Dr. Harold Merskey, who died on May 15, 2024 of vascular dementia, was born and brought up in Sunderland, England.
For nearly 60 years, Harold was an exemplary psychiatrist and pain management specialist. He was internationally renowned for his work in pain management and contributed greatly to other areas such as false memory syndrome, hysteria and dementia.
His early research interests grew out of his work with individual patients. He saw that it was paramount to help patients whose chronic pain was ignored because it was in soft tissue, whether through research to establish better prescribing methods, or assistance to reach decent settlements from insurance companies after motor vehicle accidents.
Harold’s commitment to patient care and scientific research advanced the study and treatment of pain, as well as our understanding of dementia. As a young man, he wrote the definition for pain, which remained in use for decades.
Author of more than a dozen volumes and 400 publications, Harold was a prodigious writer, a fine teacher, a mentor and colleague to friends around the world and across several generations. People reached out to him regularly for advice, support and insight into therapeutic and ethical matters. They relied on his discretion, wisdom and compassion.
In the broader community, Harold was proud to help combat the abuses of psychiatry and speak out on behalf of political and religious dissidents trapped in the former Soviet Union from the 1960s to 1980s. Privately and professionally, he was always willing to speak up for those who could not speak for themselves.
Harold qualified in medicine from Oxford University and University College Hospital in London in 1953. He started his psychiatric training during his national service with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and went on to gain his diploma in psychological medicine and become a member of the Royal Medico-Psychological Association. He held positions in Sunderland, Sheffield, Nottinghamshire and the then National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London.
He moved to London, Ont., in 1976 as the director of education and research at the then London Psychiatric Hospital and a professor in the University of Western Ontario’s psychiatry department.
Harold was a founding member, later an honorary life member, of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), and of the Canadian Pain Society, where he served as president from 1988-91. He was the first chair of IASP’s International Pain Classification Committee and founding editor-in-chief of Canadian Pain Research and Management. He was a founding member and, later, a fellow, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in both England and Canada. In addition, he was an honorary member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and of the American Academy of Oral Medicine.
Harold’s work was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Distinguished Career Award from the Canadian Pain Society. In 2016, he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Western Ontario.
Harold was a devoted and loving family man. Married to Susan for 59 years, he was immensely proud of the achievements of their three children and five grandchildren. He enjoyed spending time with them, and they with him. Each one has their own special memories of those times.