Five people out of a thousand have schizophrenia. This disease is equally common in men and women. And the first descriptions of schizophrenia-like symptoms can be found already in the 17th century BC, in the “Book of Hearts” - part of the ancient Egyptian Ebers papyrus. Which of the brilliant people suffered from schizophrenia?
Philip K. Dick
It is believed that the writer Philip K. Dick, who became famous for the Sky-Fi novels “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” on which the film “Blade Runner” was filmed, and “Memoirs Wholesale and Retail,” is believed to have had a mild form of schizophrenia based on the film Total Recall. Some believe that it was the illness that helped the author create such book plots.
It is believed that the Dutch post-impressionist artist created most of his paintings at a time when his schizophrenic seizures became more frequent. At this time, he created several paintings a day and could not sleep for days.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Researchers agree that this famous stateless philosopher was the owner of a frightening diagnosis - “nuclear mosaic schizophrenia.” Currently, this disease is called obsession, and its most striking symptom is delusions of grandeur. Most likely, it was schizophrenia that served as the impetus for the idea of a superman.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Researchers of Gogol's work and life believe that he suffered from schizophrenia, which was supplemented by periodic attacks of psychosis and claustrophobia. Nikolai Vasilyevich often experienced auditory and visual hallucinations. It was on their basis that the writer created some of the heroes of his works. Apathy and depression were abruptly replaced by periods of excessive activity and inspiration. The writer said about himself that the organs in his body were displaced or even located upside down.
Isaac Newton
Some researchers believe that Isaac Newton suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He was a brilliant mathematician and physicist, but it was very difficult to talk to him and his mood changed hourly.
Parveen Babi - Indian actress
A famous Indian actress who, at the age of thirty, began treatment for schizophrenia. She was considered the most glamorous actress in Bollywood. She accused the CIA, KGB, and Mossad of wanting her dead.
Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin
Alexander Nikolaevich was a suspicious and extremely religious person. He frightened his family and friends with sudden changes in mood, as well as with his views on everything that was happening. In addition to his unique music, his achievements include the first ever use and popularization of color music. According to doctors, Alexander Nikolaevich suffered from schizophrenia.
Maya Mäkila
Swedish artist diagnosed with schizophrenia. She lives in the small town of Norrkoping. Her drawings are also studied by attending physicians. Considered one of the most provocative artists of our time.
John Forbes Nash Jr. is a famous American mathematician who worked in the field of game theory as well as differential geometry. He is a Nobel Prize laureate in economics in 1994. He is known to the public thanks to the film “A Beautiful Mind,” which was made about his life. It is noteworthy that John Nash was able to come to terms with his illness and learned to ignore its manifestations, which doctors initially considered an improvement. Died in a car accident in May 2015.
American fashion model Bettie Page is a sex symbol of the 50s of the last century. She starred in the genres of erotica, fetish and pin-up.
In 1958, Page became interested in religion, and in 1959 she became a Christian. Later she actively worked in Christian organizations.
In 1979, doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
Among schizophrenics, there are often very talented people who deserve universal recognition. Next, we offer to get acquainted with famous writers, artists, actors and mathematicians who suffered from this disease.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Researchers of Gogol's work and life believe that he suffered from schizophrenia, which was supplemented by periodic attacks of psychosis and claustrophobia. Nikolai Vasilyevich often experienced auditory and visual hallucinations. It was on their basis that the writer created some of the heroes of his works. Apathy and depression were abruptly replaced by periods of excessive activity and inspiration. The writer said about himself that the organs in his body were displaced or even located upside down.
Bettie Page
American fashion model Bettie Page is a sex symbol of the 50s of the last century. She starred in the genres of erotica, fetish and pin-up.
In 1958, Page became interested in religion, and in 1959 she became a Christian. Later she actively worked in Christian organizations.
In 1979, doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
Philip K. Dick
It is believed that the writer Philip K. Dick, who became famous for the Sky-Fi novels “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” on which the film “Blade Runner” was filmed, and “Memoirs Wholesale and Retail,” is believed to have had a mild form of schizophrenia based on the film Total Recall. Some believe that it was the illness that helped the author create such book plots.
