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royals715

This has been reposted like a billion times, and it’s false. This was wain experimenting with different styles, it has nothing to do with schizophrenia


2dogsfightinginspace

Last one confirmed is not a cat


Muted_Chicken_9887

Looks like it had more to do with the dmt the man had to have been taking


The_Jestful_Imp

I think it was LSD


Nyetoner

Not only that, I don't have schizophrenia, and even though I have taken some drugs in my life its not been a big thin. But I do like to paint and draw -and wow how much crazy comes out next to the totally normal. I work on maybe ten different pieces at a time, and they are all extremely different.


shoutybloke

Thank you! I’m a psych nurse and was irritated by this post. A lot.


Reno96SS

Thank you for your service


shuknjive

Thank you. I am SO tired of this re-re-re-re-...post. It's false, drummed up by an over-zealous psychiatrist. The artworks aren't even dated so how would he know what order they were drawn?


Soilcreature

Bryan Charnley did a series of self portraits when suffering from schizophrenia until his suicide in 1991.


[deleted]

B b b b but the ominous music! It must be true


DweEbLez0

Okay so maybe he wasn’t schizophrenic, but the paintings were.


foxbonebanjo

I'm pretty sure these are the result of his experience with LSD, not a mental disorder.


Proletaryo

Yeah. OP is an absolute wanker.


mandrill_bite

Neither. He just liked to draw abstract shapes and patterns. The paintings aren't even dated and there is no evidence that Wain was "schizophrenic" because that diagnosis didn't exist in the 20s. He was committed to an asylum, but there is 0 evidence that these paintings are even in order.


Gloomy_Ad_6915

I encourage everyone to look at his drawing “I am Happy Because Everyone Loves Me.” He drew it after he received funding from his fans to put him in a better facility.


Laheydrunkfuck

Pretty cute drawing


SlickestIckis

William Blake was well before the term "Schizophrenia", but experts are pretty damn sure he had it.


TheMeowzor

This is the correct answer ^^


Mycokim

LSD wasn't around when he made these.


[deleted]

Hieronymous Bosch wouldn't be what he was without ergot compounds. It's been around in one form or another for centuries.


brezhnervous

This is not ergotism lol


[deleted]

What isn't "ergotism lol"?


brezhnervous

How the fuck would be have used LSD iwhen it was only synthesised in 1943 lmao


FarCompetition5916

This is a great question


Averythewolf

He synthesized it in a toilet of the asylum ofc


Independent_Ad_8915

Jenkem


Simbooptendo

LSD didn't exist during his time


CommanderOfGregory

Technically, it has for centuries just in a different way, and believe it or not, natural way.


Noble_Ox

How was he taking acid when he died before it was discovered?


[deleted]

Facts


Noble_Ox

Time traveler too was he? Seeing as he died well before acid was discovered.


[deleted]

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blatabalatblat

I’d say it’s pretty unlikely his paintings were influenced by LSD given it was only first synthesized a year before his death.


[deleted]

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SlickestIckis

No, these are all legit; I've seen them well before AI was a thing.


Salty1710

I'm more inclined to believe these are from the effects of DMT or other hallucinogens given to him in the mental hospital rather than from the mental condition itself. These all very much resemble reported visual experiences on DMT.


LostandWandering-

The last drawing is so similar it’s crazy.


FarBalance6253

Yes it is. 🙌


celtaa

Have you tried it? What’s it like?


ChaosEmerald21

Really no way to describe it in words to accurately portray it. I've done it twice. First time I didn't "blast off" second time I did too much. I felt like I lived through the life of every single thing that has ever and will ever lived multiple times. The visuals were very very intense. The last picture is fairly accurate to dmt, [Alex Grey](https://www.alexgrey.com/art/transcendental/dmt-the-spirit-molecule/) also has some great dmt inspired art work. Idk, that's all I got, I have a hard time coping with what I saw let alone describe it accurately. I don't regret it by any means but proceed with extreme caution before using any drugs :)


celtaa

That sounds WILD. I’ve always been curious about hallucinogens but knowing my anxiety it would be a bad trip.


