Manic Depression Psychosis

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

In his ‘W 11 1889’, Vincent van Gogh wrote: ‘As for myself, I often feel unsettled in my mind, 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 a Bandaged Ear (1889) ♦

♦ Diagnosis
Main symptoms: Part of the left ear cut off (on 23 September 18888).
Additional symptoms: Impoverished artist, aged 35, had recently had an argument with Gauguin in Arles.
Clinical diagnosis: Self-mutilation, manic-depressive psychosis.

♦ Definition: manic-depressive psychosis
Psychosis characterised by mania or melancholia, or both.

♦ Definition: self-mutilation
Self-mutilation, or automutilation, 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 produced a self-portrait), he must nevertheless have suffered from a latent psychiatric disorder.
On 30 December 1888, the local newspaper *Le Foum Républicain* published the following report: ‘Last Sunday at around half past eleven, a certain Vincent van Gogh, a painter originally from the Netherlands, came to brothel no. 1 and asked for a certain Rachel, to whom he gave his ear, asking her to keep it safe’.
A few weeks later, in February, his general state of 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 exceptionally renowned paintings during that period.
Towards the end of May 1890, van Gogh was discharged from Saint-Rémy and arrived in Auvers. On 29 July, 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 whilst suffering from mental illness, and his other brother, Cornelis, committed suicide.
Some authors believe that van Gogh’s illness was not of a psychiatric nature, but rather a consequence of digitalis poisoning or chronic abuse of absinthe.

Source: Jan Dequeker

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

Manic Depression Psychosis

References