- How are you feeling?
... Well. - How long have you been here? ... Three months. May 17th. - And what brought you here? ... That's difficult to answer. - Could you give me some idea? ... Off hand, I can't. - Whose idea was it that you come here? ... My psychiatrist. - And what happened that ended up with your being here in the hospital? ... The psychiatrist decided. That this was the situation for me. - Did he tell you why? ... No, the psychiatrist did not. - Has anybody told you why? No.
- Have you any idea why? Yes. - And what is that? I am not completely like... other people. - What do you mean by that? People dislike me because. I am not completely like them. - And in what way are you different? I am trying to do with my life something which... few people try to do. And... this influences my thinking. And consequently my actions. - What is it you're trying to do with your life? ... Play the piano for people. - I am not clear at... - How is it that playing the piano for people has eventually resulted in your being here in the hospital? ... I sit differently. When I play the piano. And when I am away from the piano I occasionally look differently. From other people. And this has caused. Dislike. From people. - They dislike you because you sit differently at the piano? ... Yes. - In what way do you sit at the piano that people would dislike you? ... I cannot describe. An illustration. Of how I sit. - And I can't imagine it, that it would make people angry at you, or at least dislike you. - How do you know they dislike you? ... My father does. And. Doctors do. Because. Of the way. I appear. In relationship to the way I sit at the piano. And occasionally stand when I am away from the piano because of the way I sit at the piano. - How do you stand when you're away from the piano that they dislike you? ... I can't describe. An illustration. - Does it "feel" to you any different from the way other people stand? ... Yes it feels different. - In what way? It... this is becoming too involved to describe. - Would I be right in assuming then that... - you don't feel that you belong in the hospital, - but that other people did feel that? ... As soon as I express the belief that I do not belong in this hospital, which is a mental hospital, then... those who dislike me want to find a worse place for me. - I'm not sure I understand. Could you make that clearer for me? ... No. - Is this a way of... ... A hosp---Yes, I can. As soon as I express the belief that I do not belong in this mental hospital, then those who dislike me want to find a hospital where the living conditions are not as good as this. - But why are you in the hospital in the first place? I'm not clear. ... Because I am working to do something in my life which most people do not do... This influences my thinking. And occasionally my actions. And... A psychiatrist has noticed this. And dislikes...
- What has he noticed? ... the actions, and... the thinking, and has decided that I should be here. To change them. - What actions? ... How I talk. And how I look. Right at this moment. - And how would you describe the way you're talking and looking right at this moment? ... As other people talk, and that this moment however I've been told that it is not the way other people talk and look. - Have you any idea in what way it's not like others? ... No because I believe it IS as other people talk. - So then from YOUR point of view, not from other people's point of view, from YOUR point of view, - You look, you talk, you think, you behave... as other people do. - You're very interested in learning to play the piano. - You sit at the piano a little differently from the way someone else might and you stand somewhat differently. ... Occasionally I stand differently. - Now that, uh... in itself, doesn't seem on the surface to be sufficient reason for being in a hospital. - So what other reasons have been given to you, or what other reasons do you understand are the causes of your being here? ... I'm supposed to not. Be mentally well. - And what's supposed to be wrong with you? ... No doctor has told me. - That's hard to believe. ... I tell the truth. What are your plans? If things should go well, and you were to leave the hospital, then what? ... I need financial help from my father to prepare. Me. For obtaining a job. As a piano instructor. At a university. Where I will be able to teach. People how to play the piano. And also play the piano. For people. - Have you had the training yet to permit you to be an instructor? No I have not.
- Have you tried? I don't understand what you mean by the...
- Have you tried to get the instruction? ... Yes I have tried.
- And what's happened? ... I have not had. The correct environment. For the instruction. Nor the correct financial help for the instruction. Nor... the correct instruction. - Have you been accepted for such instruction? ... By some teachers. Yes. - And... by others no? Yes. Again.
- Mhm. It has been about half and half. - Have you started any such instruction with those who did approve of it? ... Yes.
- And how has it gone? ... With some it has gone well. With some it has not gone well.
So I didn’t really know what it meant to be a catatonic schizophrenic and while watching this I was waiting for some story to be told that shows or explains what it means, but that didn’t really come so I looked it up.
Basically being catatonic means you have a slew of strange or unnatural psychomotor tendencies. This include adopting strange posturing, being in a stupor (no psychomotor activity or interacting with the environment), mutism (very limited responses), something called wavy flexibility (if a doctor raises their arm, it will stay there until lowered), and some other symptoms which aren’t as relevant here.
So if you notice, he never moves anything but his eyes and lips. Sometimes he moves his neck, but not really. This also explains why he keeps saying he’s here because he sits at the piano weirdly and sometimes stands differently. It also explains why his answers were so terse, as if he were under investigation and wanted to say as little as possible.
And this is a bit of a guess, but his hands are really weirdly intertwined. I’m not sure if he sat down and placed them that way or what, but since this looks like it was filmed during the 50’s, I’d say it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility that a doctor placed them that way to show the wavy flexibility part of catatonia. That’s a huge guess on my part though, however I think it’s notable that he doesn’t change the position of his hands throughout the entire interview.
I felt a lot of empathy for this man bc it seems like he has a lot of self-awareness about the fact that he is different but doesn't understand how or why. I didn't see anything mean or malicious or legitimately threatening in any way. Just a bit off. It's a shame that he needed to be hidden away from society. The only thing is how shiny his face is. What is that?
The long pauses between answering plus eye movements its like he was checking every possible answer. Then coming out with something quite flat and restricted.
I wonder where this man is now, and what happened to him after this interview.
The questions asked are like a goldmine of sample fodder!
edit: this man is incredibly self-aware, and I hope he was safe in that hospital
Here is another interview with a Catatonic Schizofrenic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4F_KCia5ko
I wonder if he can even play the piano. I hope he is doing okay if he is still around.
I work with bonafide schizophrenics of all varieties. Paranoid, mixed, psychotic, catatonic, etc
This fella ain’t catatonic. He’s also as lucid and articulate as you or I. In 1961 the first DSM was still in use from 1952-1968. So the criteria for diagnosis was likely less robust than today. Let’s also recall that in 1961 homosexuality was considered a mental disease. Which will give an indication of how immature psychiatry was then.
If Monk can be schizophrenic and play, so can this dude.
Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders
Really love this. Fascinating. Do you have more from the same or similar source?