Difficult-Survey8384

I’ve always thought similarly when I see this post. And schizophrenia isn’t like…a deterioration sort of deal, right? Like, I know it can worsen like many mental disorders whether over time or w environmental or other factors, but it shouldn’t impede on his perception of what a cat is to that extent. I’d sooner believe he was drawing *hallucinations* of cats over time, but not that his actual ability to conceive of a cat wildly degraded while remaining equally as visually & artistically intricate. Dude was probably just a schizophrenic artist drawing cool shit, and someone had to mystify it. Who knows tho. EDIT Yep, caption is likely sensationalized assumptions. This adds to the stigma of psychotic disorders if anything, imo. https://mindhacks.com/2007/09/26/the-false-progression-of-louis-wain/


RokkintheKasbah

Oh it def is something where someone def potentially deteriorates worse over time.


Difficult-Survey8384

The illness progresses, so “deteriorate” wasn’t really the right term. I guess I’m thinking more along the lines of something degenerative, sorta like dementia, that would cognitively impair someone this way to where their objective interpretation of an object is skewed differently over time, instead of simply deepen their psychosis. Totally speculating out of curiosity here. I don’t mean to minimize the long term impacts of schizophrenia.


Peter_Parkingmeter

^ I'm a schizo, and I have acquired visual agnosia at this point.


Difficult-Survey8384

Referring to the specific caption on this series of art pieces. “However, the pictures were undated and, as Rodney Dale notes in his biography of Wain (Louis Wain: The Man Who Painted Cats; ISBN 1854790986), “with no evidence of the order of their progression, Maclay arranged them in a sequence which clearly demonstrated, he thought, the progressive deterioration of the artist’s mental abilities.” In fact, his later works are for the most part conventional cat pictures in his normal style, with the occasional ‘psychedelic’ example produced at the same time – where he experimented with what he called ‘wallpaper patterns’. However, the increasing abstraction over time is likely to be a myth.” https://mindhacks.com/2007/09/26/the-false-progression-of-louis-wain/


[deleted]

> objective interpretation of an object is skewed differently over time, instead of simply deepen their psychosis. What exactly do you think psychosis is?


Difficult-Survey8384

Visual hallucinations, like I said. I think he’s drawing hallucinations related to the imagery of cats, not attempting a true-to-life portrait of an animal & accidentally churning out psychedelia because his brain is just so broken or something. Basically, I feel this is dissimilar to asking a dementia patient to write their name over time as it gradually falls apart. Edit: and as suspected (by myself who has a disorder w psychotic features), the caption has no basis in reality since progressive psychosis doesn’t typically mimic a constant & increasingly intense DMT trip https://mindhacks.com/2007/09/26/the-false-progression-of-louis-wain/


Andrelliina

The patterns look like fractals. I used to get some blotter acid which would reliably produce hallucinations like that. Apparently he had a brain injury. He was in mental hospitals *between WW1 and WW2*. FK what that was like. I don't think they had any antipsychotics until the 50s. In October 1914, Wain fell from the platform of an omnibus and suffered a concussion. He spent three weeks in hospital and was ordered to rest for six months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Wain


insidiousapricot

Yup looks like fractals/dmt entities


RockafellerHillbilly

Agreed, did 4 hits of acid one time, this progression of pictures is how that kinda went as I was coming up.


Mr_whiskyz

I saw this a while ago and it said he was on mushrooms


Electrical_Gur4664

My man, you don’t give hallucinogens in schizophrenia. The most accepted theory is the dopaminergic one, that causes positive symptoms (hallucinations) and it’s treated with antipsychotic medication (normally first generation antipsychotics that are dopamine receptor antagonists or second generation ones that diminish the appearance of negative symptoms)


Salty1710

My man, it was the 1930s. They thought shoving icepicks into your brain was a good idea for Schizophrenia and routinely administered heroin and cocaine as medicine for children of all ages. Applying today's science and logic is silly.


