Fryderyk Chopin may have suffered from temporal epilepsy, say Spanish doctors. Their article appeared in Medical Humanities.
Suddenly I saw emerging from the open piano these damned creatures that haunted me that gloomy night in the Carthusian monastery – Chopin wrote about the interrupted concert in a letter to his daughter George Sand. The year was 1848. The following year his death ended his 39-year sick life.
George Sand, his longtime life partner, noted that he could not overcome the fears and ghosts that troubled his imagination. Chopin himself described his condition as if he were somewhere in a distant place in space.
He was sickly from childhood until his premature death. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but also a strong intolerance to certain foods, diarrhea, abdominal pain, migraines, chronic cough. In adulthood, he developed hemoptysis. The composer was accompanied by constant anxiety and bouts of melancholy.
Scientists put forward many theories about the diseases plaguing Chopin. It has been guessed that he may have suffered from cystic fibrosis, alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency, a heart defect known as mitral stenosis, and more. He also had mental ailments such as bipolar disorder or even schizophrenia.
According to Spanish researchers, radiologist Manuel Varquez Caruncho and neurologist Francisco Branas Fernández, Chopin suffered from temporal epilepsy.
The hallucinations that haunted Chopin were considered to be an expression of a sensitive soul, which is a tracing of the Romantic era – describes Varquez Caruncho. – However, we believe that separating the romantic point of view from reality allows for a better understanding of this man.
The scientist does not deny that the direct cause of the composer’s death was pulmonary problems. However, he did come across some references that suggested epileptic episodes. Being a music lover and admirer of Chopin’s works himself, he began to delve into the epoch’s literature about Chopin, such as The History of My Life by George Sand.
It was then that the Spanish researchers began to analyze in more detail the characteristic features of Chopin’s hallucinations, for example their complexity, purely visual character, repetition. As Chopin did not hear the voices and his mental state was stable, it is doubtful whether these were symptoms of schizophrenia, severe depression, bipolar disorder or other forms of psychosis. Scientists also ruled out migraines or drug poisoning.
In the case of temporal epilepsy, the hallucinations are preceded by anxiety, restlessness, insomnia and depression, which matches Chopin’s symptoms. Convulsions do not need to occur during the course of the disease.
In Chopin’s time, temporal epilepsy had not yet been diagnosed by doctors. Its first scientific description appeared only in 1861.
It is estimated that currently in Poland, temporal epilepsy may suffer even over 100. people. It is about 25-30 percent. all patients with epilepsy (PAP)