Famous people are schizophrenics. Famous people with schizophrenia. Great geniuses suffering from schizophrenia

Genius and madness are twin brothers. Historical examples perfectly illustrate such a statement.

Vrubel

Everyone who sees Vrubel's Demon cannot remain indifferent: a powerful body with twisted arms, a touching and beautiful face with eyes filled with monstrous longing. Despite the fact that this canvas was painted long before the tragic events in Vrubel's life, it conveys the full intensity of emotions and experiences that haunted the artist at the end of his life.

In 1899, Vrubel's father died, to whom the artist was strongly attached. Friends began to notice oddities in the behavior of Mikhail Alexandrovich: he stopped listening to the opinions of his friends around him, demonstrating his superiority and considering only his statements to be truly true. Two years later, Vrubel had a son. The boy was born with a "cleft lip" - this congenital defect made a painful impression on the artist. At the time when visitors to the exhibition were admiring the Demon Downcast, Vrubel was already in one of the psychiatric hospitals in Moscow. The artist was diagnosed with dryness of the spinal cord - an incurable disease that threatened insanity. Doctors' predictions soon began to come true. Vrubel's condition is deteriorating so much that even his sister and wife are not allowed to see him. It was during this period that thoughts come to the artist about his own worthlessness, he considers himself worthless. Vrubel recovers, but not for long - his son dies. After that, Vrubel turns into a permanent resident of mental clinics. At the end of his life, the artist goes blind and in 1910 dies in the hospital from pneumonia, which he deliberately gets from standing for a long time at the open window on the most frosty days.

Gogol

The author of Dead Souls suffered from schizophrenia, which was exacerbated by periodic bouts of psychosis. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was tormented by sound and visual hallucinations. He was often in a state of apathy, sometimes did not respond to external stimuli - while working, he could not notice the mortal danger that threatened him. States of lethargy alternated with extreme activity and excitement. Often he was haunted by claustrophobia. Gogol's mental disorders became especially aggravated after the death of the sister of a close friend of the writer Ekaterina Khomyakova. He began to refuse food, constantly referring to malaise and weakness - the doctors discovered that the writer did not have a fatal illness, but just an intestinal disorder. On a February night in 1852, Gogol burned his manuscripts, later citing the machinations of the devil. The writer's condition began to deteriorate sharply. He stopped eating. On February 21, Gogol died of exhaustion. The causes of his death have not yet been precisely established - some hypotheses speak of mercury poisoning, others of suicide. However, the version with deliberate bringing to death is quite justified, given the fact that Gogol himself believed that all the organs in his body were displaced, and the stomach was completely located “upside down”. Such a statement against the background of the development of schizophrenia could well lead to tragic consequences.

Ivan the Terrible

The reign of Ivan the Terrible can be divided into two stages: the era of reforms and the era of reprisals. The end of the first stage coincided with the death of the beloved wife of the Tsar, Anastasia. After her death in 1560, the Tsar became unsociable and suspicious. There is a version that the king believed that his wife was poisoned by the princes. Four years later, an out of the ordinary event took place: the tsar left Moscow, refused the royal crown and settled in the Alexander Sloboda. True, the tsar was soon persuaded to "cancel" the decision to "resign." Ivan the Terrible agreed, but on one condition - he would rule as he pleased. However, Ivan the Terrible did not leave Alexandrovskaya Sloboda: he set up barrier cordons, dressed in monastic clothes, and spent the whole day reading the Gospel. Church services alternated in his life with torture and execution of enemies. Foreign guests have noticed more than once with what a beaming face the tsar passed from the dungeons to the church and back. The reprisals of the king were not only merciless, they often wore a perversely mocking connotation. Of all the former associates, he recognized only the executioner Malyuta Skuratov. Modern science believes that Ivan the Terrible suffered from a severe mental disorder, the cause of which, perhaps, was a newfangled disease in those days in the Old World - syphilis. This version is supported by the fact that in the autocrat's room there was always a cast-iron filled with mercury, the only known remedy for venereal disease at that time, on the fire. However, mercury vapor led to paroxysms of consciousness, in other words, to convulsions and seizures.

