Experts have found signs of schizophrenia in the great artist. Van Gogh: the history of one disease Evidence in favor of schizophrenic illness

Vincent van Gogh is one of those artists whom experts unanimously classify as artists of the mentally ill. On this occasion it is written great amount works authored by psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, art historians and culturologists, and even Wikipedia, when asked for “mentally ill artists”, gives information about him.

Researchers have debated diagnoses, suggesting that Van Gogh had bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or epilepsy aggravated by alcohol abuse. But all these diagnoses are just interpretations. unique ensemble texts written by Vincent van Gogh himself.

1. Few artists, having taken up a pen, left us observations, diaries, letters, the significance of which would be comparable to their contribution to the field of painting.

2. But Van Gogh's letters are a stunning, unlike anything document, stretching over hundreds of pages, it is a dialogue with the addressees of letters, but also with oneself, God, the world.

3. Without the need for intermediaries and translators, Vincent van Gogh himself talks about his experience of experiencing a mental disorder, appearing to readers as an amazing, thinking, hardworking and very sensitive person who, between bouts of a terrible illness, was much healthier than most of his interpreters and diagnosticians.

4. The artist's heart-wrenching story about the experience of experiencing a mental disorder begins on January 2, 1889, in a letter addressed to his brother Theo, from a psychiatric hospital in the French city of Arles, where Vincent ended up after the well-known incident with his ear cut off.

5. “In order to dispel all your fears about me, I am writing you a few words from the office of Dr. Ray, who is already familiar to you, who is practicing in the local hospital. I will stay in it for another two or three days, after which I expect to safely return home. I ask you one thing - do not worry, otherwise it will become a source of unnecessary excitement for me.

6. By the way, as a token of gratitude for the help that Mr. Rey provided to Van Gogh during bouts of illness, the artist painted his portrait. Contemporaries claimed that the portrait turned out to be very similar to the model, but Felix Rey was indifferent to art. Van Gogh's painting lay in the attic, then for some time they closed a hole in the chicken coop, and only in 1900 (10 years after the artist's death) the painting was found in Dr. Ray's yard. The work was acquired by the famous Russian collector Sergei Shchukin and kept in his personal collection until 1918. Leaving for immigration, the collector left the painting at home, so she got into the collection State Museum fine arts them. Pushkin in Moscow.

7. After this first hospitalization, Vincent van Gogh will write to his brother Theo: “I assure you that the few days I spent in the hospital turned out to be very interesting: life should probably be learned from the sick. I hope that nothing special happened to me - just, as happens with artists, I found a temporary eclipse, accompanied by high fever and significant loss of blood, since an artery was cut; but my appetite was immediately restored, my digestion is good, the loss of blood is replenished every day, and my head works more and more clearly.

8. In a letter to his brother Theo dated January 28, 1889, Vincent van Gogh offers his answer to the question of interest to many about the connection between genius and insanity, art and psychopathology: “I won’t say that we artists are mentally healthy, especially I won’t say this about myself - I am saturated with madness to the marrow of bones; but I say and affirm that we have at our disposal such antidotes and such medicines, which, if we manifest even a little good will, will be much stronger than the disease.

9. On February 3, 1889, Vincent Van Gogh makes a curious observation about the inhabitants of the city of Arles - no, not the patients of the local psychiatric hospital, but ordinary citizens: “I must say that the neighbors are exceptionally kind to me: here, after all, everyone suffers from something - who fever, some with hallucinations, some with insanity; therefore, everyone understands each other perfectly, as members of the same family ... However, it should not be assumed that I am completely healthy. locals suffering from the same ailment, told me the whole truth: the patient can live to old age, but he will always have moments of eclipse. Therefore, do not assure me that I am not sick at all or will not get sick again.

10. From the artist’s letter to his brother dated March 19, 1889, we learn that the residents of Arles turned to the mayor of the city with a statement signed by some citizens that Van Gogh did not have the right to live in freedom, after which the police commissioner ordered the artist to be hospitalized again . “In a word, for many days now I have been sitting alone under lock and key and under the supervision of ministers, although my insanity has not been proven and is generally unprovable. Of course, in the depths of my soul I am wounded by such treatment; it is also clear that I will not allow myself to be indignant aloud: to make excuses in such cases means to plead guilty.

11. On April 21, Vincent van Gogh informs his brother Theo of his decision, after leaving the hospital, to settle in an asylum for the mentally ill in Saint-Remy-de-Provence: “I hope it will be enough if I say that I am decidedly unable to look for a new workshop and to live there alone... My capacity for work is gradually being restored, but I am afraid of losing it if I start to overexert myself and if, moreover, all the responsibility for the workshop falls on me... I am beginning to console myself with the fact that now I am beginning to consider any other."

12. Vincent van Gogh's stay in a psychiatric hospital, and later in an asylum for the mentally ill, was financed by the artist's brother, Theo. In addition, Theodore provided Vincent with a livelihood for more than 10 years, gave money for rent and a studio, for canvases, paints and running costs. “I don’t know of such a medical institution where they would agree to admit me for free on the condition that I would paint at my own expense, and give all my work to the hospital. This is - I will not say big, but still injustice. If I found such a hospital, I would move into it without objection.

13. Before leaving Arles for the insane asylum of Saint-Remy-de-Provence, Vincent van Gogh writes the following letter to his brother: “I must look at things soberly. Of course, there are a whole bunch of crazy artists: life itself makes them, to put it mildly, a little crazy. Well, of course, if I manage to go back to work, but I will remain touched forever.