Vincent Van Gogh
It is believed that the Dutch post-impressionist artist created most of his paintings at a time when his schizophrenic seizures became more frequent. At this time, he created several paintings a day and could not sleep for days.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Researchers agree that this famous stateless philosopher was the owner of a frightening diagnosis - “nuclear mosaic schizophrenia.” Currently, this disease is called obsession, and its most striking symptom is delusions of grandeur. Most likely, it was schizophrenia that served as the impetus for the idea of a superman.
Isaac Newton
Some researchers believe that Isaac Newton suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He was a brilliant mathematician and physicist, but it was very difficult to talk to him and his mood changed hourly.
Parveen Babi - Indian actress
A famous Indian actress who, at the age of thirty, began treatment for schizophrenia. She was considered the most glamorous actress in Bollywood. She accused the CIA, KGB, and Mossad of wanting her dead.
Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin
Alexander Nikolaevich was a suspicious and extremely religious person. He frightened his family and friends with sudden changes in mood, as well as with his views on everything that was happening. In addition to his unique music, his achievements include the first ever use and popularization of color music. According to doctors, Alexander Nikolaevich suffered from schizophrenia.
Maya Mäkila
Swedish artist diagnosed with schizophrenia. She lives in the small town of Norrkoping. Her drawings are also studied by attending physicians. Considered one of the most provocative artists of our time.
John Forbes Nash Jr. is a famous American mathematician who worked in the field of game theory as well as differential geometry. He is a Nobel Prize laureate in economics in 1994. He is known to the public thanks to the film “A Beautiful Mind,” which was made about his life. It is noteworthy that John Nash was able to come to terms with his illness and learned to ignore its manifestations, which doctors initially considered an improvement. Died in a car accident in May 2015.
Everyone has long known about the existence of a relationship between madness and talent. Below we will talk about how some “patients” were able to influence the rest of healthy humanity with their talents. You won’t find politicians on the list, because they are just performers, and we will be talking about creators. Of course, the number of “out of control” celebrities is not limited to these ten; their number is much larger. So you can treat this collection as a subjective choice, adding to it to your liking.
Edgar Alan Poe (1809-1849). This American poet and writer opens the list. His susceptibility to “mental disorders” is noted, although an exact diagnosis has never been established. Poe suffered from memory loss, persecution delusions, sometimes behaved inappropriately, and was plagued by hallucinations and a fear of the dark. In the article “The Life of Edgar Poe,” Julio Cortazar describes one of the attacks of the writer’s illness. In the summer of 1842, Edgar suddenly remembered Mary Devereux, whose uncle he had once whipped. A half-insane state caused a trip from Philadelphia to New York.
Although the woman was married, the writer was eager to find out whether she loved her husband. Poe crossed the river several times on the ferry, asking passers-by for Mary's address. Having reached his goal, Edgar caused a scandal, after which he decided to stay there for tea. This caused extreme surprise among the household, and besides, the writer entered the house without their consent. The uninvited guest left only after he chopped up several radishes with a knife and demanded that Mary sing his favorite song. The writer was found only a few days later - having lost his mind, he wandered through the surrounding forests.
Edgar Allan Poe began to experience frequent depression in the late 1830s. Alcohol abuse also affected his psyche; under its influence, the writer fell into violent insanity. Soon opium was added to the alcohol. The writer's mental state worsened after the serious illness of his young wife. In 1842, twenty-year-old Virginia, who was also Poe’s cousin, fell ill with tuberculosis and died 5 years later. Edgar survived his wife by only two years, but during this time he tried to fall in love several times and even proposed a couple of times. If the first engagement did not take place because the eccentric groom simply scared off the chosen one, then in the second case the groom himself disappeared.
Shortly before the wedding, Poe became insane after drinking heavily. As a result, he was found in one of the cheap taverns in Baltimore 5 days later. Edgar was placed in a clinic, where he died a few days later, suffering from severe hallucinations. One of Poe's most powerful nightmares was dying alone, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it, it came true. Although many of his friends promised to be with him at the last minute, on the night of October 7, 1849, no one close to Edgar was near him. The last person Poe called was Jeremy Reynolds, the famous polar explorer.