Yesenin

The famous American ballerina Isadora Duncan was the first to speak about the madness of Sergei Yesenin to the whole world. She also took the poet to American, French and German psychiatrists. Alas, the treatment did not work. According to researchers of the life of Yesenin's work, Sergei Alexandrovich really suffered from manic-depressive psychoses. He was obsessed with persecution mania, sudden outbursts of rage and inappropriate behavior were replaced by a state of peace and tranquility. There were legends about Yesenin's brawls, allegedly, he was even expelled from the USA "for kitchen squabbles and fights." He destroyed furniture, broke dishes and mirrors, insulted anyone who came under a hot hand. His illness developed on the basis of hereditary alcoholism. A few days before his death, Yesenin complained of great fatigue and called himself "a dead man." He seemed to be looking for his death, constantly repeating that he was fucking tired of everything. Moreover, such fatigue was found in him at an early age, already at the age of 16 he wrote that he did not know whether he should live or not. According to the official version, the poet hanged himself on a steam heating pipe in the Angleterre Hotel in St. Petersburg. Interesting statistics: in 339 verses, the poet mentions death, the end of life or rhymes funeral paraphernalia 400 times.

Khrushchev

Two people seemed to live in Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev: one was sincere, kind, even a little naive, the second was aggressive, ignorant, cultureless and extravagant. It was sometimes difficult to follow his speeches, they were so full of puns that only he could understand. He talked a lot, giving lengthy interviews almost every week. He could instantly lose control of himself and become enraged. Kremlin doctors diagnosed Khrushchev with manic-depressive psychosis, until that moment only his wife Nina Petrovna watched melancholy come after her husband's excessive cheerfulness and cheerfulness. His maniacal humor usually did not amuse anyone. He could go from caustic sarcasm to furious malice in an instant. By the 60s, he no longer belonged to himself. His thoughts often began to get confused, he began to see an enemy in everyone. He allowed himself harsh and humiliating statements on those issues in which he absolutely did not understand. He became obsessed with ideas - if he was possessed by some thought, he brought the embodiment of the idea to the point of absurdity. Consider, for example, his desire to make corn the number one crop. Foreigners who met with Khrushchev poured unflattering assessments on his intemperance, and sometimes simply stated that Khrushchev had lost his mind. In recent years, he practically nullified the circle of communication, closed himself, acted without anyone's advice or help, while always shifting responsibility for his mistakes onto the shoulders of others.

Rachmaninov

The great composer, conductor and pianist Sergei Rachmaninov was a very modest, withdrawn and estranged person from everything worldly. Today, perhaps, medicine would diagnose him with autism. The vulnerable soul of Rachmaninov went through great upheavals and losses. His family went bankrupt, and they were forced to live with relatives in St. Petersburg. The eldest and beloved sister Elena died of leukemia, the younger Sophia died of dephtheria, her father left the family, and her mother, under the weight of the trials that had piled on her, withdrew and withdrew into herself. In 1900, Rachmaninoff falls seriously ill, it seems to him that the music that he gives people does not need them at all. Relatives, watching the torments of the composer, began to fear for his mind. Friendly conversations with psychiatrist Nikolai Dahl did their job: gradually Rachmaninoff returned to normal life, began to write music again. Another blow for the composer is the death of Chekhov, with whom Rachmaninoff was very friendly. It is from this moment that he feels the fullness of his loneliness, and he cannot get rid of this thought until the end of his days. Having emigrated to America in 1917, Rachmaninoff stopped composing (he would write several works shortly before his death). Receiving huge fees, he continues to lead a modest and secluded lifestyle, does not accept invitations to banquets, refuses honors. Everything that happens in Russia is hard going through: wars, repressions, famine, devastation. Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov died on March 28, 1943 from cancer in Beverly Hills.

Lermontov

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was born with a whole bunch of hereditary and acquired diseases: scrofula, rickets, increased nervousness. His grandfather committed suicide (poisoned), and his mother passed on to her son an extraordinary nervousness. The father was a quick-tempered, cruel petty tyrant, he reveled to a stupor, played cards and was distinguished by "frivolity in behavior." Already in early childhood, the boy demonstrated the schizophrenic nature of his nature: cruelty was surprisingly combined in him with extreme kindness and a heightened sense of justice. He had a passion for destruction, was extremely irritable, capricious, stubborn. The thought of suicide visited him from an early age. Closedness, unsociableness, and most importantly disregard for people repelled those around him. The poet's communication took place within himself, he had a hot fantasy, which he realized in his works. Lermontov's schizoid psychopathy was so pronounced that not only specialists noticed it. Another fact that influenced the isolation of the poet was his ugliness, which almost disappeared with age, but left an indelible imprint on the soul. Gifted with brilliant abilities and an extraordinary mind, Lermontov too often directed these qualities to ridicule those around him - the number of his enemies increased at a rapid pace. In addition, Lermontov himself was extremely amorous, but women simply could not like such types - evil and arrogant. This greatly offended the pride of the poet. As a result, he was shot dead by a kind and warm-hearted man, whom he brought almost to madness with his ridicule and slander.