14. Vincent Van Gogh spent a year in the shelter of Saint-Remy-de-Provence (from May 1889 to May 1890), the director of the shelter allowed the artist to work and even provided a separate room for the workshop. Despite repeated seizures, Vincent continued to paint, seeing this as the only means of combating the disease: “Working on paintings is a necessary condition for my recovery: I only with great difficulty endured the last days when I was forced to sit back and I was not even allowed into the room allotted me for painting…”

15. In Saint-Remy-de-Provence, the artist paints landscapes depicting views from the window of the studio and the garden, and when Vincent was allowed to leave the shelter under supervision, the surroundings of Saint-Remy also appeared on his canvases.

16. Despite three severe seizures that put Vincent out of action for many weeks, he wrote more than 150 paintings this year, made more than 100 drawings and watercolors.

17. From a letter from Van Gogh to his sister: “It is true that there are several seriously ill people here, but the fear and disgust that madness inspired in me before have significantly weakened. And although you constantly hear terrible screams and howls, reminiscent of a menagerie, the inhabitants of the shelter quickly get to know each other and help each other when one of them has an attack. When I work in the garden, all the patients come out to see what I am doing, and, I assure you, behave more delicately and more politely than the good citizens of Arles: they do not interfere with me. It is possible that I will stay here for quite some time. I have never experienced such peace as here and in the Arles hospital.

18. Vincent van Gogh's desire to work, despite his illness, to continue painting and not give up, causes sincere admiration: “Life passes and you can’t turn it back, but it’s for this reason that I work sparing no effort: the opportunity to work is also not always repeated. In the case of me - and even more so: after all, a stronger than usual attack can forever destroy me as an artist.

19. It is important to note that Van Gogh was probably the only resident of the shelter who was engaged in business: “Following the treatment used in this institution is very easy even if you move from here, because absolutely nothing is done here. Patients are left to vegetate in idleness and console themselves with tasteless, and sometimes stale food.

20. At the end of May 1890, Theo invited his brother to move closer to him and his family, to which Vincent did not object. After spending three days with Theo in Paris, the artist settled in Auvers-sur-Oise (a small village not far from Paris). Here Vincent works, not allowing himself a minute of rest, every day a new work comes out from under his brush. Thus, over the last two months of his life, he creates 70 paintings and 32 drawings.

21. In Auvers-sur-Oise, the artist is supervised by Dr. Gachet, who was a specialist in heart disease and a great lover of art. About this doctor, Vincent writes: “As far as I understand, one cannot count on Dr. Gachet in any way. In the first place, it seems to me that he is even more ill than I am, at any rate no less; such are the things. And if the blind lead the blind, won't they both fall into the ditch?

22. Collapsed ... On July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh will die, having shot himself in the chest, he will die in the presence of the summoned Dr. Gachet. In the artist's pocket they will find last letter, addressed to Theo van Gogh, which ends like this: "Well, I paid with my life for my work, and it cost me half my sanity, it's true ..."

23. The death of an older brother will turn out to be a disaster for Theodor Van Gogh: after failed attempt to organize a posthumous exhibition of his brother's paintings, Theo will show signs of insanity, his wife will decide to place the patient in a psychiatric hospital, where he will die on January 21, 1891.

24. The joint work of the brothers will be highly appreciated posthumously, and it seems incredible injustice that none of them lived to see the day when they came to Vincent van Gogh world fame and recognition.

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Vincent van Gogh is one of those artists whom experts unanimously classify as mentally ill. A huge number of works have been written on this occasion, the authors of which are psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, art historians and culturologists, and even Wikipedia, when asked for “mentally ill artists”, gives information about him.

Researchers have debated diagnoses, suggesting that Van Gogh had bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or epilepsy aggravated by alcohol abuse. But all these diagnoses are only interpretations of a unique ensemble of texts written by Vincent van Gogh himself.


Few artists, having taken up a pen, have left us observations, diaries, letters, the significance of which would be comparable to their contribution to the field of painting.


But Van Gogh's letters are a stunning, unique document stretching for hundreds of pages, a dialogue with the addressees of the letters, but also with oneself, God, the world.


Without the need for intermediaries and translators, Vincent van Gogh himself tells about his experience of experiencing a mental disorder, presenting his readers as an amazing, thinking, hardworking and very sensitive person who, in between attacks of a terrible illness, was much healthier than most of his interpreters and diagnosticians. .


The artist’s heart-wrenching story about the experience of experiencing a mental disorder begins on January 2, 1889, in a letter addressed to his brother Theo, from the psychiatric hospital in the French city of Arles, where Vincent ended up after the well-known incident with his ear cut off.


“In order to dispel all your fears about me, I am writing you a few words from the office of Dr. Ray, who is already familiar to you, who is practicing in the local hospital. I will stay in it for another two or three days, after which I expect to safely return home. I ask you one thing - do not worry, otherwise it will become a source of unnecessary excitement for me.


By the way, as a sign of gratitude for the help that Mr. Rey provided to Van Gogh during bouts of illness, the artist painted his portrait. Contemporaries claimed that the portrait turned out to be very similar to the model, but Felix Rey was indifferent to art. Van Gogh's painting lay in the attic, then for some time they closed a hole in the chicken coop, and only in 1900 (10 years after the artist's death) the painting was found in Dr. Ray's yard. The work was acquired by the famous Russian collector Sergei Shchukin and kept in his personal collection until 1918. Leaving for immigration, the collector left the painting at home, so it ended up in the collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin in Moscow.