Poe managed to infect the audience with two popular genres. The first of them is a horror novel, created under the influence of the dark romanticism of Hoffmann. However, it was Poe who managed to create a genuine atmosphere of fear and nightmare, viscous and sophisticated. This was evident in the novels The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher. The second genre in which Poe showed himself was the detective story. Monsieur Auguste Dupin, the hero of Edgar's stories "The Murder in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie Roger" became the prototype of Sherlock Holmes with his deductive techniques.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche(1844-1900). The German philosopher had a frightening diagnosis of “nuclear mosaic schizophrenia.” In his biography, it is customary to call this phenomenon more simply - obsession, which occurred, perhaps, against the background of syphilis. The most striking symptom was delusions of grandeur. The philosopher sent out notes in which he announced his imminent dominance on Earth; he demanded that the paintings be removed from the walls of the apartment, since this was his temple.
Incidents such as hugging a horse in the city square testified to the darkening of his mind. The philosopher had frequent headaches, his behavior was not adequacy. The writer's medical record shows that he sometimes drank his own urine from his boot, could scream inarticulately, and mistook the hospital guard for Bismarck. Nietzsche once tried to barricade his door with broken glass; he slept on the floor next to the spread bed, jumped like an animal, made grimaces and stuck out his left shoulder.
The cause of the disease was several apoplectic strokes, as a result of which the philosopher suffered from mental disorders for the last 20 years of his life. But it was during this period that his most significant works, for example “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” were published. Nietzsche spent half of this period in specialized clinics, but at home he could not do without the care of his mother. The writer's condition constantly deteriorated, as a result, at the end of his life he made do with only the simplest phrases: “I’m dead because I’m stupid” or “I’m stupid because I’m dead.”
Society received from Nietzsche the idea of the superman. Let it seem like a paradox that this sick man, who jumped like a goat, is now associated with a free person who stands above morality and exists above the concepts of good and evil. Nietzsche gave a new morality, “master morality” was supposed to replace “slave morality”. He believed that healthy morality should glorify the natural desire of any person for power, and any other morality is inherently sick and decadent. As a result, Nietzsche’s ideas formed the basis of the ideology of fascism: “The sick and weak must perish, the strongest must win,” “Push the falling one!” The philosopher also became famous for his assumption “God is dead.”
Ernest Miller Hemingway(1899-1961). This American writer suffered from acute bouts of depression, which led to mental breakdown. The symptoms were the writer’s suicidal tendencies, persecution mania and frequent nervous breakdowns. When Hemingway returned to America from Cuba in 1960, he immediately agreed to treatment in a psychiatric clinic - he was tormented by frequent depression, a feeling of insecurity and constant fear. All this interfered with his work.
Twenty sessions of electric shock did not bring any results, the writer spoke about it this way: “The doctors who gave me electric shock do not understand writers... What was the point in destroying my brain and erasing my memory, which represents my capital, and throwing away me to the sidelines of life? It was a brilliant treatment, but they lost the patient."
After leaving the clinic, Hemingway realized that he still could not write, and it was then that his first suicide attempt occurred, interrupted by his loved ones. The writer's wife persuaded him to undergo a second course of treatment, but he still had intentions to commit suicide. A couple of days after being discharged, Hemingway shot himself in the head with his favorite gun...
Hemingway infected us with the disease of the "lost" generation. Like his comrade, Remarque, he wrote about a specific layer of destinies that suffered due to the World War. However, the term itself turned out to be so capacious that today almost every generation strives to try this definition on for itself. Thanks to the writer, a new literary technique was born, the “iceberg method” - behind the sparse and concise text lies a generous and emotional subtext. Hemingway gave birth to a new “machismo” not only with his work, but also with his life. His heroes are tough fighters who prefer not to mince words. They understand that their struggle is probably meaningless, but they still fight to the end.
A striking example of such a character was the fisherman Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea. It is through his lips that the author says: “Man was not created to suffer defeat. Man can be destroyed, but he cannot be defeated.” To the great regret of many, the writer himself - a soldier, hunter, sailor and traveler, whose body was covered with countless scars, did not fight for his life. But it should be noted that his death was also a consequence of adherence to ideals. Hemingway wrote: “A man has no right to die in bed, or in battle, or by a bullet in the forehead.”