Albert Einstein did not speak until the age of three, and he was almost expelled from school for poor performance in mathematics. Photo by RIA Novosti

In one of the latest issues of the authoritative scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, the results of a study conducted by scientists from the Icelandic company deCODE genetics were published. The main conclusion of this work is this: genetic risk factors for schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder (BAD; perhaps more familiar to us under the name "manic-depressive psychosis") largely determine creativity. In other words, for people with the appropriate hereditary characteristics, it is highly likely that they will become musicians, artists, writers, the authors of the study note. And scientists, we might add.

It should be noted that Iceland is a unique country in many respects, including the depth of knowledge of the genotypes of its fellow citizens. For example, medical records for all Icelanders have been preserved since 1915; almost every Icelandic family keeps genealogies that go back centuries for several centuries.

Moreover, back in 1998, the Icelandic parliament decided to create a universal database of all the inhabitants of the country, which includes medical information, data on the citizen's pedigree, as well as genetic information. And in 2000, the same company deCODE genetics (supported by American investment companies and the international pharmaceutical corporation Hoffman La Roche) won the competition for the right to create such a database. It is curious that in exchange the company received for 12 years the exclusive right to commercial use of genetic information that could be obtained from the studied blood samples of almost all Icelanders. It was planned, in particular, that newly discovered genes that predispose to the development of a particular disease would be patented. This kind of patent is an interesting commodity for pharmaceutical companies developing next-generation drugs. That is, the Icelanders have made the subject of foreign exchange earnings not only fish products, but also their genome.

As we see today, the deCODE genetics company was not limited only to the study and "storage" of the genetic data of compatriots. The study, which Nature Neuroscience writes about, was based on data from 130,000 Europeans. And now we can say with mathematical certainty that the same gene variants determine an increased risk of mental illness in this sample, as well as among 86,292 Icelanders. And the same variants were found with an increased (by 17%) frequency in healthy Icelanders who are members of the national creative associations of actors, dancers, musicians, artists and writers.

To test their findings, the scientists took survey data from 35,000 Swedes and Dutch. And here, too, everything came together: representatives of creative professions in these groups are almost 25% more likely to be carriers of the genes for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Conclusion: Genetic factors that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder also have a positive effect on the creative abilities of perfectly healthy people.

In fact, scientists around the world have been approaching similar conclusions for a long time. “The fact that there are connections, moreover, unexpected ones, between some mental, hormonal and biochemical characteristics of a person, in particular, genetically determined ones, can no longer be denied,” noted Vladimir Pavlovich Efroimson, an outstanding Russian geneticist, in his book “Genetics of Ethics and Aesthetics” ( 1908–1989). He even proposed a scale of mental norms (let us emphasize this - norms!), On one pole of which are the so-called schizoids. Here is the description Efroimson gives to people with such a psychotype: “Secluded in themselves (introverted), weakly contact, abstractly thinking people, weakly and inadequately reacting to external events, but living a very rich inner life. Reclusion and detachment are their weak point, they often give rise to their failures; on the other hand, a special ability for concentrated concentrated thinking no-no yes puts forward from their ranks such creators as Immanuel Kant, great mathematicians, physicists, poets ”(here and everywhere below italics mine. - A.V.).

The eminent Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Sagan remarked as early as 1977: “Science can be characterized as paranoid thinking applied to nature: we are looking for natural conspiracies, connections between seemingly disparate facts.”

Without agreeing with him, the American researcher A. Mahoney defined science as a profession in which "some forms of paranoia ... contribute to success."

There are a huge number of historical examples confirming these deliberately defiant statements. Let's say Albert Einstein was almost expelled from school for failing... in math. However, Einstein was a physicist in the purest, crystallized form, so to speak. But the schoolboy Ernst Rutherford, a future physicist who became famous for his work in the field of radioactivity and a Nobel laureate, was sent home by the teacher with a note for his parents: “Don’t send this idiot to school again, nothing good will come of him anyway” ...

Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Director of the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrey Yurevich in his book "Social Psychology of Science" cites completely "shocking" data. “Outstanding personalities often suffer from other somatic diseases, the side effect of which is the acceleration of metabolism, and therefore increased brain stimulation,” Yurevich writes. – J. Karlsson (1978), based on an analysis of the biographies of prominent people, formulated a theory according to which their creative abilities are inherited and predetermined by three genes: schizophrenia, myopsia (nearsightedness) and ... alcoholism. … According to Karlsson, any of the corresponding genes is necessarily present in geniuses - either in a dominant or in a recessive form.

As a result, for example, Einstein did not suffer from alcoholism, but was a carrier of this gene, which manifested itself in his drunken son.

But only an unprepared public, which perceives scientists as some kind of celestials, can shock these conclusions. From the very beginning, geneticists approached this problem from a pragmatic position.

In 1921-1922 in St. Petersburg, one of the first domestic geneticists, Yuri Filipchenko, conducted an unprecedented study for those times among the outstanding scientists of Petrograd. Having interrogated with the help of specially prepared extensive (several hundred questions) questionnaires of almost all scientific workers of the city on the Neva, Filipchenko came to the following conclusions: “The scourge of purely Russian families is alcoholism, which occurs almost one and a half times more often than it can be expected: 51%...

On the contrary, among foreigners, alcoholism occurs three times less than expected, and all other diseases, especially tuberculosis, are somewhat below the norm.

There is a medical joke: “With schizophrenia, you will never be alone.” But the disease is by no means a joke. In Russia, for example, 1% of the population suffers from schizophrenia. According to research by the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center, more than 4 million Chinese people have schizotypal disorders. There is even a hypothesis that schizophrenia is a contagious disease. At least an epidemiological study carried out in the early 2000s in Moscow showed that among the relatives of schizophrenics people with mental disabilities - 44%.

And at the same time, there is still no satisfactory definition accepted by all scientists and physicians of what schizophrenia is. That is why any new research that brings us closer to unraveling the mysteries of this mental illness is so valuable. Candidate of Psychological Sciences Alena Ivanova emphasizes: “In patients with schizophrenia of any form, specific thinking disorders are always detected. But that doesn't mean they are stupid. On the contrary, the patients who participated in my studies were very smart - for example, students of philosophy and mathematics, translators. It's funny that the topic of Alena Ivanova's Ph.D. thesis was formulated as follows: "Violations of the sense of humor in schizophrenia and affective disorders."

It turns out that with various forms of schizophrenia, you can study philosophy and mathematics. Least. “With sluggish schizophrenia, there are often no restrictions at all,” Ivanova explains. – But even with rough forms of schizophrenia, this is quite real. The fact is that schizophrenia does not violate formal logic. On the contrary, formal logic may even be better developed in these patients ... Thinking in patients with schizophrenia is disturbed according to a different principle. This is called "distortion of generalization processes." That is, they make generalizations according to some implicit signs.

I had this conversation with Alena Ivanova back in 2007. I will give one more quote from it, ideally suited to our today's informational occasion. So, what is it - "implicit signs"?

“A typical example,” explains Alena Ivanova. - A patient with schizophrenia is offered to compare different concepts - what they have in common, what is different. And the patient says that the shoe and the pencil are very similar objects. From an ordinary point of view, these are very distant concepts. But the patient is surprised: “How! Both of them can write something: with a pencil - on a piece of paper, with the toe of a shoe - in the sand.

This kind of thinking is basically correct. From the point of view of formal logic, everything is correct! And patients with schizophrenia, making generalizations, rely on these criteria. By the way, due to this, there is a convergence of schizophrenia with genius, because creativity is also based on some unexpected generalizations, the generation of some unusual metaphors "...

No wonder, slightly ironically, Andrey Yurevich, as it were, makes the final diagnosis: “If you don’t drink, don’t wear glasses, are not prone to schizophrenic oddities, and, moreover, none of your ancestors were noticed in all this, it’s better to choose another profession for yourself, because You are not destined to become scientists.

There is one thing that calms - if you need to calm someone - one thing: the very phenomenon of the emergence of science, the scientific way of knowing the world around us, in some modern hypotheses is interpreted as a global reaction of society to mass neurosis. And science, by definition, tries - and sometimes quite successfully - to bring into a system, to curb the chaos surrounding a person and the associated feeling of powerlessness in the face of uncertainty. Until then, of course, until science itself begins to be “treated”, as is the case with the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They can even heal to death...

