Manic Depression Psychosis

Vincent van Gogh
March 30, 1853, Zundert, Netherlands - July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, France

Vincent van Gogh wrote in his ‘W 11 1889’: 'As for myself, I often feel uncomfortable in my head, because I think my life has not been peaceful enough. All those bitter disappointments, setbacks, and changes have prevented me from developing my artistic career fully and naturally.'

♦ Self-portrait with bandaged ear (1889) ♦

♦ Diagnosis
Main symptoms: Piece of left ear cut off (on September 23, 1888).
Secondary symptoms: Poor artist, 35 years old, had recently had an argument with Gauguin in Arles
Clinical diagnosis: Self-mutilation, manic-depressive psychosis.

♦ Definition: manic-depressive psychosis
Psychosis characterized by mania or melancholy or both.

♦ Definition: Self-mutilation
Self-mutilation or self-harm is the act of mutilating oneself: cutting off a limb, a body part, or (part of) an organ

♦ Discussion
Although Vincent van Gogh remained very active both before his self-mutilation (he painted La Berceuse) and afterwards (he made a self-portrait), he must have suffered from a latent psychiatric disorder.
On December 30, 1888, the local newspaper Le Foum Républicain published the following report: “Last Sunday around half past eleven, a certain Vincent van Gogh, painter and originally from the Netherlands, came to brothel no. 1 and asked for a certain Rachel, to whom he gave his ear with the request to keep it safe.”
A few weeks later, in February, his general health had deteriorated to such an extent that he was admitted to a special ward at the hospital in Saint-Rémy. From then on, he was under psychiatric supervision, although he remained very active and produced many exceptional and renowned paintings during this period.
Towards the end of May 1890, van Gogh was discharged from Saint-Rémy and arrived in Auvers. On July 29, he died as a result of a bullet he had apparently fired two days earlier in the fields of Auvers.

Psychiatric disorders were common in his family. His sister Wilhelmien was admitted to an asylum for psychiatric patients, his brother Theodorus died insane, and his other brother Cornelis committed suicide.
Some authors believe that van Gogh's illness was not psychiatric in nature, but rather a result of digitalis intoxication or chronic abuse of absinthe.

Source: Jen Dequeker

A few famous people who are or were manic-depressive
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Mariah Carey
- Mel Gibson
- Antonie Kamerling
- Edvard Munch
- Amy Winehouse

Jan Dequeker
The artist and the doctor look at paintings Photos
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