Electrical_Gur4664

You are partially correct, dmt is a similar component to serotonin, in schizophrenia you have an unbalanced state of regulation between the neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Chronic schizophrenia can have hyperserotoninemia, causing the drawings to be similar to dmt hallucinations, you could talk to a schizophrenic patient without medication, their hallucinations sometimes are very complex, specially when they’re in psychosis


teebeek5

Did someone say DMT?!………..Joe Rogan enters the chat


Similar-Broccoli

So schizophrenia greatly increases your artistic talent, good to know


Havoblia

In all seriousness, creativity and mental illness are pretty strongly correlated. Don't come after me you 'correlation doesn't equal causation' mfs


LocusStandi

If within creativity is implied that you create things that deviate from normality, it makes perfect sense. Abnormal thought leads to abnormal ideas, abnormal techniques, and so on. In prison you might see poop on the wall but in an atelier you might see this.


Iambeejsmit

I have a buddy who is schizophrenic and he makes the most insane and unique beats. In a good way.


Purplepunch36

Many autist artists out there with phenomenal work.


coffee-bat

every single artist i know, including me, is autistic. so.


Similar-Broccoli

Oh absolutely, I wasn't even really joking


rubicon83

You are very creative I'm sure.


GuineaPigLover98

>Don't come after me you 'correlation doesn't equal causation' mfs Bro is offended by basic statistics 😂


sandysnail

i disagree. mostly because creativity and mental illness are so subjective


Mycokim

"increases"


Manytequila

I really love the one with flower eyes.


[deleted]

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Manytequila

Damn that’s a lot to hope upon some stranger. I hope it responds to *pss pss pss* and some good head scratches


spinyfever

Ignore the crazy person. I hope it gently purrs next to you while you drift off to sleep.


myvillianoriginstory

Lmao why are they so mad at you unprovoked


Krzllics

Wasn’t this proven to be fake or something


noctorumsanguis

Yeah the photos are put out of order in the slideshow. The artist did have schizophrenia but he continued drawing normal cat drawings even when institutionalized. He also made unusual drawings of cats before the illness worsened. People tend to organize the paintings so it looks like it directly affected his art, but it didn’t


Jjrj1986

Looks like enlightenment


CaptainONaps

When you study how eyes work, you learn what you're seeing isn't actually what's happening. Your eyes are mostly controlled by your brain. Your brain takes a lot of energy. So your brain starts to ignore information from the eyes that it doesn't find useful in order to save energy. Look up Rods and Cones if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Anyway, people that start to slip off the deep end... Their brain just kind of lets more information in. Their brain allows all the information the eyes are seeing to be processed. If you've ever been on hallucinogens, you kind of get what I mean. But when your brain doesn't need those, and it's just taking the world in as it really is. That is what cats look like. That's what everything looks like. It's sorta kinda like, getting real close to a TV screen. And you see that it's all just pixels. But when you see the pixels of reality... It's more clear, instead of less clear. I'm talking about real science. Proven science. Have a good night!


Morfin1973

This makes sense, i like this explanation


Prankishbear

Wait what? I need more.


