Living with a severe mental illness like schizophrenia can be crippling. Unfortunately, it affects about 1 percent of the globe’s population. This may seem like a small number, however, one must understand that being schizophrenic can change your life; it’s not always a pretty sight living with mental disorders that can make you see hallucinations, hear things that “urge” you to do things you wouldn’t normally do. People with mental illnesses have a difficult time focusing. As a result, being employed as well as maintaining the household is a challenge. It is not only the schizophrenic who suffers from this mental illness. Friends and family members can suffer, too. People with schizophrenia should have a healthy and caring support system to guide them in their ordeal. Unfortunately, not all schizophrenics are lucky to be surrounded by people who care deeply for them. In fact, some schizophrenics have even taken their own lives because they cannot deal with the illness anymore. However, some schizophrenics are able to find solace in creating pieces of art. For them, painting or drawing their hallucinations helps them cope with the illness. Not only that, they are also able to help others understand what it’s like to have schizophrenia. Schizophrenia may be a misunderstood disease, but it is treatable. Hopefully, more people are more aware of this mental illness and do their part to help schizophrenics lead a normal and happy life. Continue reading and take a glimpse into the lives of people with schizophrenia.
Take A Peek Into What Life Is Like For Someone With Schizophrenia
FLEURIER L’AMÉRIQUE PRÉSIDENT STUBBORN
Aloise Corbaz experimented with drawing and creative writing when she was made to live in an asylum after being diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1918. The artist would often use crayons, colored and traditional lead pencils to create the hundreds of art pieces that she is known for. Aside from painting humans, Aloise would also paint beautiful flowers and animals.
It is interesting to note though that Aloise Corbaz may have been living in a psychiatric facility, but the artist did not go under medication. As a result, Aloise would experience the full extent of her creativity.
Aloise Corbaz would, later on, be considered as a major influencer of the Art Brut style.
THE BACHELOR PARTY
Louis Wain was an Englishman who studied at the West London School of Art, where he also eventually became a teacher. However, Wain’s teaching stint was short-lived. He left his teaching post and became a freelance artist.
In his early 20s, Louis married Emily Richardson. Like his teaching experience, his marriage wouldn’t last long as well. Emily, who was ten years older than Louis would soon be diagnosed with breast cancer. The couple’s cat helped Emily cope with her illness.
Incidentally, Louis Wain was great at painting animals and would end up sketching their cat, Peter. His wife would also encourage Louis to release said paintings; Emily sadly passed away before Louis’ paintings would get published.
SMALLER PORTRAITS OF THE SAME MUSTACHED MAN
An untreated schizophrenic Polish, Edmund Monsiel started sketching in his brother’s attic during World War II. He put his hallucinations of God and the Devil into paper. As a result, his works mostly depict a religious theme, featuring God and priests. Sometimes, he also includes representations of the Devil in his pieces.
Later on, Edmund Monsiel would also produce artworks featuring mustached faces. He would reproduce this form in different sizes within a piece; suggesting that the artist is struggling with the mental illness that might eventually consume his life.
Despite Edmund Monsiel’s struggles, he is considered as one of the most important European self-taught artists.
MILWAUKEE CANNIBAL
Hearing voices is a common ailment that people with schizophrenia suffer from. Unfortunately, not all these voices whisper good deeds. Some voices even urge the schizophrenic person to commit criminal acts. Such is the case with Jeffrey Dahmer, who is infamously known as the Milwaukee Cannibal.
Dahmer is an American serial killer and sex offender who has been found guilty of dismembering seventeen males in 1978 to 1991. According to reports, Dahmer first committed his murderous crime just three weeks after graduating high school. Jeffrey Dahmer was living alone at the time and picked up a male hitchhiker, whom he invited to have a drink at home. The two males enjoyed their time together and eventually got inebriated and even had intercourse.
However, the fun did not last long when the Milwaukee Cannibal bludgeoned his victim with a 10-pound dumbbell. Dahmer also reportedly dissected his first victim’s body and scattering the crushed bones at the back of his family’s home.
My Friend Dahmer, an American biographical drama film written and directed by Marc Meyers about the Milwaukee Cannibal is set for release in November 2017.
