ABC TV

I had the great pleasure of being on ABC TV two weeks ago.  The ABC were filming at the Emerging Writers Festival, where I was on a panel called Tough Topics.  I spoke about my academic work, my life with schizophrenia, my books, and some of the work I am doing on the Brainwaves radio show on 3CR. Highlights of me were broadcast on ABC News 24.  I had a great evening at home with a friend watching the telecast. I asked the question, 'Why is schizophrenia still a tough topic?', and generated some discussion. You can watch the full panel on the Big Ideas website here. Hope you enjoy!

John Milton and the Imagination

John Milton, living in England during the 17th century, is regarded by many as the greatest of English poets.  His monumental work, Paradise Lost, has a remarkable history. Detailing the story of the fall of Adam and Eve from paradise, and the plots of Satan, the work has a remarkable poetic resonance.  What is most interesting about the work, is that it was written when Milton was blind.  Much like Beethoven, who went deaf, it is interesting to muse upon the abilities of those who lose their principle sense, and still manage to create.  I would argue that in losing this sensibility, the imaginative powers are heightened.  Just as when one sense diminishes in an individual, the other senses increase - so to it seems the imaginative faculties of the afflicted can rise dramatically.  This can happen with more striking affect for those who create through that particular sense.  This argument can also be ascribed to Jorge Louis Borges, who also went blind.  Milton dictated his work to his daughters, who acted as a conduit for the then blind Milton, and helped create a work that is considered one of the greats of world literature.

August Strindberg and Schizophrenia

Strindberg is fascinating for those wishing to understand creative intersections with schizophrenia.  Strindberg rose to prominence with plays such as Miss Julie and The Father.  His plays were performed around the world, in particular in Paris and Berlin (and towards the end of his life in America).  In his forties he experienced a psychotic episode, and detailed his illness in a book called Inferno, which he wrote from diaries entries he kept during the time.  The book is full of psychotic traces.  He believed that someone was trying to kill him using electrical currents from a machine in the room above his. He believed that lighting strikes in his area were specifically designed for him (a delusion known as a delusion of self-reference).  The world was full of heightened and special significance for him, and he felt directed by these meanings.  He believed that special 'Powers' were directing his life.  In one instance, on the eve of departure for an overseas trip, he said he couldn't go, because the Powers forbade it.

How could one of such outstanding creative talent believe in such things?  Because schizophrenia can bring with it great creative outpourings which Strindberg was able to harness to create his oeuvre.