John Forbes Nash (born 1928). This American mathematician, who became a Nobel Prize winner, became known to the general public after the release of Ron Howard's film "A Beautiful Mind." Nash's diagnosis is paranoid schizophrenia. Its symptoms include persecution mania, delusions with obsessive ideas, conversations with non-existent interlocutors and problems with self-identity.
Back in 1958, Fortune magazine named Nash a rising American star in the field of mathematics. However, at the same time the first signs of the disease appeared. In 1959, Nash was fired from his job and placed in a psychiatric clinic in a suburb of Boston to undergo compulsory treatment. The scientist’s condition improved only after a course of chemotherapy, and Nash moved to Europe with his wife Alicia Lard. There he tried to obtain the status of a political refugee. However, the scientist’s request was denied and the French authorities deported him back to the United States. As a result, the family of the sick genius settled in Princeton; Nash himself did not work, because his illness was rapidly developing. In 1961, the scientist was forced to undergo a course of insulin therapy in a New Jersey hospital, but after being discharged from there, he fled to Europe, leaving his wife and children. In 1962, Alicia filed for divorce, although she continued to help her ex-husband.
Returning soon to the USA, the scientist, by constantly taking antipsychotic drugs, improved his condition so much that he was able to start working at Princeton University. However, Nash suddenly decided that the drugs could damage his mental abilities and work, as a result - another deterioration. For many years, Nash appeared in Princeton, writing obscure formulas on boards and talking with voices. The inhabitants of the university ceased to be surprised, perceiving the scientist as a harmless ghost. In the mid-80s, Nash came to his senses and took up mathematics again. In 1994, 66-year-old John Nash received the Nobel Prize in Economics for his analysis of equilibrium in the theory of non-cooperative games. The main discoveries were made back in the 50s, before the onset of the disease. In 2001, the scientist was reunited with his ex-wife.
Thanks to Nash, a new scientific approach to the economic theory of games and the mathematics of competition emerged. The scientist discarded the standard scenario, in which there is a winner and a loser, and created a model in which both competing parties only lose in a long-term rivalry. This scenario is called “Nash equilibrium”; both sides are in equilibrium, since any change can only worsen their positions. Nash's research in game theory was also used extensively by the US military during the Cold War.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). Experts are still arguing about what diagnosis to give this Irish writer - Pick's disease or Alzheimer's disease. It is known that Swift suffered from dizziness, memory loss, lost orientation in space and often did not recognize people and objects around him, and poorly grasped the meaning of his interlocutor’s speech. These symptoms constantly increased, leading the writer to complete dementia at the end of his life.
Swift gave society a new form of political satire. His "Gulliver's Travels" may not have become the first sarcastic view of an enlightened intellectual on the surrounding reality, but the novelty was manifested in the way it was viewed. If at that time it was customary to satirize life with the help of literary “magnifying glasses,” then Swift, who served as dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, used a lens with a crooked glass. Subsequently, his technique was picked up by Saltykov-Shchedrin and Gogol.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). The French writer and philosopher suffered from paranoia, which was expressed in persecution mania. In the early 1760s, Rousseau's book "Emile, or on education" was published, which gave rise to his conflict with the state and church. Over time, this only strengthened Rousseau's innate suspicion, giving rise to painful forms. The philosopher suspected conspiracies everywhere; he began to lead the life of a wanderer, trying not to stay anywhere for long. After all, according to his ideas, all his friends and acquaintances are plotting something against him, or at least suspecting him. One day, in the castle where Rousseau was staying, a servant died and Jean-Jacques demanded an autopsy, because he believed that everyone saw him as a poisoner.
But thanks to Rousseau, the world saw pedagogical reform. Current methods of raising children are largely based on "Emile..." by Rousseau. So, instead of the repressive method of raising a child, Rousseau even then proposed the use of affection and encouragement. The philosopher taught that a child should not be forced to mechanically memorize dry facts; it will be much easier to explain to him using living examples, which will make it possible to perceive new knowledge. Rousseau believed that the main goal of pedagogy is not the correction of the individual to fit existing social norms, but the development of a person’s existing talents.