THE BUTCHER OF PLAINFIELD
Born in 1906, Ed Gein was a lonely boy who had a drunkard for a father and a Bible-wielding mother. When Ed reached 30, his father died. Ed and his older brother would soon find himself taking odd jobs to help support the family. Unfortunately, fire struck and Ed’s brother was nowhere to be found.
Upon inspection of the fire remains, Ed’s brother’s body was found to have signs of asphyxiation. It might have been an accident, but some biographers looked at the possibility of foul play. Not long after, Ed’s mother would also pass away, leaving Ed with no maternal love and guidance. He may have lost his mother, but Ed would soon surround himself with women by some twist of his sick mind.
It would later be discovered that Ed would make nocturnal visits to the local cemetery and dig up bodies of recently deceased women. He was also charged with the grisly murder of Bernice Worden, whose headless body was found in Ed Gein’s house.
Aside from Worden’s mutilated body, other female parts were found scattered in the house. A necklace made of nipples, 9 vulvae, and some skins and skulls were also found in Ed Gein’s residence. Gein confessed to committing the crimes when he was in a daze.
KILLER CLOWN
Stephen King’s novel It may have been the first to introduce the fear of evil clowns to the public, but John Wayne Gacy earned the nickname of Killer Clown years before King’s novel hit the bookshelves. However, Gacy did not wear a clown costume when he committed his murders. Instead, he was called the Killer Clown because he would dress up as Pogo the Clown as part of his charitable service during children’s parties and fundraising events.
Between 1972 and 1978, John Wayne Gacy killed 33 young men — some of whom were just teenagers. Gacy would lure the young boys to his Norwood Park home where he would rape and torture them before he went for the kill.
He was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994.
SON OF SAM
David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam or as others would call him the .44 Calibre Killer, started his criminal career as an arsonist before he set his sights on being a murderer. According to reports, Son of Sam started 1,488 fires and recorded them in his diary before his committed his first murder.
The Son of Sam’s modus operandi usually targeted long haired brunette women in their 20s. He would also injure couples in cars, allegedly because he had difficulties dating women and that he gets envious when he sees lovers together.
David Berkowitz earned the moniker Son of Sam when he left notes near his victims’ bodies saying, “‘Go out and kill’ commands father Sam.” The murderer also confessed that a demon in a neighbor’s dog urged him to take people’s lives.
VAMPIRE OF SACRAMENTO
Considered as one of America’s most notorious criminals, Richard Trenton Chase earned the nickname The Vampire of Sacramento since it was discovered that he would drink the blood and eat the remains of his victims.
Richard Chase grew up suffering from physical abuse from his father and showed early signs of mental illness. The young Richard would mutilate animals and have a penchant for arson. He would also be sent to a mental facility where he would receive psychotropic drugs. Unfortunately, he was released from the facility even though he still killed animals during treatment.
It is also reported that Richard Chase practiced necrophilia.
THE FAIRY FELLER’S MASTER-STROKE
The intricate painting by Richard Dadd called The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke was produced in a span of 9 years between 1855 and 1864. It was a commissioned work for G.H. Haydon who was impressed by Dadd’s fairy paintings, which the artist started specializing in before his mental illness started.
As if painting The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke wasn’t complicated enough, Richard Dadd even created a long narrative to go with the painting. The poem titled Elimination of a Picture & its Subject—called The Fellers’ Master Stroke gave names and purposes to each of the characters found in the painting; some of which gave references to Shakespeare as well as old English folklore.
BATMAN SHOOTER
A pasty guy sporting a flaming hair and armed with legally purchased firearms and ammunition made his presence felt to an unsuspecting Batman audience in July 2012. The Batman shooter threw tear gas canisters and started shooting as soon as the canisters exploded. 70 people were injured, while 12 fatalities were recorded. Moviegoers thought James Holmes’ actions at the cinema were a promotional stunt.
Four years before being dubbed as the Batman Shooter, James Eagan Holmes was a residential summer camp counselor where he had the responsibility of looking after ten children aged 7 to 14. It is reported that Holmes had no problems with his job as a counselor.
However, Dr. Lynne Fenton, one of the psychiatrists that James Holmes has been seeing, shared during the trial that the latter mentioned “wanting to kill as many people as possible.”