After this first hospitalization, Vincent van Gogh will write to his brother Theo: “I assure you that the few days I spent in the hospital turned out to be very interesting: life should probably be learned from the sick. I hope that nothing special happened to me - just, as happens with artists, I found a temporary eclipse, accompanied by high fever and significant loss of blood, since an artery was cut; but my appetite was immediately restored, my digestion is good, the loss of blood is replenished every day, and my head works more and more clearly.


In a letter to his brother Theo dated January 28, 1889, Vincent van Gogh offers his answer to the question of interest to many about the connection between genius and insanity, art and psychopathology: “I won’t say that we artists are mentally healthy, especially I won’t say this about myself - I something saturated with madness to the marrow of bones; but I say and affirm that we have at our disposal such antidotes and such medicines, which, if we show a little goodwill, will be much stronger than the disease.


On February 3, 1889, Vincent van Gogh makes a curious observation about the inhabitants of the city of Arles - no, not the patients of the local psychiatric hospital, but ordinary citizens: “I must say that the neighbors are exceptionally kind to me: here, after all, everyone suffers from something - some with a fever, some with hallucinations, some with insanity; therefore, everyone understands each other perfectly, as members of the same family ... However, it should not be assumed that I am completely healthy. Local residents suffering from the same disease told me the whole truth: the patient can live to old age, but he will always have moments of eclipse. Therefore, do not assure me that I am not sick at all or will not get sick again.


From a letter from the artist to his brother dated March 19, 1889, we learn that the inhabitants of Arles turned to the mayor of the city with a statement signed by some of the townspeople that Van Gogh did not have the right to live in freedom, after which the police commissioner ordered the artist to be hospitalized again. “In a word, for many days now I have been sitting alone under lock and key and under the supervision of ministers, although my insanity has not been proven and is generally unprovable. Of course, in the depths of my soul I am wounded by such treatment; it is also clear that I will not allow myself to be indignant aloud: to make excuses in such cases means to plead guilty.


On April 21, Vincent van Gogh informs his brother Theo of his decision, after leaving the hospital, to settle in an asylum for the mentally ill in Saint-Remy-de-Provence: “I hope it will be enough if I say that I am absolutely unable to look for a new workshop and live there alone… My capacity for work is gradually being restored, but I am afraid of losing it if I start to overexert myself and if, moreover, all the responsibility for the workshop falls on me… I am beginning to console myself with the fact that now I begin to consider madness as the same disease as any other ".


Vincent van Gogh's stay in a psychiatric hospital, and later in an asylum for the mentally ill, was financed by the artist's brother, Theo. In addition, Theodore provided Vincent with a livelihood for more than 10 years, gave money for rent and a studio, for canvases, paints and running costs. “I don’t know of such a medical institution where they would agree to admit me for free on the condition that I would paint at my own expense, and give all my work to the hospital. This is - I will not say big, but still injustice. If I found such a hospital, I would move into it without objection.


Before leaving Arles for the insane asylum of Saint-Remy-de-Provence, Vincent van Gogh writes the following letter to his brother: “I must look at things soberly. Of course, there are a whole bunch of crazy artists: life itself makes them, to put it mildly, a little crazy. Well, of course, if I manage to go back to work, but I will remain touched forever.


Vincent Van Gogh spent a year in the shelter of Saint-Remy-de-Provence (from May 1889 to May 1890), the director of the shelter allowed the artist to work and even provided a separate room for the workshop. Despite repeated seizures, Vincent continued to paint, seeing this as the only means of combating the disease: “Working on paintings is a necessary condition for my recovery: I only with great difficulty endured the last days when I was forced to sit back and I was not even allowed into the room allotted me for painting…”


In Saint-Remy-de-Provence, the artist paints landscapes depicting views from the window of the studio and the garden, and when Vincent was allowed to leave the shelter under supervision, the surroundings of Saint-Remy also appeared on his canvases.


Despite three severe seizures that put Vincent out of action for many weeks, he painted more than 150 paintings this year, made more than 100 drawings and watercolors.


From a letter from Van Gogh to his sister: “It is true that there are several seriously ill people here, but the fear and disgust that madness inspired in me before have significantly weakened. And although you constantly hear terrible screams and howls, reminiscent of a menagerie, the inhabitants of the shelter quickly get to know each other and help each other when one of them has an attack. When I work in the garden, all the patients come out to see what I am doing, and, I assure you, behave more delicately and more politely than the good citizens of Arles: they do not interfere with me. It is possible that I will stay here for quite some time. I have never experienced such peace as here and in the Arles hospital.


Vincent van Gogh's desire to work, despite his illness, to continue painting and not give up, arouses sincere admiration: “Life passes and you can’t turn it back, but for this very reason I work sparing no effort: the opportunity to work is also not always repeated. In the case of me - and even more so: after all, a stronger than usual attack can forever destroy me as an artist.


It is important to note that Van Gogh was probably the only resident of the shelter who was in business: “Following the treatment used in this institution is very easy even if you move from here, because absolutely nothing is done here. Patients are left to vegetate in idleness and console themselves with tasteless, and sometimes stale food.


At the end of May 1890, Theo invited his brother to move closer to him and his family, to which Vincent did not object. After spending three days with Theo in Paris, the artist settled in Auvers-sur-Oise (a small village not far from Paris). Here Vincent works, not allowing himself a minute of rest, every day a new work comes out from under his brush. Thus, over the last two months of his life, he creates 70 paintings and 32 drawings.