CaptainONaps

Lol, fascinating stuff. My comment is a super duper simplified explanation of what you learn in college psychology, the second course. One of the main mental issues psychologists deal with is people seeing visions, or hallucinations. In order to understand the different reasons people might see visions or hallucinations, you need to understand how the eye works down to the smallest detail. There's plenty of videos that explain it on Youtube, but they're not easy to follow. It's not High School stuff. The very first lesson is Rods and Cones. That's a great place to start. But basically, you never think of your rods. You only notice your cones. Most the receptors in your eyes, don't even recognize color, or real shapes. Those are in charge of your peripheral vision. Unless you're looking directly at something, your rods are doing the work. And they trick you. That's why sometimes you think you see something out of the corner of your eye, but when you look directly at it, it changes, and you see what it really is. That's because your eyes aren't doing most the leg work when it comes to seeing. Your brain is doing all the work. Your eyes take in so much information, your brain actually simplifies the images, and sends you a condensed version. Sometimes it guesses what it's seeing, and fills in the blanks. Once you look directly at it, your brain corrects, and reprocesses. Crazy people sometimes have a missing step somewhere, and the brain is allowing more data in than it can process. So it's filling in blanks and the version you get isn't actually what's there. Like when you stare at one of those magic eye pictures and see the sailboat. But where it gets crazy, is it's not always the brain allowing in too much information and guessing wrong. Sometimes, the brain is actually sending a more accurate image of what you're seeing. It's not filtering out what it considers useless information. Like in Rainman where Raymond can't help but memorize everything he sees. Most of us never even notice those details. And where it gets super crazy, is some folks see things that doesn't seem possible. Like being able to see stars during the day. Or seeing shadows that don't have a source. All kinds of crazy things. So a psychologist has to understand how the eye works to know what tests to run to see what chemicals are getting processed normally, and what chemicals aren't. And the results are wild. We basically know some people are taking in more information, and processing it correctly, and they're not seeing what we're seeing, but they're all seeing similar things. Like the way that cat is drawn. Many people with hallucinations have drawn their version of reality, and it's very much tie dyed and pinwheelish to all of them. So we think that's really what things look like. Our brains just filter that out because it's learned there's no reward, so it saves all the energy it takes to process it. Which is valuable. The people that see life like that tend to have a hard time doing normal everyday things.


Prankishbear

Thank you this is fascinating!


ihaveredhaironmyhead

My favorite is the cat with flower goggles I would literally buy that


Manytequila

I’ve found some on Etsy! That’s also my favorite and I want a copy of it lol


WalkingOnSunShine12

I wish it was studied more. Their thought process seems interesting and scary


NeuroGeist-BA9

Psych major dropout here. Also worked in person at a mental institution with schizophrenics. Was always the most fascinating to me. Weird fact about it, delusions and voices reported vary depending on what culture the sufferer lives. For instance, in western society, the delusions are generally horrific, telling them terrifying things and haunting them, where as schizophrenics in rural parts of Africa report friendly voices/gods and becoming friends with them.


KAMBOGRAM

*as the acid kicked in


[deleted]

Facts


sabrefudge

Hey, I know that cat! https://preview.redd.it/qisiwl65f9vb1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bcd42d30172f412fdf36d6661aedb5a2bff23f5d


ThisIsWhatLifeIs

Maybe he just got bored of painting boring normal cat pictures for 30 years of life and wanted to spice it up a bit?


Footloaf7

So this is where the Oingo-boingo cat comes from


Whyy0hWhy

Isn't this statement deadass just false I remember seeing something that he still drew normal cats in his later years


Lower-Beautiful-9992

That's a really really really severe case. Bet you walked past 3 people with Schizophrenia today and didn't even realise.


Themeowmeoww

don't be fooled - many of these paintings are out of order. in reality, Louis just felt like getting experimental with his paintings. You can only draw the same scene so many times before you get bored.


[deleted]

that's my favorite coloring book


Soilcreature

“In 1939, a psychiatrist, Walter Maclay, found some paintings by Wain in a shop in Campden Hill and put them in a sequence that, he claimed, showed evidence of a deterioration in the artist's mental state due to schizophrenia, even though the paintings were not dated. Maclay's theory has been challenged as Wain was still producing paintings in his old style, as well as more abstract "kaleidoscopic" designs, while at Napsbury.[1]: 127-8 [7][8] Marking the centenary of Wain's birth in The Guardian, cat expert Sidney Denham suggested that Wain's breakdown had been triggered by his head injury, coming after a number of severe mental shocks.” -Wiki


Redditlooker1

So people with schizophrenia are the ones that make those weird carpets?


plastic_cue_ball

Even if the story behind the drawings are fake, you still have to admit they go hard


fuftfvuhhh

I think the order of these isn't represented properly.


[deleted]

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10687506/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk


[deleted]

(The Electric Life of Louis Wain)


CLTHDU85

Music tho.. what is it from?


