The essence of Van Gogh's syndrome is the irresistible desire of a mentally ill person to perform operations on himself: to make 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 causing injury and self-harm.
The Life and Death of Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh, a world-famous post-impressionist artist, suffered from a mental illness, but modern doctors and historians can only guess which ones. There are several versions: schizophrenia, Meniere's disease (this term did not exist then, but the symptoms have similarities with 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 began his creative career at only 27 years old, and died at 37. During the day, the artist could write several paintings. The notes of the attending physician indicate that in between attacks, Van Gogh was calm and passionately indulged in the creative process. He was the eldest child in the family and from childhood showed a contradictory character: at home he was a rather difficult child, and outside the family he was quiet and modest. This duality has survived into adulthood.
Van Gogh's suicide
Explicit attacks of mental illness began in the last years of life. The artist then reasoned very soberly, then fell into utter confusion. According to the official version, intense physical and mental work, as well as a loose 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 still had a gun with him to scare away flocks of birds during work. Having finished writing “Wheat Field with Ravens”, Van Gogh shot himself in the heart with this pistol, and then independently reached the hospital. After 29 hours, the artist died of blood loss. Shortly before the incident, he was discharged from a psychiatric clinic, concluding that Van Gogh was completely healthy, and that the mental crisis was over.
Ear incident
In 1888, on the night of December 23-24, Van Gogh lost his ear. His friend and colleague Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin told the police that there was a quarrel between them. Gauguin wanted to leave the city, and Van Gogh did not want to part with a 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 with a dangerous razor. This event is even dedicated to a self-portrait of Van Gogh. Then he wrapped his earlobe in a newspaper and went to a brothel to a familiar prostitute to show the trophy and find solace. At least that's what the artist told the police. Employees 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 cost him nothing to pounce on Van Gogh and cut off the left ear earlobe with rapier. After that, Gauguin could throw weapons into the river.
There is a version that the artist injured himself due to news of the marriage of his brother Theo. According to the biographer Martin Bailey, he received the letter on the very day he cut off his ear. Van Gogh's brother attached 100 francs to the letter. The biographer notes that Theo for the artist was not only a beloved relative, but also a significant sponsor.
The hospital where the victim was taken was diagnosed with acute mania. The notes of Felix Frey, a psychiatric trainee who looked after the artist, indicate that Van Gogh cut off not only his lobe, but his entire ear.
Mental illness
Van Gogh's mental illness is rather mysterious. It is known that during seizures, he could eat his own colors, rush about the room for hours and freeze for a long time in one pose, he was overcome by longing and anger, attended terrible hallucinations. The artist said that during the period of dullness he saw images of future paintings. Perhaps Van Gogh first saw a self-portrait during an attack.
In the clinic, he was also given another diagnosis - “temporal lobe epilepsy”. True, the opinions of doctors about the artist’s state of health differed. Felix Rey, for example, believed that Van Gogh had 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 had been observing Van Gogh for some time, believed that the patient was adversely affected by prolonged exposure to heat and turpentine, which the artist drank during his work. But he used turpentine already during the attack to alleviate 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 diagnosis is also supported by the fact that among the artist's relatives there were epileptics. The predisposition might not have manifested itself if it had not been for hard work, alcohol, stress and poor nutrition.
Van gogh syndrome
The diagnosis is made if a mentally ill person injures himself. Van Gogh's syndrome - self-operation or the patient’s insistence on the doctor to undergo surgery. The condition occurs with dysmorphophobia, schizophrenia and dysmorphomania, as well as some other mental disorders.
Van Gogh's syndrome is due to the presence of hallucinations, impulsive drives, delirium. 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 ugliness and causes horror among others. The patient finds the only solution 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 severely from severe migraines, dizziness, pain and tinnitus, which led him to a frenzy, nervous exertion. Depression and chronic stress could lead to schizophrenia. The same pathology suffered Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Dumas, son, Nikolai Gogol and Ernest Hemingway.
In modern psychiatry
Van Gogh's syndrome is one of the most famous psychopathologies. Mental deviation is associated with an irresistible desire to conduct operations on himself with amputation of body parts or forcing medical personnel to perform the same manipulations. As a rule, Van Gogh's syndrome is not a separate disease, but accompanies another mental disorder. Most often, patients with hypochondriacal delirium, dysmorphomania and schizophrenia are prone to pathology.
The cause of Van Gogh's syndrome is auto-aggression and self-damaging behavior as a result of depression, demonstrative behavior, various violations of self-control, the inability to resist stress factors and adequately respond to everyday difficulties. According to statistics, men are more likely to be affected by the syndrome, but women are auto-aggressive. Female patients are more likely to inflict cuts and wounds on themselves, and men tend to injure themselves in the genital area.
Provocative factors
A number of factors can affect the development of Van Gogh's syndrome: genetic predisposition, drug and alcohol addiction, various diseases of internal organs, socio-psychological aspects. The genetic factor fundamentally affects. According to contemporaries, the Van Gogh 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 inability to cope with everyday stresses and stresses, conflicts. Patients often claim to replace physical pain in this way.
In some cases, the desire to independently perform a surgical operation is caused by the severe course of a disease. A person who suffers from a mental disorder and is constantly experiencing pain is more likely to injure himself in order to get rid of the discomfort. It was indicated above that Van Gogh's amputation was an artist’s attempt to get rid of insurmountable pain and constant tinnitus.
Syndrome treatment
Therapy of Van Gogh's syndrome involves the identification of a underlying mental illness or causes of an obsessive desire to injure oneself. To remove an obsessive desire, antipsychotics, antidepressants and tranquilizers are used. Mandatory hospitalization. With Van Gogh syndrome with schizophrenia or other mental illness, this will help reduce the risk of damage.
Psychotherapy will be effective only if the syndrome manifests itself against a background of neurosis or depressive disorder. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy is more effective, which will establish not only the causes of the patient's behavior, but also suitable ways of resisting outbreaks of aggression. The recovery process with Van Gogh syndrome with dysmorphomania with the dominance of auto-aggressive attitudes is difficult because the patient is not able to achieve positive results.
The treatment is long and not always successful. Therapy in general can come to a standstill if the patient has a steady state of delirium.