In Auvers-sur-Oise, the artist is supervised by Dr. Gachet, who was a specialist in heart disease and a great lover of art. About this doctor, Vincent writes: “As far as I understand, one cannot count on Dr. Gachet in any way. In the first place, it seems to me that he is even more ill than I am, at any rate no less; such are the things. And if the blind lead the blind, won't they both fall into the ditch?


They collapsed... On July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh will die, having shot himself in the chest, he will die in the presence of Dr. Gachet, who has been summoned. In the artist's pocket they will find the last letter addressed to Theo van Gogh, which ends like this: "Well, I paid with my life for my work, and it cost me half my mind, it's true ..."


The death of his elder brother would turn into a disaster for Theodore Van Gogh: after an unsuccessful attempt to organize a posthumous exhibition of his brother’s paintings, Theo showed signs of insanity, his wife decided to place the patient in a psychiatric hospital, where he would die on January 21, 1891.


The joint work of the brothers will be highly appreciated posthumously, and it seems incredible injustice that none of them lived to see the day when world fame and recognition came to Vincent van Gogh.

To the question of the diagnosis of mental illness by Vincent van Gogh
L. K. Shaydukova
Published in the journal "Bulletin of Neurology"

The identity of Vincent van Gogh was shrouded in mystery during the artist's lifetime, and for more than a century, numerous researchers have put forward versions and hypotheses regarding his illness.
When conducting a "clinical analysis" of Van Gogh's mental illness, experts name various diagnoses - borderline personality disorder, epilepsy, organic brain damage with affective disorders, cyclothymia, dependence on psychoactive substances (absinthe), digitalis intoxication, the consequences of syphilitic meningoencephalitis (6-9) . Of the psychiatric diagnoses - Meniere's disease, intermittent porphyria (5).
The most popular and well-known diagnosis is epilepsy, which was exposed during Van Gogh's lifetime.
Obviously, there were good reasons for such a conclusion - the presence of epileptic seizures in two siblings (siblings) and one closely related proband (maternal aunt), which indicates a significant hereditary burden. The artist's behavior was characterized by sudden outbursts of anger and rage, which can be regarded as dysphoria - the mental equivalents of epileptic paroxysms.
The famous "Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear" (1889) is a talented testimony of a self-destructive episode. It is rather difficult to assess whether this act was a consequence of the already changed personality of the artist, a manifestation of psychopathization (Van Gogh inflicted a wound on himself after a violent quarrel with Paul Gauguin), or an exacerbation of the underlying disease - epilepsy against the background of psychotrauma.
At the same time, even before the development of epilepsy, Van Gogh was distinguished by specific characterological deviations in the form of ambivalence (fear of loneliness and striving for it), eccentricity, internal isolation, which allowed some researchers (K. Jaspers, G. Gasteau, M.I. Buyanov) put forward the schizophrenic concept of the disease. It would seem that the diagnosis of schizophrenia and epilepsy contradict each other, but the history of psychiatry remembers the old definition of "schizoepilepsy", which was subsequently abolished. A formally rejected diagnosis in clinical reality is not so rare. In these cases, specialists find it difficult to pinpoint the underlying cause - epilepsy, which is accompanied by schizophrenic symptoms or schizophrenia against the background of epileptic activity (this is especially difficult to do in the practice of child psychiatry). It should be noted that there is still a so-called. "Van Gogh's syndrome", denoting the presence of impulsive (or compulsive) hetero- and auto-aggressive actions that occur "in patients with schizophrenia, with latent or manifest epilepsy in combination with alcoholism", which the authors propose to designate as Cambis Van Gogh's syndrome due to a special destructiveness of these actions (1).
Some authors suggested that the artist had xanthopsia. Discussing the possibility of xanthopsia in Van Gogh - preferences yellow color, the following should be noted. The choice of color by a person in general, and by an artist in particular, is a non-random process, due to the mental state of the individual, the characteristics of his emotional sphere for a certain period of time. Each color carries a semantic (but rather affective) load. This is the basis of the “Color Preference Method” by M. Luscher. At the same time, the choice of a certain color according to the standard instruction “from the most favorite color to the least favorite one” also reflects the leading internal needs:
1. Blue color - the need for deep affection to achieve external protection, emotional comfort and peace;
2. Green - the need to defend one's own position, defensiveness, defensive aggressiveness;
3. Red - the need to achieve, possess, lead, offensive aggressiveness of the "conqueror", high search activity.
4. Yellow - the need for emotional involvement and social security;
5. Purple - the need to get away from reality, irrationality of claims, unrealistic demands on life, individualism, subjectivism and emotional immaturity;
6. Brown - the need to reduce anxiety, the desire for psychological and physical comfort;
7. Black - the need for independence through protest, negativism in relation to any authorities, pressure from outside;
8. Gray - the need for calm, rest, passivity.
We do not know what colors were rejected by the artist, but we can clearly see which colors he preferred. These are pure yellow, yellow-brown, brown-orange and blue-green. For two years spent in various psychiatric clinics (until his death), the artist painted hundreds of canvases in yellow-orange and blue-green tones. On the canvas "Noon, or Siesta" (1890) - orange-brown haystacks and an alarming blue sky (the clothes of two "vacationers" also various shades of blue color); "Red Vineyards in Arles" (1888) - orange, red-purple tones of nature and blue-green robes of grape pickers; "Irises" (1889) - a triumph of emerald and blue-green; "Wheat field with sheaves" (1888) - yellow-orange lower part of the picture and blue-green - its upper part; "Landscapes of Brabant" (1889) - the opposite is true, the yellow-orange upper part of the picture and the green one lower; " Starlight Night"(1889) - a mixture of yellow night lights with a blue-green gamut of the sky and mountains; "The Artist's Bedroom in Arles" (1888) - all the same colors: orange bed and table, yellow pillows, crimson blanket, different shades of blue walls, window doors.
The artist's need for these colors is so great that on two canvases he depicts people's faces in emerald green ("A Couple in the Park", 1888, "The Sower" .1888). And as the apogee of the preference for this particular color palette, these are the famous “self-portraits” of Van Gogh, there are more than forty of them. Different faces, as if they belong different people, but the colors ... In one self-portrait, dating from 1987, the artist's beard flares as a bright spot, his yellowish-brown hair is carelessly thrown back, all this clearly stands out against the blue-green general background. In another self-portrait, Van Gogh's bony, emaciated, painfully yellow face contrasts with the light green, life-affirming background of the picture. It is characteristic that on this canvas (1888) the artist is shaved bald, he does not have a shirt on, but puts on a dressing gown (it is possible that the self-portrait was painted within the walls of a psychiatric institution).
The choice of color, the preference for one or another shade may vary depending on the intensity of mental processes, the affective charge of the individual, which is due to both endogenous predisposition and psychogenic-reactive influence. So, another artist, Pablo Picasso, had different periods in his work, designated by experts as “blue” and “pink” (2). Such was the artist's preferred choice of colors in his youth and during the formation of his personality. In the later works of Picasso, written in the style of cubism, gloomy dark colors with leading black. By the end of the artist's life, he had numerous wives and lovers on his conscience, his son Paul, broken by a sadistic attitude - many committed suicide.
Returning to the issue of diagnosing the mental illness of Vincent van Gogh, as already noted above, most of the paintings were created for short period at 2.5 years old - often the artist painted one picture a day. A surge of painful energy was also manifested in the manner of writing - in the impasto style, when the paint is applied to the canvas in such a thick layer that traces of a brush or a palette knife are visible. The artist's work alternated with hospitalization, and sometimes combined with it. It was non-standard, as was Van Gogh's illness, which combined schizophrenic paradox with epileptic rage. The suicide of the artist put an end to both his illness and his work.

