: Gunshot Surgery

The major had always been a somber, selfish man. But after his retirement from the British army in 1942, he also became moody, bad-tempered and depressed. At 55, he was deep in debt and drinking too much. He had delusions that he was being persecuted, and talked of suicide.

One morning last year, the major's wife got up and found her husband already fully dressed, with his hair neatly brushed, eating the breakfast he had cooked for himself. Then she noticed a trickle of blood running down each side of his face; each trickle...