THE GENIUS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

WHO CREATED OUR CRAZY WORLD?

IS IT EASY TO BE A GENIUS?

The universe has existed for billions of years, and "reasonable man" - several tens of thousands. In this moment, we managed to create the most destructive force in the universe - a hydrogen bomb capable of destroying our world with its rockets, skyscrapers, computer networks and television dreams. Humanity is on the verge of self-destruction. Shouldn't such a world be called insane? But who created such our civilization?

Everything that surrounds us is created by an incredible breakthrough of their mind. We should be grateful to them for not sitting around the campfire in caves. Fanatical work, self-denial and loneliness are their destiny. For this they were crucified on Calvary, burned at the stake, at best they died in poverty, going crazy. Those who created epochal things, but did not encroach on the generally accepted, had money, fame, honor, were creators, but not geniuses. Geniuses went against the grain, proposed crazy theories, solved unsolvable problems. Exile, illness, loneliness, insanity and children diagnosed with "idiocy" - the list of their "rewards". The idea that genius is madness occurred to the ancient Greeks. The Italian psychiatrist Lombroso considered almost all geniuses to be schizophrenics. But they are the ones who created our world. So is our civilization insane, and where are we going?
The world, as it is, was created by their "crazy" theories, however, they were considered crazy by those who were not given insight from above, the opportunity to break out of the narrow paradigm. But the craziest theories are created by the brightest minds. However, not everyone agrees with this.

Great Losers

A child prodigy rarely becomes a genius. How many winners of mathematical Olympiads, having entered Moscow State University, ended up in a psychiatric hospital by the third year! They say that the mathematician Academician Alexandrov at school in mathematics received deuces. Leonardo da Vinci, five hundred years before the appearance of the first aircraft, drew his scheme, but from childhood to the end of his days he was not given ordinary Latin. Geniuses do not fit into school concepts, their thinking defies logic. They solve problems in their own way, get deuces, and then this “in their own way” becomes a new word in science. There are exceptions when geeks become geniuses without realizing their originality. When Mozart wrote the first harpsichord concerto at the age of four, his father exclaimed: “This concerto is so difficult that no one can play it!” To which Mozart replied: “Nonsense, papa! Even a child can play it. For example me". But if a genius in childhood is tried to be combed with a common comb, he becomes only a talent. Some geniuses were lucky - they were not engaged in parents. In the Pushkin family, the daughter was the favorite of the father, the son was the favorite of the mother. Alexander until the age of 9 lived on his own. After this age, genius can be knocked out only by destroying the genius.
Is genius inherited? There were 8 generations of musicians in the Bach family, 57 of them are famous. But only one genius. Lombroso believed that a genius is almost always a schizophrenic. However, schizophrenia is a hereditary disease that is passed down through the generation. Genius is never inherited. It flares up unexpectedly, often with parents who are far from perfect. Beethoven's father was an alcoholic, his mother was a limited woman who died of tuberculosis. Leonardo da Vinci was the illegitimate child of a stupid peasant woman and a notary who had sinned with her. Children of geniuses are often born idiots. Einstein's son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Einstein himself fell into insanity in his old age. After his death, it was discovered that his brain was missing gray matter - the carrier of intelligence. Although usually the children of great people are always the subject of research by historians, information is hidden about the six sons of Niels Bohr and the seven children of Heisenberg, two great physicists. This does not apply to the children of great creators. We are talking about geniuses who "blew up" the world.

Masters of thoughts or crazy maniacs?

