Early
Onset – William Kurelek
One way to differentiate between different types of schizophrenia, and there are many, is to see when the onset of the schizophrenia occurs. In most cases schizophrenia emerges in the period between adolescence and early adulthood. One of the prevailing theories is that the massive change in body chemistry associated with puberty is a trigger for the onset of schizophrenia.
William Kurelek was born March 3rd 1927 to Dmytro and Mary Kurelek on a farm near Whitford, 75 miles northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The family moved to Stonewall, where Kurelek went through school. He graduated from Isaac Newton High School in Winnipeg in 1946. It was shortly after this that his first symptoms of schizophrenia began to appear. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba, Kurelek entered the Ontario College of Art, but withdrew after the first term. He spent his summers working in bush lumber camps near Ontario and then traveled to Mexico, enrolling in the San Miguel Art School, where he stayed for two years. In June of 1952 he traveled to London England, and it was in London that he began to seek medical treatment for his disorder. For the next year and a half he became a resident, and shortly thereafter an out-patient, of Maudley Psychiatric Hopital. During this time he traveled throughout Europe. In 1953, while a patient at Maudley, Kurelek paints “The Maze,” an introspective work portraying scenes of his delusions encapsulated in compartments in a human skull. After Leaving Maudley in late 1953 and entering Netherne, another institution, Kurelek finds religion and begins painting religious works. Kurelek leaves Netherne in 1955 and travels to Turkey, Greece and Israel before returning to Canada in 1959. After his return he begins to create the 160 piece “Passion of Christ” series, bringing him critical acclaim and recognition after it’s completion in 1963. Kurelek followed up with many landscapes of Canada, characteristically showing large frozen fields and immigrant farmers. He spends the rest of his life painting and illustrating books, until he dies November 3rd 1977.
The onset of schizophrenia in Kurelek began early in his life, and his early work reflects that:
The segments of “The Maze” reflecting his early life are a combination of lonely and violent scenes. This one shows a young Kurelek sitting alone, while figures in the background either fight or play.
This picture depicts a young Kurelek getting kicked out of his home into the snow. The father figure is grossly exaggerated, becoming an ogre with a mask of hatred on his face. These portrayals of early life often have a common theme of persecution and wrongdoing, themes very symptomatic of the schizophrenia he was trying to overcome at the time.
(Left) This panel portrays Kurelek in a test tube, being examined, poked, and prodded by an endless sea of doctors. It is evident in this panel that the persecution and paranoia that he felt followed him through his younger life is very much a part of his adult life as well. The feeling that he is under constant scrutiny and examination is definitely fueled by his delusions of persecution and paranoia.
(Right) Kurelek also felt trapped, both during his institutionalization and as an out-patient. In reality it wasn’t the institution he was attempting to escape, but his disorder. Here we can see him being devoured in some kind of egg-like trap with long teeth or needles inside it, going through his body. The faces on the inside of the walls of the trap are the faces or his father; on one side smiling down at his son, on the other scowling.
In addition to delusions of persecution and
paranoia, Kurelek had somatic delusions and hallucinations. In this hallucination he had cut away all
the flesh from his left arm to see what the bones underneath had looked
like. The end of his right arm, cut off
in the photo, is holding the large carving knife with which he cut his
arm. Kurelek is standing next to a full
size map of the human skeletal system, perhaps trying to convince himself that
he is in fact real, a testament to his dwindling grip on reality.
Despite the apparent severity of his disorder Kurelek got better. Through his treatment at the institutions, the therapy he received, and possibly through his re-found strong religious beliefs, the symptoms of his schizophrenia lessened, and eventually faded almost completely. The serenity of his later work lies in stark contrast with the torment apparent in his early paintings.
While Kurelek’s lifetime is an exaggerated example, it is no less relevant. Victims of early onset schizophrenia usually suffer their greatest period in early adulthood, right after the onset of the disorder. As the patient ages, the psychopathological aspects of the disorder lessen. The hallucinations become less intense or cease to happen altogether, the delusions become less compelling and less believable. One of the biological theories hypothesizing why this happens has to do with the chemistry of the aging brain. As people age we observe a normal decline in the amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine. An overabundance of dopamine is one of the more reliable correlates to schizophrenia, so it is possible that as the dopamine content in the brain drops, the effects that it has on the body lessens and the symptoms of schizophrenia fade. However, because schizophrenia is such a debilitating disorder, very few people come out of it unscathed. The co-morbidity between schizophrenia and substance abuse is nearly 50%. By the time the symptoms of their schizophrenia have faded the victims might be suffering the ill effects of years of heavy substance abuse. Also, not all victims of schizophrenia suffer from early onset schizophrenia, a small percentage suffer from late onset schizophrenia.