The Frenchman believed that punishment should take place, but be a consequence of the child’s behavior, and not a blunt instrument for demonstrating the will of the strong over the weak. Rousseau advised mothers to feed their children themselves, and not entrust them to wet nurses. Today, pediatrics fully supports this opinion; it has been proven that only mother’s milk can have a positive effect on the child’s health. And Rousseau was skeptical about the issue of swaddling, since it limits the child’s freedom of movement.
Thanks to Rousseau, a new type of literary hero and new directions in literature were born. The philosopher's fantasy gave birth to a beautiful-hearted creature - a savage who is guided not by reason, but by highly moral feelings. Within the framework of romanticism and sentimentalism, it developed, grew and aged. The philosopher put forward the idea of a legal democratic state, which was reflected in his work “On the Social Contract.” It is believed that it was this work that inspired the French to the “Great Revolution”, but Rousseau himself never adhered to the radical measures used during its course.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol(1809-1852). The famous Russian writer suffered from schizophrenia, mixed with periodic bouts of psychosis. Gogol was visited by auditory and visual hallucinations, periods of apathy and extreme inhibition (up to a lack of response to external stimuli) were replaced by attacks of extreme activity and excitement. The writer often plunged into depression and experienced acute hypochondria. It is known that Gogol believed that the organs in his body were somewhat displaced, and his stomach was completely upside down; he was also haunted by claustrophobia.
Various manifestations of schizophrenia accompanied Gogol throughout his life, but the greatest progress came in the last year of his life. In January 1852, the sister of the writer’s close friend, Ekaterina Khomyakova, died of typhus, which caused Gogol to have a severe attack of hypochondria. He complained of the fear of death, immersed in constant prayer. The writer refused to eat, complaining of malaise and weakness, believing that he was mortally ill. The doctors, of course, did not find any illness in him, except for a slight intestinal disorder.
On the night of February 11-12, Gogol burned his manuscripts, then explaining this as the machinations of evil spirits; the author’s condition began to deteriorate sharply. And the treatment was not at all professional - they put leeches in the nostrils, wrapped them in cold sheets and dipped their heads in ice water. As a result, Gogol died on February 21, 1852. The true reasons for his death remained unclear. Various hypotheses have been put forward - from mercury poisoning, to suicide and fulfilling a contract with the devil. But most likely the writer simply brought himself to complete nervous and physical exhaustion. Perhaps today's psychiatrists could solve his problems and save his life.
Thanks to Gogol, a specific love for the little person, the everyman, entered our society. This feeling consists half of pity and half of disgust. The writer was able to create a whole constellation of accurate Russian types. It was Gogol who created several “role models” that are still valid today. It is enough just to remember Chichikov and Bashmachkin.
Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893). The famous French writer suffered from progressive cerebral palsy. Symptoms of the disease included suicidal tendencies, hypochondria, hallucinations and delusions, and violent seizures. Hypochondria accompanied Maupassant all his life - he was very afraid of going crazy. Since 1884, the writer began to experience frequent nervous attacks, accompanied by hallucinations. He even tried to commit suicide twice, being extremely agitated. But both attempts, with a pistol and a paper knife, were unsuccessful. In 1891, the writer was admitted to the Blanche Clinic, where he remained in a semi-conscious state until his death.
Maupassant brought physiologism and naturalism to literature; his works were often downgraded to eroticism, which became a novelty. The writer felt the need to constantly fight the lack of spirituality of a society that is fixated only on consumption. Today, clone works of “Dear Ami” are created by French authors Michel Houellebecq and Frederic Beigbeder; in Russia, Sergei Minaev can be considered Maupassant’s successor.
Vincent Willem van Gogh(1853-1890). The famous Dutch painter suffered from schizophrenia. He experienced sound and auditory hallucinations and bouts of delirium. Aggression and gloom could quickly give way to joyful excitement. Van Gogh also had suicidal thoughts.