The idea that genius is madness was expressed by Plato, who considered it "nonsense bestowed by the Gods." Observing how the prophets behave, falling into a trance, or how the poets, not noticing anything around them, mumble something indistinctly while writing poetry, the ancient Greeks spoke of the “divine disease” that the gods send to the prophets and poets. They believed that there was a "genius", a guardian spirit. He whispered to the poets their verses, and to the philosophers their wisdom. According to legend, Socrates had long conversations with his "genius", sometimes his students were present and saw the sage talking to someone invisible. Some considered Socrates a crazy eccentric. But this "city madman" went down in history as one of the wisest people of mankind. If scientists created everything that we see around, then philosophers, poets, prophets determined the direction in which humanity is going, talked about morality, duty and similar things. The views of the ideologist of the French Revolution, Rousseau, determined the character of Europe after the monarchies began to change into republics. Modern Europe, one of the main world forces, is the fruit of such changes. But who is Rousseau? A deeply ill person. He suffered from manic shifts in the psyche. Nietzsche's ideas about the superman pushed Hitler to destroy millions of people of "inferior" (according to the Nazis) races. The driving force behind this most bloody massacre in history was Adolf Hitler, a megalomaniac addicted to the occult and a severe mental shift, and his mastermind, Nietzsche, was mentally deranged. In addition to the listed "rulers of thoughts", such major philosophers as Descartes, Plato, Schopenhauer, Spencer and others were insane. And among the largest leaders, the cruel Roman emperors Caligula and Nero, the emperor and conqueror of half of Europe, Napoleon, who suffered from delusions of grandeur and persecution, and the possessed Mussolini, were recognized as abnormal. But, note, here for the most part it was about philosophers and politicians, but not about technical or creative geniuses.

shock version

Now get ready for the shock. We are accustomed to consider Tsiolkovsky the father of rocketry. And yet, in fairness, it should be said that, according to Academician Belokon, the great mathematician Nikolai Zhukovsky was convinced that Tsiolkovsky was a "psycho". He dreamed of the word "paradise" in the sky. He believed that when a person dies, his atoms are scattered throughout the universe, then they settle into another being, and a second life begins. If the deceased being was happy, then the atoms are happy, and the life of the new being will be happy. If the atoms are unhappy - vice versa. The task of mankind is to destroy all unhappy life on Earth. Tsiolkovsky describes who to kill: "... sick, crippled, feeble-minded, unconscious ... wild and domestic animals." He wrote: "I got a nervous breakdown, so strong that I forgot how to run, and this was reflected in my children." Of his six children, two committed suicide. One all his life wanted to pierce his eardrum in order to become as brilliant as his father. In his odious publications, Salakhutdinov doubts the scientific value of Tsiolkovsky's works, however, when the same doubts arose in the Soviet press in the early twenties, Chizhevsky helped publish Tsiolkovsky's works, considering him his teacher. It would be strange to doubt Chizhevsky's competence, now he is recognized all over the world as the founder of many areas of science, in particular, cosmobiology. And the founders of Russian rocket technology, Academicians Korolev and Glushko, considered Tsiolkovsky the founder of astronautics.

Confessions of a Madman

In the 19th century, Karl Jaspers was interested in the question of whether a genius can create when his brain is already being destroyed, and at what point does delirium begin instead of creativity? After all, it depends on this whether to regard our world as a bunch of brilliant insights or as madness? Genius and schizophrenia Jaspers called "the most mysterious states of the soul." The Swedish playwright August Strinberg, according to Jaspers, fell into the delirium of schizophrenia. He experimented on himself, studying persecution mania. You can judge the abyss into which the suffering consciousness plunges, according to his poignant books - "Confessions of a Madman" and "Hell". They are so dramatic that they have entered the textbooks of psychiatry. But was it crazy? Strinberg managed to look into the unknown, into another reality. Jaspers was sure that the genius creates the best works only in the initial period of schizophrenia, when the disintegrating consciousness reveals incredible depths. Then comes the decay line. Is it so? Having gone through the circles of "Hell", Strinberg worked for fifteen years, and brilliantly! Van Gogh has become a symbol of a brilliant artist with the curse of schizophrenia. Psychosis explains the incredible abundance of his paintings and his suicide. The late period of Van Gogh's work, according to Jaspers, is "daub without form." However, now this period is recognized as the most talented. Jaspers' conclusion: without schizophrenia, genius cannot manifest itself, but the development of the disease kills creativity, which is the tragedy of genius.