Bibliography:
1. Dvirsky A.A. Hetero- and auto-aggressive actions (Cambis-Van Gogh syndrome) in patients with schizophrenia with latent and manifested epilepsy in combination with alcoholism.// First National Congress on Special Psychiatry. "Mental health and safety in society" - M., 2004 - pp. 43 - 44.
2. Rojas K. The mythical and magical world of Picasso - M., Republic Publishing House - 1999 - 270s.
3. Sobchik L.N. MCV is a method of color selections. Modified eight-color Luscher test; Practical guide- SPT., Publishing house "Rech", 2001 - 112 pages.
4. Arnold W.N., Loftus L.S. Xanthopsia and Van Gogh's yellow palete.// Eye. 1991; 5 (Pt 5): 503 - 510.
5. Arenberg I.K., Countryman L.F., Bernstein L.H., Shambaugh G.E. Van Gogh had Veniere's disease and not epilepsy.// JAMA, 1990; 25; 264(4): 491-493.
6. Blumer D. The illness of Vinsent van Gogh.// Am. J. Psychiatry. 2002 Apr; 159(4): 519-526.
7. Lee T.C. Van Gogh's vision. Digitalis intoxication? // JAMA, 1981; 245(7): 727-729.
8. Morrant J.C. The wing of madness: the illness of Vinsent van Gogh.// Can J. Psychiatry. 1993 Sep; 38 (7): 480-484.
9. Strik W.K. The psychiatric illness of Vinsent van Gogh.// Nervenarzt., 1997; 68(5): 401-409.

The essence of the Van Gogh syndrome is the irresistible desire of a mentally ill person to perform operations on himself: to inflict extensive cuts, cut off various parts of the body. The syndrome can be observed in patients with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. The basis of such a disorder are aggressive attitudes aimed at injuring and harming oneself.

The Life and Death of Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, the world famous Post-Impressionist painter, suffered from a mental illness, but modern doctors and historians can only guess which one. There are several versions: Meniere (this term did not exist then, but the symptoms are similar to Van Gogh's behavior) or epileptic psychosis. The last diagnosis was made to the artist by his attending physician and a colleague of the latter, who worked in a shelter. Perhaps it was about the negative consequences of alcohol abuse, namely absinthe.

Van Gogh started creative activity only at the age of 27, and died at 37. Za could paint several paintings. The records of the attending physician indicate that in the intervals between attacks, Van Gogh was calm and passionately indulged in the creative process. He was the eldest child in the family and from childhood he showed a controversial character: at home he was a rather difficult child, and outside the family he was quiet and modest. This duality persisted in adulthood.

Van Gogh's suicide

Obvious bouts of mental illness began at last years life. The artist either reasoned very soberly, or fell into complete confusion. According to the official version, hard physical and mental work, as well as a riotous lifestyle, led to death. Vincent van Gogh, as mentioned earlier, abused absinthe.

