Sick pioneers
“It all began in the early 1920s in Vienna. Wilhelm Reich was not only a young student of Freud's... But the father of psychoanalysis himself called him: 'Der beste Kopfe.' 'The best mind in psychoanalysis.' His ideas were so brilliant that already at the age of 22 – well before finishing his studies – Freud introduced him to work as a Psychoanalyst.”
This pops up in my feed (an ad for something called “Metameric massage”). I don't know much about Wilhelm Reich, hardly anything at all, other than that he somehow derailed in his career.
But I'm starting to think about the genius and madness thing. Was recently reminded of another such freethinker-pioneer, RD Laing, who also derailed, disappeared & whose work and ideas had long been left in the psychiatric-therapeutic freezer. But as it is taught again today.
Yes, Madness and Genius, how they go together. I think that something that many of the pioneers, the founders of schools, in the world of psychology (I stick to this one) had in common, is that they were troubled souls. “Cross-border.” But what lies beneath this? What does their anxiety or desire to cross boundaries come from?
I think it often has to do with the early upbringing, really a kind of lack or imbalance, actually. How to get along with mom or dad (or the equivalent), simply put. Fairly harmonious individuals, who early (psychologically) found their place in the world, rarely have what it takes. They rarely have that itch to take revenge or leave their mark on the world, to rebel against establishment & authorities. The deep experience that you have something unique to bring, something that you obviously need to manifest.
Thus, that it is actually a blemish, a developmental psychological deficiency in those who push on. They can achieve great things, find truths, make important contributions, but fundamentally or in some respects, at least in the beginning, they are "sicker" than average.