Crazy Geniuses

In the 1860s, Lombroso, a professor of criminal anthropology from Turin, attributed the origin of genius and schizophrenia to the same causes. His list of sick geniuses included Socrates, Savonarola, Rousseau, Napoleon, Schumann, Gogol. Almost all famous people were in the "borderline state". To the idea that genius is a kind of schizophrenia, Lombroso was led by the oddities of geniuses. Many had deviations in the sexual sphere. Michelangelo was single, and insisted that art replaces his wife. Leonardo da Vinci loved men. Newton died a virgin. Mad Rousseau suffered from sperm incontinence, was extremely depraved, suffered from megalomania, considering himself equal to God, as evidenced by this fact. He wrote letters ... personally to God, and instead of sending them by mail, which would already be ridiculous, he went to church, put them under the altar of the cathedral. For weeks he quite seriously waited for an answer, considering himself equal to God! Since he received no response letters, he concluded that there is no God. Singles were Schopenhauer, Spinoza, Descartes, Leibniz, Michelangelo, Gogol, Lermontov, Turgenev. Composer Schumann lost his mind by the age of 46, drove his wife out of the house, he was overcome by nightmares: it seemed to him that he was being pursued by talking tables and stools that turned into monsters. In an attempt to commit suicide, he threw himself into the river, but was rescued. After his death, he was diagnosed with brain atrophy. Jonathan Swift, in a fit of madness, urged commoners to give their children to aristocrats for meat. When Archimedes shouted the famous "Eureka!", he not only jumped out of the bath, but also ran naked into the street. By the way, the “grateful” students also added Lombroso to the list of “nuts”.

The eccentricities of those who "made" the twentieth century

Among those creators who determined the technical development in the twentieth century, called the century of scientific and technological revolution, there are many bright personalities who had mental health problems, or at least oddities, eccentricities. I would like to cite some facts that academician V. A. Belokon told me.
The physician Robert Mayer, who lived in the early nineteenth century, discovered the law of conservation of energy. Without this discovery, it would be impossible to imagine the entire modern energy industry. Further - along the chain - there would be no most modern engines. Imagine a world without cars, without nuclear-powered icebreakers, a world frozen without communications and connections. However, the creator himself suffered from manic depression, which does not call into question the level of his intelligence.
The creator of the fundamentals of electrical engineering, Nikola Tesla, died in poverty, uttering "crazy", as it seemed to his contemporaries, ideas. Among them was the idea of ​​a laser, without which it is also impossible to imagine our world. Not to mention laser discs, which have become "drugs" for music lovers, laser computer discs with their amazing information capacity, it is worth remembering the use of laser technology in medicine, space industries, and military technologies. Meanwhile, the poor fellow lived the last years of his life in a hotel paid for two years in advance, and at the same time he did not have a penny. Driven to despair by poverty, he even called the FBI just before his death, saying that he had invented a device capable of creating a directed electric beam. He wanted to give his invention to the "competent authorities" in the hope of obtaining some kind of livelihood from the US government. However, these narrow-minded "falcons of the invisible front" considered him a "psycho" and his request was ignored. When they came to him about a week later, a long-cooled corpse was found in the room. According to one version, the genius died of starvation. According to rumors, it was the work of the FBI. Meanwhile, Nikola Tesla can be called one of those who "created" the twentieth century. A transformer, created on the basis of Tesla's developments, is present in every TV, we see transformer boxes on the streets of cities, we habitually use electricity at home, without which the whole world would sit in the dark, with torches, and there would be no mention of industry.

Academician Sakharov was distinguished by eccentricities, which was noticed by his colleagues who worked with him in Sarov. Somehow, the sole of Andrei Dmitrievich's boot fell off, then he untied one lace, and tied a bow with one shoe along with the sole. It is said that he even ate salad warm, as he considered it unnecessary to spend part of his energy on digesting cold dishes. But are these eccentricities a sign of abnormality? No. Rather, the breadth of thinking, and the absence of stereotypes in it, which is incomprehensible to the gray man in the street.

One of the fathers of Western aircraft construction, Howard Hughes, who had already created his main projects by the age of 35, having become a millionaire, was known as a big eccentric: he went naked, never cut his hair or shaved, was maniacally afraid of infections and colds, which is why he always slept on the operating table, so that in which case the doctors had time to do their job. He has grown very long nails. Fearing an infection, before making love with his next passion, of which he had a lot, he forced her to take a saliva test and other tests. One of his lovers who felt the beauty of this approach to medicine and love was Marilyn Monroe. Based on one of his developments, years later, the largest aircraft in the world is created as part of a secret project for military purposes. The developments of Howard Hughes, along with Russian projects, became the basis for the next generation of aircraft, aircraft of the 21st century.