In the summer of 1890, the artist went for a walk with materials for creativity. He also had a gun with him to scare away flocks of birds during work. After finishing writing "Wheatfield with Crows", Van Gogh shot himself in the heart with this pistol, and then independently got to the hospital. After 29 hours, the artist died from blood loss. Shortly before the incident, he was discharged from psychiatric clinic, concluding that Van Gogh is completely healthy, and the mental crisis has passed.

ear incident

In 1888, on the night of December 23-24, Van Gogh lost his ear. His friend and colleague Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin told the police that there had been a quarrel between them. Gauguin wanted to leave the city, but Van Gogh did not want to part with his friend, he threw a glass of absinthe at the artist and went to spend the night in the nearest inn.

Van Gogh, left alone and in a depressed psychological state, cut off his earlobe straight razor. Van Gogh's self-portrait is even dedicated to this event. Then he wrapped the lobe in newspaper and went to brothel to a familiar prostitute to show the trophy and find solace. At least that's what the artist told the police. Officers found him unconscious the next day.

Other versions

Some believe that Paul Gauguin himself cut off a friend's ear in a fit of anger. He was a good swordsman, so it was easy for him to pounce on Van Gogh and cut off the lobe of his left ear with a rapier. After that, Gauguin could throw the weapons into the river.

There is a version that the artist injured himself because of the news about the marriage of his brother Theo. According to biographer Martin Bailey, he received the letter on the day he cut off his ear. Van Gogh's brother attached 100 francs to the letter. The biographer notes that Theo was not only a beloved relative for the artist, but also a significant sponsor.

In the hospital where the victim was taken, they diagnosed him with acute mania. The records of Felix Frey, a mental hospital intern who looked after the artist, indicate that Van Gogh cut off not only his earlobe, but his entire ear.

Mental illness

Van Gogh's mental illness is rather mysterious. It is known that during seizures he could eat his paints, rush around the room for hours and freeze in one position for a long time, he was overcome by melancholy and anger, terrible hallucinations visited him. The artist said that during the period of darkness he saw images of future paintings. It is possible that Van Gogh first saw the self-portrait during an attack.

In the clinic, he was also diagnosed with another diagnosis - “epilepsy of the temporal lobes”. True, the opinions of doctors about the state of health of the artist diverged. Felix Rey, for example, believed that Van Gogh was ill with epilepsy, and the head of the clinic was of the opinion that the patient had brain damage - encephalopathy. The artist was prescribed hydrotherapy - staying in the bath for two hours twice a week, but this did not help.

Dr. Gachet, who observed Van Gogh for some time, believed that the patient was negatively affected by prolonged exposure to heat and turpentine, which the artist drank during his work. But he used turpentine already during the attack to relieve the symptoms.

The most common opinion about Van Gogh's mental health today is the diagnosis of "epileptic psychosis". This is a rare disease that affects only 3-5% of patients. The fact that there were epileptics among the artist's relatives also speaks in favor of the diagnosis. The predisposition might not have manifested if it were not for hard work, alcohol, stress and poor nutrition.

Van Gogh syndrome

The diagnosis is made when a mentally ill person injures himself. Van Gogh syndrome - self-operation or the patient's insistence on the doctor to perform surgical intervention. The condition occurs in dysmorphophobia, schizophrenia and dysmorphomania, as well as some other mental disorders.

Van Gogh's syndrome is caused by the presence of hallucinations, impulsive cravings, and delusions. The patient is convinced that some part of the body is so ugly that it causes unbearable physical and moral suffering to the owner of the deformity and causes horror in those around him. The only solution the patient finds to get rid of his imaginary defect in absolutely any way. In this case, there is actually no defect.

It is believed that Van Gogh cut off his ear, suffering severe migraines, dizziness, pain and tinnitus, which drove him into a frenzy, nervous strain. Depression and chronic stress could lead to schizophrenia. Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Dumas son, Nikolai Gogol and Ernest Hemingway suffered from the same pathology.

In modern psychiatry

Van Gogh syndrome is one of the most famous psychopathologies. Mental deviation is associated with an irresistible desire to perform operations on oneself with amputation of body parts or forcing medical personnel to carry out the same manipulations. As a rule, Van Gogh's syndrome is not a separate disease, but accompanies another mental disorder. Most often, pathologies are affected by patients with dysmorphomania and schizophrenia.

The cause of Van Gogh's syndrome is auto-aggression and self-damaging behavior as a result of depression, demonstrative behavior, various self-control disorders, the inability to resist stress factors and adequately respond to everyday difficulties. According to statistics, men are more likely to suffer from the syndrome, but women are more susceptible to auto-aggressive behavior. Female patients are more likely to inflict cuts and wounds on themselves, and men, as a rule, injure themselves in the genital area.

Provoking factors

The development of Van Gogh's syndrome can be affected whole line factors: genetic predisposition, drug and alcohol addiction, various diseases internal organs, socio-psychological aspects. The genetic factor plays a major role. According to contemporaries, Van Gogh's sisters suffered from mental retardation and schizophrenia, and the aunt suffered from epilepsy.

The level of personality control is reduced under the influence of alcoholic beverages and drugs. If the patient is disposed to auto-aggressive behavior, then a decrease in self-control and volitional qualities can lead to serious injuries. The consequences of Van Gogh's syndrome in this case are deplorable - a person can lose too much blood and die.

An important role is played by socio-psychological influence. Most often, the patient injures himself due to the inability to cope with everyday stresses and stresses, conflicts. Patients often claim to replace in this way heartache physical.