The disease progressed noticeably in the last 3 years of the artist’s life, and attacks became more frequent. During one of them the famous surgical operation took place. Van Gogh cut off the lobe and lower part of his left ear. He sent this fragment in an envelope to his beloved as a souvenir. It is not surprising that Van Gogh was admitted to a mental hospital in Arles. Then there were hospitals in Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise. The artist himself realized that he was deeply ill. In one of his letters, he wrote: “I must adapt to the role of a madman without prevarication.”
Until his death, Van Gogh continued to create, although no one had any interest in his paintings from buyers. The artist led a literally miserable lifestyle, often starving. Contemporaries recall that during such periods he even sometimes ate his paints. But it was precisely during periods of clouding of consciousness that the masterpieces of world painting were born: “Night Cafe”, “Landscape in Auvers after the Rain”, “Red Vineyards in Arles”, “Road with Cypress Trees and Stars”. However, Van Gogh could no longer remain in a foggy state - on July 27, 1890, he mortally wounded himself with a pistol shot.
Thanks to Van Gogh, animation came to our world. After all, his creative style, in which dynamic plots were realized in bright colors, reality was grotesquely distorted and the atmosphere of a dream (horrible or, conversely, a happy child’s dream) was created, served as the basis for many of the works of today’s cartoonists. Today, thanks to the crazy beggar artist, we have begun to understand that the artistic value of any work is a relative thing. After all, Van Gogh, who painted simple sunflowers while drinking absinthe, has already posthumously become a record holder for auction sales.
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin(1895-1925). The famous Russian poet suffered from manic-depressive psychosis. He was accompanied by persecution mania, sudden outbursts of rage and inappropriate behavior. They remember how Yesenin repeatedly destroyed furniture, broke dishes and mirrors, insulting those around him.
Attacks of psychosis were often provoked by the poet’s love of alcohol. As a result, Yesenin repeatedly underwent treatment in specialized clinics not only in Russia, but also in France. But the treatment, alas, did not produce results. So, having been discharged from Professor Gannushkin’s clinic, a month later the poet committed suicide - he hanged himself on a steam heating pipe in the Leningrad Angleterre hotel. Although in the 70s a version of a murder followed by a staged suicide arose, it was not proven.
Thanks to Yesenin, Russian literature received new intonations. The poet made love for nature, the village and the local resident the norm, accompanying this with sadness, touching tenderness and tears. There were even direct followers of the poet in the ideological aspect - “villagers”. Many of Yesenin’s works were created in the style of urban hooligan romance, which laid the foundations of the current Russian chanson.
What is the difference between an intelligent person and an ordinary person? An ordinary person lives an ordinary life, there are not enough stars in the sky, he dreams of a new car and a vacation at sea. An intelligent person generates the necessary ideas, achieves public recognition, money and fame by inventing a carburetor or a microwave oven.
And then there are geniuses who are completely different from ordinary people, but differ from smart people with their crazy ideas and crazy theories and unpredictable projects. Geniuses were burned at the stake, imprisoned, they died in poverty, but it is them, the geniuses, that everyone always remembers. The destiny of geniuses is to go against everything, in their own way; they even see the world differently than you and I. They have their own life and their own reality.
Then a fair question arises: how is genius different from schizophrenia? Experts interpret schizophrenia as a fundamental disorder of thinking and perception, as well as an inadequate perception of reality, often accompanied by auditory and visual hallucinations or unrealistic, paranoid delusions. Genius, according to experts, these are unusual, extremely high human abilities, which are characterized by visual, auditory images, fantastic ideas that lead to the creation of creative, intellectual and other masterpieces.
Agree that even in the definition of schizophrenia and genius there is something in common. The idea that genius is madness occurred to the ancient Greeks. The Italian psychiatrist Lombroso considered almost all geniuses to be schizophrenics. But Plato called genius nothing other than delirium bestowed by the gods, and believed that genius and madness are sisters. Well, let's talk about great, recognized geniuses and their unusual perception of the world around them.
Great Madmen
Albert Einstein suffered from manic-depressive psychosis, he was subject to sudden mood swings, which drove his family and friends to the extreme. Einstein was wild and unsociable; he spent most of his life alone, explaining his behavior by the fact that the people around him could hear his thoughts. In his old age he fell into madness.