Genius must be unrecognized

Tsiolkovsky called a genius someone whose discovery is recognized no less than twenty-five years after the death of the author. Tsiolkovsky was considered crazy, his belief that mankind would build cities in space was recognized as nonsense. He died in 1935. After 25 years, Gagarin flew into space. Where do insights come from? Geniuses often make discoveries in their sleep, often they are "dictated" by deceased geniuses. Mendeleev discovered the table of elements in a dream. The solution to most problems came to Newton in a dream. The philosopher Cardano had a dream in which Newton discovered the universal law of gravity, and told him about it, although he had no idea what he was talking about. After a while, Newton discovered this law. Pascal made experiments in a dream, in reality they led to a discovery. Schumann believed that Beethoven and Mendelssohn dictated melodies from their graves.

Progress fee

Is Lombroso right when he called Auguste Comte crazy just because he thought: the time will come when the fertilization of a woman will take place without men? Such a time has come. Bacon's insights (XIII century) about the creation of ships without rowers, chariots without a horse, aircraft, submarines have already been realized, and in his time aroused suspicions of the author's madness. Schliemann's idea to find Troy, Chizhevsky's theory of the influence of solar activity on the course of history seemed crazy. Now it is recognized by science. Modern psychologists believe that Lombroso was wrong. According to statistics, one out of six people is a carrier of the schizophrenia gene, distributed evenly among all peoples. There are no more schizophrenics among geniuses than among other people, but the most gifted are carriers of the schizophrenia gene, and their children are schizophrenics. This is the price of progress. The gene for schizophrenia may not manifest itself during life, in five percent it becomes a disease, the chosen ones make geniuses. And yet, genius is not a disease, genius is not a madman. "Crazy" ideas are born in the smartest minds, and ideas that blow up the usual train of thought created our beautiful world.

Information to think about:
1. 9 percent of modern leaders, scientists and artists were mentally ill
2. 2 percent of them committed suicide, 3 percent attempted
3. 25 percent of great poets were mentally ill

Mentally ill:
1. Writers: Edgar Poe, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Flaubert, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Hederlin, Strinberg
2. Philosophers: Socrates, Descartes, Plato, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche
3. Scientists: Pascal, Newton, Faraday, Einstein, Darwin, Tsiolkovsky
4. Composers: Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven, Donizetti, Pergolesi
5 Politicians: Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini

Normal were: Spinoza, Bacon, Galileo, Dante, Voltaire, Columbus, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Schiller, Mozart, Pushkin, Kant, Goethe

Violetta BASHA

Five out of a thousand people 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 papyrus Ebers. Which of the brilliant people suffered from schizophrenia?

Philip K. Dick

It is believed that a mild form of schizophrenia was in the writer Philip K. Dick, who became famous for the sky-fi novels Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which was made into the movie Blade Runner, and Wholesale and Retail Memoirs, which formed based on the film Total Recall. Some believe that it was the disease that helped the author create such plots of books.

It is believed that the Dutch post-impressionist painter created most of the paintings at the moment when his schizophrenic seizures became more frequent. At this time, he created several paintings a day and could not sleep for days on end.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Researchers agree that this famous stateless philosopher was the owner of a frightening diagnosis - "nuclear mosaic schizophrenia." At present, this ailment is called obsession, and its most striking symptom is megalomania. 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 bouts of psychosis and claustrophobia. Nikolai Vasilyevich was often visited by sound 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

The famous Indian actress, who at the age of thirty began to be treated for schizophrenia. Considered the most glamorous Bollywood actress. She accused the CIA, the KGB, the Mossad of wanting her dead.

Alexander Nikolaevich Skryabin

Alexander Nikolaevich was a suspicious and extremely religious person. He frightened relatives and friends with sudden changes in mood, as well as his views on everything that was happening. In addition to unique music, his merits include the first ever use and popularization of color music. According to doctors, Alexander Nikolaevich suffered from schizophrenia.

Maya Myakila

Swedish artist diagnosed with schizophrenia. She lives in the small town of Norrkoping. Her drawings are also studied by attending physicians. It is 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 the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994. The public is known for the film "A Beautiful Mind", filmed about his life. It is noteworthy that John Nash was able to come to terms with his illness and learned to ignore its manifestation, which doctors initially considered an improvement. He died in a car accident in May 2015.

American fashion model Bettie Page is a sex symbol of the 50s of the last century. Filmed in the genres of erotica, fetish and pin-up.

In 1958, Page became interested in religion, in 1959 she became a Christian. In the future, she actively worked in Christian organizations.

In 1979, doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.