In some cases, the desire to independently conduct surgical operation caused by severe disease. A person who suffers from a mental disorder and constantly experiences pain is more likely to injure himself in order to get rid of the discomfort. It was stated above that Van Gogh's amputation was an attempt by the artist to get rid of insurmountable pain and constant tinnitus.

Treatment of the syndrome

Therapy of the Van Gogh syndrome involves identifying the underlying mental illness or the causes of the obsessive desire to injure oneself. To remove an obsessive desire, antipsychotics, antidepressants and tranquilizers are used. Hospitalization required. Van Gogh syndrome with schizophrenia or other mental illness this will help reduce the risk of injury.

Psychotherapy will be effective only if the syndrome manifests itself against a background of neurosis or depressive disorder. More effective is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which will establish not only the causes of the patient's behavior, but also suitable ways to confront outbreaks of aggression. The process of recovery in Van Gogh syndrome with dysmorphomania with the dominance of auto-aggressive attitudes is difficult, because the patient is not able to achieve positive results.

Treatment is long and not always successful. Therapy in general can come to a standstill if the patient has a stable state of delirium.

“Gachet's diagnosis differs from Ray's, which was confirmed by Dr. Peyron, both of them considered Vincent's disease a form of epilepsy. Since then, many doctors have been interested in Van Gogh's disease. Some believed that it was diffuse meningoencephalitis, others that it was schizophrenia (Karl Jaspers, in particular, held this opinion), and others that it was mental degeneration and constitutional psychopathy ... And in fact, Van Togh's insanity is not so easy amenable to definition and classification. This madness cannot be considered in isolation from that exceptional (in the very literally words) personality, which was Van Gogh. It is as inextricably linked with it as its genius, and it must be judged at a level where generally accepted concepts lose their usual meaning in many respects. What determined Van Togh's talent determined all the circumstances of his life and his illness. (Perruchot, 1973, p. 307.)

Evidence supporting schizophrenia

"Schizothymic predisposition. As a child, there was no particular talent in drawing. The beginning of the schizophrenic process in 1887, even earlier there was a gradual increase in introversion and regression to infantile complexes. With the rise of schizophrenia in his painting, there is strong expressionism and regression, reaching ornamentalism" (Westerman-Hoistijn, 1924.)
"Whoever read Gauguin's description of his psychosis is unlikely to have doubts about schizophrenia" (Winkler, 1949, p. 161.)
“The onset of psychosis at the end of 1887, the diagnosis was made in the spring of 1888. During Christmas 1888, he suffered from acute psychosis. Since 1888, there has been a change in the style of creativity. There is no epilepsy, as there are no convulsive seizures and a specific personality change with a decrease in intelligence. Diagnosis - paroxysmal schizophrenia "(Jaspers, 1926.)
“It is well known that a crisis broke out in Arles in the life of Vincent. Usually biographers associate this with severe overwork, malnutrition, excessive smoking, prolonged exposure to the sun, etc., but every psychiatrist knows that all these facts are not the causes of process psychoses ... The manifestations of psychosis observed in Vincent in Arles were already different than before in Borinage and Holland .., Staying in the south led to a change in the biological quality of the process, sluggish schizophrenia acquired a more active and periodic course ... Then placed in the Saint-Remy asylum for the mentally ill, he made several drawings from the window with the image of the crowd. With schizophrenic foolishness, he chanted: “I am a holy spirit, I am in my Mind!” He made the same inscription on the wall of the ward ... distortion of the external world in accordance with experiences, was a direct effect of Vincent's great immersion in painful experiences and detachment from reality. At the same time, it was an expression of a more primitive nature of creativity. In general, his paintings of recent times are very chaotic, the colors have become rougher, they are no longer complete internal tension and not so bright, the background of the desert prevails.There is a clear decline in the subtlety of sensations.[Paintings created in the hospital] ...were rather strange than distorted, although, obviously, a tendency to stereotype, ornamentalization, constriction, loss of mental plasticity was revealed and the integrity of what is depicted, as in the drawings of patients with schizophrenia ... Thus, pain There is no reason to think of a schizophrenic process, at first sluggish, and then, from the Arles period, it took on a course designated as oneiroid catatonia. In Auvers there was a transformation of oneiroid seizures into a depressive state. The large polymorphism of symptoms, the transformation of syndromes also speaks in favor of schizophrenia. (Tselibeev, pp. 241-243, 245-246.)

Evidence supporting epileptic disease

“We do not share the opinion that it was typical epilepsy. Against such an assumption is the fact that he did not have epileptic convulsions: there is no evidence of this in the medical records of the psychiatric hospital of St. Remy, nor in his personal descriptions of his illness in letters to his brother Theo. AT modern times Kleist under the title "Episodische Dummern zustande" described a disease state close to epilepsy. Consequently, the epileptoid state, which so closely coincides in many ways with the picture of his illness, strikingly convinces us of such a diagnosis of Van Gogh's disease ... Jaspers, one might say, against his will, was forced to say the following about Van Gogh: ".. .With such severe attacks of psychotic illness, he retained a fully critical attitude to the environment - with schizophrenia - an unusual phenomenon. (Riise, 1927, pp. 141 - 142.)
“According to the records of the hospital in Arles, Van Gogh suffered from a somnambulistic form of epilepsy ... Evidence mental state Van Gogh is his ""Self-portrait with a cut off ear"". (Bogolepov, 1971, p. 400.)
Epileptoid psychosis without epileptic seizures. Latent epilepsy. (Doiteau & Leroy, 1928, pp. 124, 128.)
"Episodic twilight states close to epilepsy". (Goldbladt, 1928, pp. 67-68.)
"Temporal epilepsy". (Muller, 1959, p. 418.)
“Yellow and orange colors, very characteristic of visions during the so-called aura - a harbinger of an epileptic seizure, like the existing data on seizures suffered by Van Gogh, indicate epilepsy. However, it was from this disease that many doctors treated him, and to no avail. (Filonov, 1990, p. 3.)

