Van Gogh

Gizem Akçaylan

22.05.2010

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), Dutch painter, is one of the most famous 19th century painters. He is a famous artist today; however, his life was full of disappointing experiences. Van Gogh suffered much from mental problems. Experts still try to diagnose accurately his illness to illuminate reason under his failures responsible for a painful life. The diagnose is open to debate and there are different theories on van Gogh’s illness because van Gogh died more than a century year ago, so it is impossible to be sure on it. While concentrating on the most credible diagnoses, “Vincent Biography” article and Hanna Hyams’ “Trauma Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the Case of Vincent van Gogh” article present a source supported by theories and van Gogh’s life experiences. Both PTSD and syphilis cause mental instability and have same symptoms; however, PTSD has more credibility as the cause of his mental problems than syphilis when both articles examined well and cross-referenced with van Gogh’s life.
Paranoia is one of the important symptoms of both syphilis and PTSD. After facing disappointing experiences as a clergyman, van Gogh wanted to meet Jules Breton, French painter he admired. He had no money, so he walked 70 kilometers to Courrières to see Breton. After arriving, he could not knock Breton’s door (“Vincent Biography,” n.a.). It clearly seems he thought he would be rejected by Breton and he discouraged because of his paranoia caused fear, self-doubt, and shame of his own actions. Another paranoiac attack was he imagined himself being poisoned. In other words, he believed that other people wanted to harm him by poisoning. These events prove that van Gogh had paranoia.
Uncontrolled anger was another symptom of both PTSD and syphilis. Since being rejected by his family, van Gogh always wanted to fill his loneliness and dreamt about a ‘nest home’ (Hyams 105). He made some friends, Paul-Eugene Millet and a Zouave soldier and...