All brilliant ideas usually came to Newton in a dream. Experts claim that Isaac Newton was extremely absent-minded and is officially considered mentally ill due to his visual image-pictures, who visited him day and night. Newton died a virgin.
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, the founder of cosmonautics and rocket technology, was sure that there was a paradise in the sky and after death, every person disintegrates into atoms, which then accumulate into a new life. Two of Tsiolkovsky's six children committed suicide, and Tsiolkovsky himself argued that a genius is a person whose discovery is recognized only 25 years after his death. 25 years after Tsiolkovsky’s death, Gagarin flew into space. What is this, a coincidence or a prophecy?
Leo Tolstoy suffered from epileptic seizures, and when he was overcome by apathy and despondency, his creative decline lasted for several years. Leo Tolstoy was an avid gambler and also a very superstitious person. In his old age, to put it mildly, he did not like women and expressed his opinion about “womanish nature” in appropriate and inappropriate ways. Leo Tolstoy was seriously interested in mysticism and often communicated out loud with representatives another world.
From the age of 20 to 32, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol spent every spring and summer in severe depression. He loved black tailcoats, shaved his hair and wore wigs. Often he plunged into a kind of trance, which from the outside clearly resembled a seizure. Gogol felt absolute loneliness and isolation from life and therefore often retreated into his “subconscious”. Gogol was single because he believed that no woman could fit into his complex inner world. It is well known that Gogol's greatest fear was being buried alive. The writer addressed written instructions to his friends about his burial, which stated that this should be done no earlier than obvious signs of decomposition of the corpse appeared.
Nietzsche spent the last 10 years of his life in a madhouse. Ended my life in psychiatric hospital and Vrubel.
Robert Schumann, the great German composer, said that Beethoven and Mendelssohn dictated melodies to him at night from their graves. By the age of 46, the composer had completely lost his mind, kicked his wife out of the house and locked himself alone within four walls. Trying to escape from the monsters pursuing him, he threw himself into the river from a bridge, but was rescued.
Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin was suspicious and overly religious. He considered himself nothing less than the Messiah in music, and communicated with God directly (in his own words). He frightened his family and friends not only with sudden mood swings, but also with his views on life. According to doctors, he suffered from split personality, schizophrenia and paranoia.
Goethe had visions so vivid and vivid that he himself was afraid of them. Van Gogh often attempted to kill his own; once, in another fit, he cut off his own ear and eventually committed suicide.
Salvador Dali's brain cells were genetically imbalanced. In youth, this manifested itself in the form of oddities in behavior and perception of the world, and later, as is known, it turned into Parkinson’s disease. Salvador Dali quite seriously considered himself a genius and was one hundred percent narcissist. His paintings were visions that the artist transferred to canvas.
These are only a small fraction of great people whose behavior, to put it mildly, differed from normal. The same list includes A.S. Pushkin, Edgar Allan Poe, Pascal, Beethoven, Napoleon, Socrates, Dostoevsky, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and many others.
Why is this happening?
Interest Ask, but really, Why are brilliant people a little crazy? And if a person is talented, does he have to be strange?
Some experts believe that everyday routine, the “rat race” and “mouse fuss” are alien, and often unbearable, for a creative person. What ordinary people endure calmly, talents endure with clenched teeth. Or they don’t tolerate it, but invent their own world, where they sometimes go forever. Increased impressionability, vulnerability, “soul without skin” along with with inability and the reluctance of others to understand the state of a talented person, his unbearable workload, quite often lead to nervous breakdowns. Almost all talented people work under pressure, balancing on that fine line that separates harsh reality and their inner world. Unfortunately, few succeed in this.
Perhaps you are a genius too if you have the following qualities:
You hear other people's voices in your head,
- read the thoughts of the people around you,
- talk to yourself silently or out loud,
- have a “fixed idea” (“scarlet sails”, “perpetual motion machine”, “world peace”),
- sometimes you fall into a stupor,
- hate society and people (social autism),
- you don’t see the meaning in life,
- completely absorbed in their own experiences,
- suffer from severe depression,
- an overwhelming feeling of loneliness does not leave you for a long time,
- you are experiencing visual or auditory hallucinations.
I won’t talk about schizophrenia, but it’s still worth thinking about...