Evidence supporting other diseases

"Concurrent combination of schizophrenia and epilepsy". (Bleuler, 1911, p. 145; Bleuler, 1940, p. 68-69.)
"Cyclothymic personality with occasional depressions and manias". (Perry, 1947, p. 171.)
“... The absence of specific personality changes characteristic of most forms of schizophrenia and epilepsy makes these diagnoses questionable. The work and life of the artist, his correspondence say that in this case, apparently, we are talking about a special periodic psychosis in a disharmonic personality. (Buyanov, 1989, p. 212.)
“Van Gogh suffered from bouts of manic-depressive psychosis with its characteristic cyclic mood swings... In some of his letters to his brother Theo, Van Gogh wrote that he was oppressed by abrupt transitions from creative upsurge to complete mental collapse, incapacity and mortal despair... In favor of the assumption of manic-depressive psychosis, cyclical tides in the artist's sexual activity are also evidenced, as evidenced by his own confessions in letters to his brother Theo. (Filonov, 1990, p. 3.)
"Alcoholism (absinthe abuse) with hereditary predisposition to epilepsy on the mother's side." (Vinchon, 1924, p. 143.)
[A number of authors are trying to correct the erroneous historical notion that] “... the morbid condition of Vincent van Gogh was determined by the presence of epilepsy combined with insanity. These diseases would have been diagnosed during the life of the artist, but they do not have stable undoubted criteria. An analysis of personal letters to family and friends written between 1884 and the artist's suicide in 1890 reveals the identity of a fully self-aware individual who suffered from severe, incapacitating, recurrent vertigo that had the character of seizures, but not seizures. The artist considered himself ill with epilepsy as a result of the written conclusion of Dr. Peyron, a doctor from the asylum of St. Remy (France), where on May 9, 1889, Van Gogh voluntarily imprisoned himself in a hospital for epileptics and the insane. However, the clinical data contained in his letters do not correspond to epilepsy, but to Meniere's disease. [The authors emphasize that at that time Meniere's syndrome (labyrinth disorder) was not yet sufficiently known and was often misdiagnosed as epilepsy.]” (Arenbergudp., 1990, p. 70.)
“Van Gogh’s illness manifested itself in two different aspects: on the one hand, from the moment of his twentieth birthday, bipolar psychosis arose with alternating depressive and manic states, reinforced by a family hereditary predisposition. On the other hand, since 1888, there has been a twilight state and complete loss of consciousness, accompanied by auditory and visual hallucinations, aggressiveness, reaching violent insanity and self-mutilation, depressive mood and a sense of fear, increased suicidal danger and perfect clarity of mind - all these are symptoms of partial temporal lobe epilepsy with signs of limbic psychomotor epilepsy.” (Neumayr, 1997a, p. 401.)

Features of creativity

“Much remains unclear and controversial to date in the pathography of this severe bionegative personality. We can assume syphilitic provocation of schizo-epileptic psychosis. His feverish creativity is quite comparable with the increased productivity of the brain before the onset of a syphilitic disease of the brain, as was the case with Nietzsche, Maupassant, Schumann. Van Gogh Presents good example how a mediocre talent, thanks to psychosis, turned into an internationally recognized genius. (Lange-Eich-baum and Kurth, 1967, p. 373.)
“... Psychosis occurs precisely when the unbelievably rapid deployment of the “new style” begins! ["Schizophrenia does not bring anything absolutely" new, but, as it were, goes towards the existing forces. Through it, something arises that corresponds to the initial aspirations, but would not have arisen at all without psychosis. , 1999, p. 209.)

“A peculiar bipolarity, so clearly expressed in the life and psychosis of this remarkable patient, is expressed in parallel in his artistic creativity. In essence, the style of his works remains the same all the time. Only more and more sinuous lines are repeated, giving his paintings a spirit of unbridledness, which reaches its culminating point in his latest work, where the upward striving and the inevitability of destruction, fall, and destruction are clearly emphasized. These two movements - the movement of ascent and the movement of falling - form the structural basis of epileptic manifestations, just as the two poles form the basis of the epileptoid constitution. (Minkovskaya, 1935, p. 493.)
"Drew ingenious paintings Van Gogh in between attacks. And the main secret of his genius was the extraordinary purity of consciousness and a special creative upsurge, which arose as a result of his illness between attacks. F.M. also wrote about this special state of consciousness. Dostoevsky, who at one time suffered from similar attacks of a mysterious mental disorder. (Kandyba, 1998, pp. 350-351.)
[Letter to brother Theo dated 09/10/1889] “In connection with my illness, I think of many other artists who also suffered; this state does not interfere with painting, and in this case it is as if there was no illness at all. (Van Gogh, 1994, vol. 2, p. 233.)

The abundance of pathographic material with an analysis of the facts cited makes any comments by the compiler redundant. Discussions regarding the diagnosis of Vincent van Gogh may still continue, but no one doubts that his mental disorder affected both the content of creativity and the creative process itself. Moreover, it determined his fate.