Post by Admin on Aug 25, 2020 19:16:58 GMT
Reversing the psychiatric gaze
For 19th-century psychiatrists the new art of photography was a useful tool, as it allowed them to capture patients’ images and categorise their illnesses into ‘types’. Facial expressions and even clothing were seen as revealing important medical information. But art by people with mental health problems exposes a subtler, more nuanced view of illness, as Leah Sidi explains.
Words by Leah Sidi 11 August 2020
wellcomecollection.org/articles/XyPPxBAAACEAElia
Examining the physical appearance of a patient has been central to psychiatry since its inception, as doctors believed this could reveal important information about the patient’s inner state of mind. During the 19th century, as the asylum population increased, doctors and asylum wardens attempted to divide experiences of mental illness, which they described as ‘insanity’, into rudimentary ‘types’.
With the advent of photography, the practice of photographing asylum inmates and using facial expressions to classify different forms of mental illness became increasingly common.
Seven types of insanity
This image shows seven ‘Types of Insanity’, reproducing photographs taken in the Devon County Asylum in 1858. The features indicating the ‘type’ of insanity vary: the woman at the top looks up with her mouth hanging open, implying that she is vacant, whereas the woman in the middle looks thoughtful and inquisitive, perhaps implying overthinking and mania.
The way in which inmates dressed was also seen to reflect their mental states: here we see some who are well turned out, in middle-class attire, while others are dressed more shabbily.
We might think of this practice of scrutinising appearance in order to deduce and categorise illness as the “psychiatric gaze”.
How the patient sees the doctor
How is the psychiatric gaze experienced by patients? What happens when patients turn this gaze outwards, in order to express what mental illness means for them?
In the etching below by Vincent van Gogh, the artist reverses the psychiatric gaze by drawing a portrait of his friend, the maverick doctor Paul-Ferdinand Gachet. In the background we see the curved strokes typical of van Gogh’s evocative, organic approach to foliage. This contrasts with the stark, straight lines that shade Gachet’s jacket.
However Gachet’s eyes and hands reflect the wobbly, disordered quality of the background. Perhaps we are viewing the artist’s judgement of the doctor’s supposed wellness. Or perhaps the artist’s own distress about being viewed through the psychiatric gaze is being reflected in the face of the sitter.
For 19th-century psychiatrists the new art of photography was a useful tool, as it allowed them to capture patients’ images and categorise their illnesses into ‘types’. Facial expressions and even clothing were seen as revealing important medical information. But art by people with mental health problems exposes a subtler, more nuanced view of illness, as Leah Sidi explains.
Words by Leah Sidi 11 August 2020
wellcomecollection.org/articles/XyPPxBAAACEAElia
Examining the physical appearance of a patient has been central to psychiatry since its inception, as doctors believed this could reveal important information about the patient’s inner state of mind. During the 19th century, as the asylum population increased, doctors and asylum wardens attempted to divide experiences of mental illness, which they described as ‘insanity’, into rudimentary ‘types’.
With the advent of photography, the practice of photographing asylum inmates and using facial expressions to classify different forms of mental illness became increasingly common.
Seven types of insanity
This image shows seven ‘Types of Insanity’, reproducing photographs taken in the Devon County Asylum in 1858. The features indicating the ‘type’ of insanity vary: the woman at the top looks up with her mouth hanging open, implying that she is vacant, whereas the woman in the middle looks thoughtful and inquisitive, perhaps implying overthinking and mania.
The way in which inmates dressed was also seen to reflect their mental states: here we see some who are well turned out, in middle-class attire, while others are dressed more shabbily.
We might think of this practice of scrutinising appearance in order to deduce and categorise illness as the “psychiatric gaze”.
How the patient sees the doctor
How is the psychiatric gaze experienced by patients? What happens when patients turn this gaze outwards, in order to express what mental illness means for them?
In the etching below by Vincent van Gogh, the artist reverses the psychiatric gaze by drawing a portrait of his friend, the maverick doctor Paul-Ferdinand Gachet. In the background we see the curved strokes typical of van Gogh’s evocative, organic approach to foliage. This contrasts with the stark, straight lines that shade Gachet’s jacket.
However Gachet’s eyes and hands reflect the wobbly, disordered quality of the background. Perhaps we are viewing the artist’s judgement of the doctor’s supposed wellness. Or perhaps the artist’s own distress about being viewed through the psychiatric gaze is being reflected in the face of the sitter.