10 brilliant schizophrenics who changed our world

Most ordinary people associate the term “schizophrenia” with terrible scenes of extreme psychosis in patients suffering from this severe chronic disease.

People with a similar diagnosis, in most cases, cause fear and alienation in others. However, few people know that many legendary figures who made incredible discoveries suffered from this disease.

No wonder they say that the line between genius and madness is very arbitrary. The people included in this collection are another confirmation of this theory.

10 Philip K. Dick – Science Fiction Writer

This writer suffered from a mild form of schizophrenia. His famous novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? formed the basis of the equally famous film “Blade Runner”, and the work “Memories Wholesale and Retail” was embodied in the film “Total Recall” with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role.

There is an opinion that the writer managed to write this kind of work largely due to hallucinations that sometimes visited him.

9. Vincent van Gogh – artist

There are many myths around this genius of painting to this day. Van Gogh was a real innovator, not fully appreciated by his contemporaries. His understanding of true beauty came through understanding the inner essence of objects and phenomena.

There is an opinion that Van Gogh created his masterpieces just during the attacks of schizophrenia. The artist could paint several canvases in one day, or he could take huge breaks in work.

8. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche – Philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche is a famous German philosopher and thinker. His neoclassical teaching became widely popular not only in the scientific community, but also far beyond its borders.

He allowed himself to doubt the key principles of the norms of culture and morality, social and political relations that existed in the society of that time. This original philosophical concept and our time causes a lot of controversy and controversy.

At the same time, few people know that the world famous philosopher suffered from nuclear mosaic schizophrenia. This form of this disease is characterized by the appearance of an unhealthy megalomania in a person, which can be compared with his idea of ​​a superman.

7. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol – writer

The great writer of the XNUMXth century was repeatedly attributed to various mental pathologies. All thanks to the fact that the author of The Inspector General and Dead Souls had a rather unusual character and sometimes allowed himself some very extraordinary actions.

Probably the biggest mystery of his biography is the reason why the writer decided to burn the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls. There is a version that Gogol did this while being possessed by schizophrenic delirium.

In addition, the writer was haunted by the fear of being buried alive all his life. A similar inexplicable phobia is also attributed to schizophrenia.

6. Isaac Newton – mathematician and physicist

Many historians and researchers of Newton’s life believe that the great scientist suffered from two mental illnesses – schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive psychosis.

Isaac’s mood instantly changed, which prevented his normal communication with people. However, this did not prevent him from making a number of brilliant discoveries in mathematics and physics.

5. Parveen Babi is an Indian actress.

Parveen Babi was the first Bollywood actress to be featured on the cover of Time magazine. This woman at one time was considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Indian cinema, almost instantly becoming a trendsetter.

In the late 70s, Parvin first began to show symptoms of a paranoid form of schizophrenia. For several years, the actress underwent therapy in the United States, but the disease took over.

Upon returning to her homeland, Parveen Babi immediately wrote a statement to the police against well-known Indian persons, accusing them of persecution. She tried to prove that they wanted to kill her. The entire Indian film industry turned away from the actress, leaving her alone with her serious illness.

The Bollywood star was found dead in her apartment on January 22, 2005. Her death was very tragic – the woman died of starvation. She lay in her bed for hours, experiencing terrible pain, never being able to get to the door of a huge apartment and turn to her neighbors for help, because before her death she could no longer walk.

4. Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin – composer

Scriabin’s work embodies the ideas of ecstatic aspiration to unknown worlds and the idea of ​​the transforming power of art. Also, the brilliant composer was one of the first to develop the idea of ​​light music.

According to contemporaries, Alexander Nikolaevich was an extremely suspicious and mystical religious person. He was prone to violent mood swings, which caused great anxiety among those close to him.

According to doctors, Scriabin suffered from schizophrenia, which may explain his strange behavior.

3. Maya Myakila is a Swedish artist.

Maya Myakila is a Swedish artist officially diagnosed with schizophrenia. The woman is known all over the world for her psychedelic and terrifying paintings. She currently lives and works in Stockholm.

According to the author of such terrible paintings, the main goal of her work is to search for the truth, even if this truth is scary to look at.

2. John Nash – mathematician

This is an extraordinary and strong personality. Nobel laureate John Nash made many discoveries in the field of differential geometry and game theory. However, according to the scientist himself, in his scientific work he was helped by … schizophrenia, which he suffered until his death.

The great mathematician was diagnosed with this when he was barely 30 years old, after marrying student Alicia, who was only 26 at the time.

At first, Nash’s newly-made wife tried to hide her terrible illness from his colleagues and friends, hoping to save her husband’s career. However, after a few months of his strange behavior, Alicia had to forcibly hospitalize her husband in a private psychiatric hospital. It was there that he was given a disappointing diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.

In 1980, Nash’s disease, much to the surprise of psychiatrists, began to fade away. This happened because the scientist went back to science and learned to simply ignore schizophrenia.

1. Bettie Page – the sex symbol of the 1950s

The name of this American fashion model thundered throughout the world in the 50s of the last century. It was then that she began to actively appear in very explicit images for the covers of leading erotic magazines. She was called the sex symbol of the era and even one of the progenitors of the sexual revolution that happened in the 1960s.

During her career, Betty has appeared in several films. There were rumors that she was in an intimate relationship with another sex idol – Marilyn Monroe. Several biographical works have been written about her life, and two feature films have been made – Bettie Page: Dark Angel (2004) and Obscene Bettie Page (2005).

In 1979, Betty had a nervous breakdown. It was then that she first heard from the doctors a terrible verdict: “Paranoid schizophrenia.”

She spent 20 months in a mental hospital in the state. Until 1992, she was under close medical supervision. After that, she was declared healthy and did not need specific treatment until her death.