What if You Were van Gogh? – IOTW Report

What if You Were van Gogh?

Let’s say that you suffer from the same set of psychological disorders that drove Vincent van Gogh to cut off his ear in 1888 and finally end his own life in 1890. Unlike van Gogh, we have a number of psychotropic drugs today to treat many disorders (making then at least manageable for the sufferer) but at the price of suppressing what may be driving you to your most incredible works of art.

Would you take the drugs and be able to cope with your life or avoid being doped and ride your mental disorders to possible fame and probable future destruction?

I ask this hypothetical after viewing this interesting piece on the history of art and madness. Watch

28 Comments on What if You Were van Gogh?

  1. Crazy people don’t know they’re crazy.
    If they realized that they were crazy, they’d be on the road to sanity.

    Sorta like stupid people – they don’t know they’re stupid – they think they’re geniuses.

    The filthy Usurper Joey Biden is a good example – Sandy O’Cortez is another.
    Both of them are crazy AND stupid! But they don’t know it.

    mortem tyrannis
    izlamo delenda est …

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  2. How does anyone know that van Gogh’s artistic talent was heightened by his mental illness? What if the truth is that his art would have been even greater if he were mentally healthy?

    Watch the video. – Dr. Tar

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  3. Jumping over to the theatre side, I would think an actor is at an advantage for having a mental illness because implementing the method approach from a lifetime of suffering makes for one hell of a performance(s).

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  4. If you’ve ever taken an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety drug (I suspect they are often the same thing) you’ll know what it’s like to have all your emotions quieted. Joy aren’t really isn’t all that joyful being down isn’t all that low.

    For a modern day van Gogh would living life in 2nd gear be acceptable?

    6
  5. Whadda ya mean, ‘What if?’

    May I remind you that all of us commenters here are considered crazy conspiracy theorists by our society? And we’re not lining up to take their medicine. Don’t think we’d sign up for happy pills to make us feel better about it either…

    On a personal note, I went to the doctor once 20 some years ago b/c I was waking up w/headaches. He looked in my mouth and said I was grinding my teeth at night, must have too much stress and he could give me meds for that. I said no thanks, I think it’s time to get rid of the causes of my stress instead. He was stunned and said no one ever said that. So no, not taking the meds; still trying to perfect my art…

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  6. I have a manic depressive/bi polar friend of many years that takes meds until he feels better then stops the meds because it’s all ok.The ensuing crash is very sad. Some times jail other times hospital. In Canada the courts can still institutionalize the mentally ill.

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  7. I have noticed a correlation of creativity and mental issues in artists, authors and musicians.

    What would I do?
    Well, I’m not particularly creative. So I guess I’ll worry about something else…

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  8. I am beginning to think there are two kinds of insanity out there:

    the usual insanity of people who are improperly wired.

    then there is collective insanity that drives normal people to wonder if they’re sane. Gaslighting and all that.
    I think many of us fall into the latter category.

    5
  9. Huron,

    You ever walked around Parkdale in Toronto?
    The courts CAN institutionalize but FUCK NO!
    They are all walking around Parkdale when CAMH (Canuckistan Asoc. Of Mental Health) closes for the day and swinging from the fuckin street lights.

    NIGHT PASSES FOR EVERYONE BABBY!
    (cheaper than a bed)

    3
  10. Kcir: I live as south of the bubble as one can,conservative(I know today it’s meaning is moot) area where law and order is mostly intact. As for Parkdale I stopped at a store for my pal to get smokes and some guy ran out of the park with a machete,I kicked open the car door and we were gone. You may know the store right beside the park.

    3
  11. Do not fret amigos.

    In spite of media sensationalism, both sides, once one escapes liberal bastions and find America you will find it is quite normal out here.

    Blacks and whites get along fine. We hold doors for one another, exchange pleasantries, hold the door for one another, etc.

    If that isn’t the way it is where you live…. It’s time to leave.

    7
  12. Quite interesting, back in the 80’s I had an stomach ulcer that was caused by a virus.
    The doctor gave me anti-psych drugs instead of stomach meds. They later moved that doctor to geriatrics. With no improvement, I researched the meds, threw them out and changed medical institutions.

  13. “He did his painting despite his illness, not because of it”
    I believe that’s the most important message of that video.
    I still have challenge to the suicide attempt. I can’t tell if the video says he died 30 or 13 hours later. Either would suggest he didn’t try hard enough given the state of emergency medical care at the time. There’s a lot left to the story. I find myself wanting to see these paintings in real life. I need to see the brush strokes. The actual thickness of the paint that photos can’t capture. There’s evidence of each hand movement. How aggressive that paint brushed moved. And as well, through supposed psychosis, how deliberate.
    Thank you for sharing this.

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