Dr. Charles Inglis McLaren (馬羅連, 1882–1957): A Psychiatrist who Treated the Korean Soul

Charles Inglis McLaren (1882–1957) was a psychiatrist and missionary from the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and helped to introduce psychiatry to Korea. McLaren’s contributions to Korea extended beyond the mere introduction of a discipline, and were largely due to his uniqueness. McLaren was not only a psychiatrist, but also a thinker who thought deeply about Christianity, psychiatry, and the problems of medicine and disease. He also maintained an anti-Japanese attitude, which caused him to be imprisoned and finally expelled at the end of the Japanese occupation. As a psychiatrist, he suffered from manic depression, but was courageous enough to reveal his illness to others. This paper will look at McLaren’s life, his contributions to Korean society, and his medical thoughts in his activities and writings.