The Story of Martha Nasch’s Strange Affliction

Your Lot and Parcel · Jul 31, 2023 · 39m

Jodi Nasch Decker, Ed. D. is the granddaughter of Martha Nasch: “The Woman Who Never Ate, Drank or Slept for Seven Years.” She is also (you guessed it) my mother, my guest said.

After noticing something strange from a secret medical procedure in 1927, St. Paul, Minnesota, Martha Nasch's doctor claimed she just had a "case of nerves." With a signature from her adulterous husband, Martha was committed against her will to the asylum. She spent seven-years in the Minnesota hospital during the Great Depression and tried to escape twice. Martha's poems from behind bars include shocking eyewitness…