Van Gogh Mental Sickness

Van Gogh Mental Sickness

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Vincent van Gogh was an author and a painter who suffered hallucinations, and it is believed that he had nightmares. In his writing, Vincent complained about his stomach and poor digestion, which resulted in him cutting off his ear (Van Gogh-Bonger et al. 2018). This shows that Vincent had suffered mental illness and because the illness was passed from generation because it is seen in his bloodline that the mental sickness was present from his fore-parents, he thought that cutting off his ear would make him well. He had also had reported cases in his letters talking of suicide. He was mentally ill, and all he wanted was to end his life because he thought that even after having diseases including acute epilepsy, gonorrhea and other diseases, he would not live a happy life but would suffer before dying. This shows that the painter was mentally sick, and he wanted to die to end his suffering.

The artist at that time felt that he had been rejected. The presence of his brother and other people around his could not give him happy moments because he only thought that everything would be fine after his death (Walker et al. 2017). In his many letters before his mental sickness elevated, he used to write sad letters and frequently talking about his death which was suicidal. It was later discovered that Vincent had and insomnia and bipolar disorder which was not treated on time; hence the disease became worse.

Vincent was depressive and was always bothered by very small issues that have happened in his life. He is reported to have been bothered by as small issues as finding out that his painting has been tampered with. This depressive state of this painter may have caused him to increase his sickness and to be sicker with time. He also had been involved in an issue at a younger age when he was in love with the landlord’s daughter, and the lady refused to marry him, making him experience his first mental breakdown.

It is not possible to diagnose someone based on the pictures that were taken before they died. This is because some of these pictures were taken before they became mad or some people took pictures of themselves in a place they thought these picture would never be seen (Turkheimer et al. 2020). Due to the mistake or the carelessness of these people, the pictures find their way and seen by the people who were to see. When these people see the picture, they get the different perception that the people on the pictures suffer from a certain disease they are not suffering from.

Among the challenges the scholars the violent artists. Some artists are violent when they are asked about critical issues in their lives. Their past may have been very cruel, and they do not wish to be reminded, or they may have encountered issues which, when reminded they feel bad. Moreover, some artist does not disclose their lives’ past events because they feel that their past should not be dug out for issues they may have encountered.

References

Turkheimer, F. E., Fagerholm, E. D., Vignando, M., Dafflon, J., Da Costa, P. F., Dazzan, P., & Leech, R. (2020). A GABA Interneuron Deficit Model of the Art of Vincent van Gogh. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 685.

Van Gogh-Bonger, J., & Gayford, M. (2018). A Memoir of Vincent Van Gogh. Getty Publications.

Walker, F., Bucker, B., Anderson, N. C., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2017). Looking at paintings in the Vincent Van Gogh Museum: Eye movement patterns of children and adults. PloS one, 12(6), e0178912.