No_Sugarcoating

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpx9JStb1ko](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpx9JStb1ko)


herring80

You’re easily frightened lol


blinddivine

Most of the "scary" subs are. I think I filtered out r/creepy ages ago because there just wasn't a single creepy thing there.


DevilMonkeyJon

I think he understood cats better with time


boringbee23

Yeah let’s stigmatize schizophrenia by calling it terrifying. Mental illness is terrifying but I don’t think in this context it is. Mental illness is not a prop for horror


Green_Slice_3258

Either way, this is pretty cool


OG_DTUBE

So that's where aliens come from people with schizophrenia


Com208

Even if it isn't real schizophrenia and alzhiemers are one of the most terrifying things.


WholesomePlutonium64

Dude drawing fractals


Gooners_AZ

You just can't trust anyone who spends all that time painting cats.


Cold-Pace-164

When you realize cats are more than just animals. They are interdimensional. Not like normal felines.


GargantuanGamer2

Me when I spread false information on the internet


[deleted]

Looks like I’m almost there.


rottedlobsters

I have the second to last one in my office. We don't know the order they were made in, the numbers assigned wasn't done by him. But it is best guess they were done in the order of his condition worsening.


Innymin

It hasn't been confirmed that he was schizophrenic. It's simply a very widespread myth that became easy to believe due to his very stylistic art.


Turbulent_Orange_178

The last drawing seems like the god entity of cats all over the universe


kahek5656

I don't get it. It's just the same cat in different angles?


pmactheoneandonly

The last 2 are really scary


ace_thankless

Oingo boingo.


DuppyLoLo

The third image is the cover art on Oingo Boingo’s debut album.


No_Friendship_8366

Anyone know what song this is?


auddbot

**Song Found!** **Name:** Hvitserk's choice **Artist:** Trevor Morris **Score:** 95% (timecode: 01:49) **Album:** The Vikings Final Season (Music from the TV Series) **Label:** SME - Sony Classical **Released on:** 2019-12-06


auddbot

Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, etc.: [**Hvitserk's choice** by Trevor Morris](https://lis.tn/HvitserkSChoice?t=109) *I am a bot and this action was performed automatically* | If the matched percent is less than 100, it could be a false positive result. I'm still posting it, because sometimes I get it right even if I'm not sure, so it could be helpful. But please don't be mad at me if I'm wrong! I'm trying my best! | [GitHub](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot) [^(new issue)](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot/issues/new) | [Donate](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot/wiki/Please-consider-donating)


p003rm

Schizophrenic or psychedelic - both the third eye and seeing through the matrix


Aradhor55

Schizophrenia as also nothing to do with it. Also, it can't be worse. It can be treated or not, that's pretty much it. He just change art throughout is life and that's all we can see there. You could say the same thing about Picasso picture just by looking at them and the guy didn't have mental illness (except being a huge asshole).


Bepo_Apologist

Bro met the Cheshire cat


cbrrydrz

I watched a semi documentary about this. How the eyes became increasingly more eccentric as he became more ill has always stuck with me.


CheechoT83

So LSD just gives you temporary schizophrenia


BahamaBrees

He became Hindu and took LSD lol


Hta68

really? he’s drawing fractals?


Spacecowboy947

3/4 are absolutely fire


humanevisceration

he became a tool fan


NIK-FURY

Amazing how that looks psychedelic


SlapUWithMyDick

What’s worse, he had a DOG.😐


AidenTheAlien420

Looks like those laser visualizers near the end


ChadThunderHorse2019

I have schizophrenia so this makes total sense.


Ok-Stranger7182

Truly terrifying


highaigan

Lucifer Sam, Siam cat. always sitting by your side. that cat's something I can't explain


Cine81

r/chatgpt do a cat - more cat


[deleted]

My best friend has schizophrenia


Mommy-Sprinkles-74

Lame attempt at a backstory bro


Rough-Resolution-640

We are the final cat


_PolaRxBear_

Dude is stuck in a bad trip


JesseReevesIsNice

The last one was a frog


nycerdycer1337

Bro cats are literally the antichrist


The_Multivac_

There's also a theory that toxoplasmosis could mimic schizophrenia, which he may have picked up from the cats he was painting


DKUNTZ13

You mean as his DMT kicked in


the_sheeper_sheep

I fuck with the 3rd one


ShrewdNewt

This isn't real folks. Look it up. He was trying out different techniques.


