Comments on: Did Salvador Dali suffer from Mental Illness?

By: Painters and Psychiatry | Dr Shock MD PhD

Painters and Psychiatry | Dr Shock MD PhD — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:09:54 +0000

[...] post on the question Did Salvador Dali suffer from mental illness certainly raised a lot of [...]

By: galacidalacid

galacidalacid — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:30:15 +0000

Dali was certainly extremely brilliant, although maybe not a genius. He had a violent relationship with his wife (a nymphomaniac, the victim of child abuse) with probably what would be called today a love addiction. He was also bisexual, and a very humble person when not in from of cameras (maybe even shy?). He also had strong mood swings as attested by his epiphany at the “Gare de Perpignan”. At the end of his life he developed Parkinson’s, and recent evidence links that disease to mental disorders. Also recently an article has come out saying that more than the majority of people (60%) will have some mental problems during their lives. I will let you dray your conclusions.

By: Melted Watch

Melted Watch — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:10:13 +0000

I have done a fair share of research on Dali over the past several years. I don’t see any evidence that Salvador Dali was mentally ill. It seems to be one of those rumors an average man must create in order not to feel intimidated by a superior intellect.

By: Douglas Eby

Douglas Eby — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:01:05 +0000

Mood instability or disorder that is not ‘chosen’ can be profoundly disrupting. Creativity coach and therapist Eric Maisel, PhD notes “Only a small percentage of creative people work as often or as deeply as, by all rights, they might be expected to work. What stops them? Anxiety…”

By: Dr Shock

Dr Shock — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:59:37 +0000

To much honor, it’s not my research. Nevertheless I did postulate the view that you can’t do a psychiatric examination without knowing the patient. On the other hand psychosis, even self induced is not a pleasurable state to be in. Kind regards Dr Shock

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:29:09 +0000

You should do more research before making such claims.

Dali worked with what the Surrealists called “critical paranoia” Self enduced psychotic episodes to help the creative process. In other words, it was deliberate.

Seems to have worked well for him, don’t you think?

Dan

By: Dr Shock

Dr Shock — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:36:07 +0000

Not very important to my opinion. Kind regards Dr Shock

By: isabella mori (@moritherapy)

isabella mori (@moritherapy) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:06:59 +0000

as someone who is very interested in the intersection between creativity and mental health, i found this a good article. there is also the question of how important it is to posthumously apply labels to anyone.

By: Christophe Thill

Christophe Thill — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:16:43 +0000

“The only difference between a madman and I is that I am not mad”.

Savador Dali