March 30, 2024
It is known that the Dutch artist, Vincent van Gogh, had mental health problems – he famously cut off his left ear and two years later (in 1890) committed suicide – but there has been much debate about the exact nature of those problems.
However, diagnosing a deceased patient’s condition is a complex task, and there are many theories about the problems Van Gogh was suffering from.
A 2020 study by Dutch academics set out to diagnose his disorders, using nearly 1,000 of his letters as evidence.
To mark World Bipolar Disorder Day – celebrated every year on his birthday (30 March) – the BBC spoke to one of the authors.
Did Van Gogh suffer from bipolar disorder?
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Van Gogh painted “The Starry Night” while being treated at a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy, France, in 1889.
Vincent van Gogh suffered from many mental health problems since his adolescence, and was famous for cutting off part of his left ear after suffering a mental health crisis.
In July 1890, he stood in a field outside Paris and shot himself. He died of his wounds two days later at the age of 37.
There have been many competing theories about the exact nature of the artist’s mental health, in the years leading up to his death, but one of the most convincing is that van Gogh suffered from bipolar disorder.
What is bipolar disorder?
- A mental health problem that affects mood, characterized by dramatic swings from one extreme to another.
- It is a relatively common condition, and is estimated to affect about one in 100 people.
- There are different types of bipolar disorder. People with type 1 experience periods of manic highs and depressive lows.
- People with type 2 experience severe depression and mild manic episodes — known as hypomania — that last for a shorter period of time. People with cyclothymia experience mood swings that are less severe, but they can last longer.
- Men and women of all backgrounds are equally at risk of developing bipolar disorder, and although it can occur at any age, people in their late teens are particularly at risk, because it often develops between the ages of 15 and 19.
- Each severe episode of bipolar disorder can last for several weeks (or even longer).
Treatments include:
- Long-term medication known as mood stabilizers, to prevent the onset of manic and depressive episodes.
- Medication to treat symptoms when they occur.
- Psychotherapy to help deal with depression.
- Lifestyle advice – such as getting regular exercise, improving your diet and getting more sleep.
Source: National Health Service in Britain.
Van Gogh has been associated with bipolar disorder since the theory was originally explained in a 1938 German book cited in the study.
But how can we be sure that he has this disorder, and not other conditions such as schizophrenia, neurosyphilis, or poisoning?
The answer lies in the evidence he left behind.
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Van Gogh was a prolific letter writer, and he co-wrote this letter with his friend and fellow artist Paul Gauguin
“We were fortunate in that we studied nearly 1,000 letters written by Van Gogh to his brother and others, on which we based our conclusions,” says one of the authors of the 2020 study, retired professor of psychiatry Willem Nolen of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
He told the BBC that the messages gave his team the opportunity to look at evidence of symptoms, with a view to making a diagnosis.
It was the authors’ intention to conduct an “extensive diagnostic interview” with Van Gogh, the patient, to analyze his psychological state, although they recognize that the painter was not writing for a doctor, and may not have always been completely honest in his descriptions.
Professor Nolen said: “He may have exaggerated his symptoms in his letters to his brother, because he needed more money and more support. But you can also imagine that when he wrote the letter to other family members – including his mother – he may have made the symptoms seem “Less severe.”
All six volumes of letters were reviewed by Professor Nolen himself, and interviews were conducted with three different art historians from the Vincent van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands, all of whom are experts on the painter’s life and work.
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The study examined the contents of all six volumes of Van Gogh’s letters
The conclusion of the study, conducted by researchers in the International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, is that Van Gogh had bipolar disorder, with features of borderline personality disorder, which was “most likely exacerbated by alcohol abuse combined with poor diet.”
In his lifetime, Van Gogh himself did not fully understand what was wrong with him. He wrote of a “mental or nervous fever or madness, I know not quite what to say or how to call it”, and initially described it as “a simple fit of artist’s madness”, perhaps to reassure his family.
But the study authors found evidence that he suffered from depression during adolescence, met criteria for borderline personality disorder, drank heavily, and committed self-mutilation. But indications that he went through distinct depressive and manic phases are what point to bipolar disorder.
Professor Nolen said: “It is not entirely clear which form of bipolar disorder he was suffering from, because although his depressive episodes were very severe, we cannot know from the letters whether he was struggling socially on the other hand. Obsession or not?
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Van Gogh painted at least 35 self-portraits in his lifetime, this one dating back to 1887
We know from his artistic output that there were times in Van Gogh’s life when he was prolific, especially towards the end of his life, when he would paint pictures, portraits, fields, flowers, and the Saint-Remy psychiatric asylum where he resided for over a year.
Professor Nolen says it is possible that Van Gogh painted more when he was in a hypomanic state, and this stage of bipolar disorder is sometimes associated with bouts of intense creativity: a number of celebrities have spoken publicly about their own experiences with the disorder, such as Mariah Carey, Demi Lovato. , Selena Gomez, and Bebe Rexha, as well as a slew of other musicians, actors, and artists — both living and dead — who have described symptoms very similar to the condition.
Professor Nolen says there is equally strong evidence of the depressive phase of the disorder, in Van Gogh’s letters and in his art.
He suffered “at least 10 depressive episodes, if not more, and the severity of the depression increased despite being admitted to a psychiatric hospital for more than a year.”
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Roots and Trunks, 1890, by Vincent van Gogh – many believe this to be the last painting the artist worked on before his death
Professor Nolen says that during severe bouts of depression, Van Gogh did not paint much – and sometimes did not paint at all for periods – “or what he produced were very sad paintings, incomparable to other paintings.”
Vincent van Gogh struggled throughout his life, both as an artist (he only sold one painting) and with his mental health, but Professor Nolen believes the story might have been very different had the artist been alive today.
“He will probably be diagnosed, he will be given advice not to drink, and he probably won’t fall into depressive and manic episodes.”
“It’s very difficult to say whether that would have affected his becoming a painter or not, but he probably wouldn’t have killed himself.”