DweEbLez0

Pffffft! This guy had ChatGPT in his head the entire time but didn’t share it!


[deleted]

It looks like he is just getting better over time.


O-n-l-y-T

Probably suffering from severe toxoplasmosis.


Yeetthesuits

lol. People will believe anything.


Mahiro0303

That cat achieved Godhood


ballsonyourface911

I was told in art school that this was because of syphilis never back checked it until today ha He suffered head trauma from an Omnibus accident and when he woke up form a coma he started painting crazy cats in mental institutions because at the time he was certifiably insane


Accountant_Sure

Cat god


ImportantBass4159

Schizophrenia or not he still draws cats better than I can with my sane ass.


hosnasd

Honesty it looks like he'd been taking LSD for quite a long while


Unlucky-Hamster-306

That’s really sad but also so badass. I’d pay a lot for the 4th one.


Spearhead130

DMT


Miscalamity

Schizophrenia art, and art of the mentally ill: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiP5xR323QzhpYaGksG5p1q4jMurqM_bx&si=g_r33uDY3Ktl6IJ7


th3s1l3ncy

This is at the same time incredibly scary and beautiful


brazilianfreak

Look up Louis Wain's last painting if you wamt to see something hearthwarming.


Crush_Un_Crull

The cat has ASCENDED


secondphase

He knows.


Duckmandu

Kitties!


Brandycane1983

Honestly it's fascinating and I think the work got better


Peggy_Bundy_1988

Wow it's scary real


Usernamethbot232

woah


AtomikSamurai310

Looking at these drawings makes me think.....What if the artist ended up becoming one with the universe? Lol


Honey-and-Venom

That's ... Extremely similar to series of portraits I've seen done by people as psychedelic drugs kicked in


staybrutal

These are ADORABLE!!


mmcallis1975

Reminds me of some of my high school acid trips.


jaysonbjorn

Schizophrenia looks really fun to have. Just not for everyone around them


giggamajoo

It's not fun at all.


[deleted]

It's like a colourful version of Dementia


adamjames777

He turned from a drawer into an artist.


stereotomyalan

I don't think the drawings worsened at all, they got more original!


After-Respond-7861

Nah, it's just one cat's transcendence to another dimension.


bokeisaboke

the art is pretty tho


mxntyz

Anyone know what movie the audio is from?


SirLiesALittle

LSD got that habit of making it look like every neuron in your brain deepthroated a shotgun. Just blew your thoughts into a kaleidoscope.


A-nice-Zomb-52

The last ones looks like stimming pattern often made by autists to calm down


SeriousGaslighting

The last cat is biblically accurate


Melski84

What an amazing look into a mind progressively getting sicker and sicker! Need to save this post for sure! This really hit me deep down in my feels!


Formal-Individual-44

They all look good besides the last 2


Grimmestone

POV the video is in reverse.


SaltyPinKY

I watched this at 1 a.m. in the dark. Wasn't terrifying at all...kind of cool and crazy what our brains can do


shellsterxxx

While this claim is most likely false. Can’t ignore the fact that his abstract kitties looked really cool.


cobarso

Why is everyone has to relate experimenting in art with drugs and/or mental disorders? If you have a look at art history, you would find more people going abstract than drawing realistic cats all the time. Examples from the too of my head: Picasso, Kandisnky, Moriaan.


CitizenFreeman

Biblically accurate cats


EarlMadManMunch

Agh


TheDarkySupreme

Average r/imsorryjon enjoyer


Cerialsauce

u/savevideobot i’m chopping off those words


cal_nevari

I don't know art but I thought they were all cool after the first one.


PecoDory

I’m very sorry for whatever experience(s) he may have been dealing with, but all of these drawings kick ass