[wiretwister]

pbs just showed a Van Gogh , secrets of the dead , special .... this man was depressed then manic ... claimed to be the holy spirit ... was withdrawn ... cut himself (his ear) ... this is a bipolar man if I have ever seen one ... the never state this but they do talk of him having mental illness ... and did committ su ....

just went off eastern time zone ... when it has played everytime zone the entire episode should be posted .... Secrets of the Dead | PBS

if your into this kind of stuff it was very good ... not a bp special but I enjoyed it very much ...

[21stCenturySM]

Van Gogh was more than likely schizophrenic, not bipolar. Look at his olive trees collection. They get progressively more psychedelic. He was racked with vivid hallucinations. He himself said he just painted the way he saw things. I believe he was at least schizoaffective. He had long term psychosis and hallucinated, and met most of the criteria for schizophrenia.

[wiretwister]

I am by no means an expert ... he just seemed to have the features of such ... the show featured more about his life than his art ... that is all I know about him ... but either way I really like the show ...

[21stCenturySM]

I would have liked to have seen that. He's my favorite painter. Thanks for the link.

[zijax]

He's my favorite painter as well. A good read is his Letters to Theo, a book of collected letters to his brother. It gives insight into his personality and artistic leanings. I've always felt a kinship regarding his mi even though it may not be specifically bp, I still relate to him.

[Shazerac]

There have been many theories from pdocs about what was wrong with Van Gogh. I have miagrines with aura and BP2. I'm also an artist. I paint what I "see" and some of my work is abstract or impressionist, sometimes even cubist. When I have a miagraine aura sometimes things look incredibly vivid with bright almost psychedelic colors. Sometimes everything is little squares almost like a pixelated picture.

I told my pdoc and neurologist about this and their answer was "some people just see things differently". That's an understatement! So was Van Gogh schizophrenic, who knows.? It's entirely possible that he was BP and just had a wild and crazy way of seeing things.

[LifeInProgress]

Some of Vincent's recorded behaviors track very closely with my experience of BP. Others not so much. I have at times had a very different to normal visual processing of the world, but not at all like what he shows in his paintings.

Diagnosing Vincent is certainly a fun game to play. But I doubt we will ever have a definitive answer.

I love his paintings.

[bioChE]

We will never have a definitive answer. You can't posthumously diagnose someone, nor do it without a psychiatrist or psychologist directly interviewing and observing someone. Cf. the Goldwater rule.

[Nammu]

Saw bits and peices of that. Sounds like fear of losing his brother to a woman and the loss of an artist friend drove him to self harm.