Psychology of Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was born on December 12, 1863, in Loten, Norway. When Edvard was only five years old, he helplessly watched his mother die of tuberculosis. Soon there after, Edvard's older sister, Sophie, hemorrhaged to death from the same disease; she was only 15 years old. His father was a stern man who died when Edvard was 27. His younger sister was diagnosed with mental illness, and his brother, Andreas, died when Evard was 32 years old. Additionally, Edvard was an alcoholic by the time he was 28; moreover, his mental health was beginning to destabilize at age 33. Edvard had a difficult time dealing with life's tragedies. He often isolated himself from family and friends during childhood and adolescence, and continued this pattern through his adult life. He avoided interactions and forming close relationships with others. His only love relationship ended with a gun blast that blew off two of his fingers. As an adult artist, he painted reoccurring themes of his childhood nightmares and torment; however, he rarely attended any of his art exhibits. He saw life as dreadful and took no pleasure in activities. At age 42, Edvard sought treatment for his anguish at many health spas.
In 1908, Edvard was hospitalized for anxiety. It was reported that he had had a nervous breakdown. By this time, he had already been to several health spas in search of a cure or maybe in search of peace in mind, following the Hippocratic-Galenic idea that he had to get his humors back in balance. The doctors also diagnosed him as having depression; unfortunately, no sublevel or subcategory was mentioned. Although one could outwardly observe his traits of anhedonia, he never reported having delusions or hallucinations associated with schizophrenia; nevertheless, the treatment received was electroshock therapy. This must have been one of the earliest cases because according to Barlow and Durand, authors of the text Abnormal Psychology, the biological treatments for psychopathology began to emerge in the 1920s. Alcohol had been problematic for him since his late teen years. According to reports, however, he did not reach Jellinek's (Barlow, Duran p 347) chronic stage but rather the crucial stage. He was drinking and out of control the night his fingers were shot off. He began to seriously abuse alcohol at age 24. The same year his father passed away. Although his father accepted him, Edvard was very aware of his father's disappointment about him becoming an artist. The relationship between the two had never developed. After his mother died, an aunt more or less raised him. His father's support came merely via money. The alcoholism replaced his grief. His never-ending self-induced loneliness might have brought life to his paintings but brought an inner sadness to his life. While his work was greatly acclaimed by it, it was a detriment to his personal relationships. In other words, the way he adapted his cognitive and emotional states to his work actually, for art's sake, improved its function; however, these same mental states were
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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