Phillip K Dick - Writer, Dreamer, Scizophrenia
Find out more about Schizophrenia, Psychosis and other mental illnesses at our Public Health Information Session. 1st Session 'Brain & Psychosis' 7:00pm 2nd June 2015.
Every human should be very much concerned about their mental status and those of their loved ones as it is not a pleasant experience. Learning about your mental health is therefore very important as it could help you to detect when there are issues with your mental health or that of your loved ones as early as possible and know what to do if you should notice any of the sign of mental ill-health.
Psychosis, Schizophrenia & the Artist
Psychosis is when the mind behaves in an abnormal way especially when the individual loses contact with reality. Schizophrenia is a leading cause of psychosis. Schizophrenia is a type of mental disorder which leads to not being able to recognize what is real and leads to abnormal social behavior. Symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, delusions as well as disorganized speech and thinking. The major causes of schizophrenia include genetic (inherited from a parent), environment, developmental factors and usage of substance such as alcohol and drugs. A lot of individuals and popular figures have suffered from Schizophrenia one of which is Philip Kindred Dick.
Philip Kindred Dick was an American philosopher, essayist, short story writer and novelist. He was born six weeks premature along with his twin sister, Jane on the 16th of December 1928. They were born in Chicago to Mr. Joseph Edgar and Dorothy Kindred Dick. His twin sister later died after six weeks on the 26th of January, 1929. He attended John Eaton Elementary School in 1936 to 1938. He also attended Quaker schools. He became interested in science fiction in 1938 and read his first science fiction magazine in 1940. He graduated from Berkeley High School in California in 1947 and attended the University of California, Berkeley for a short period before he was granted an honorable dismissal on 1st of January 1950.
He believed that existence is founded on the internally-founded perception of an individual and it does not necessarily agree with external reality. He also pondered if metaphysical realms were possible after studying the works of Plato. He finally concluded that the world is not totally real and it cannot be confirmed if the world is really there or not. This conclusion is reflected in most of his novels.
'Blade Runner (1982)' adapted from Dick's novel 'Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep
He was a full time writer and sold his first story in 1951 at the age of 22. He wrote a lot of short stories and novels including Solar Lottery, the Tree Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Ubik, Flow My Tear, the Policeman Said The Philip K. Dick Reader, Valis and Self Portrait among others. Some of his stories were converted into movies. Some of such stories include Ubik, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Total Recall, Confession d’un Barjo, Screamers, minority Report, Impostor, Paycheck and A Scanner Darkly, Next, Radio Free Albemuth and The Adjustment Bureau.
Schizophrenia's impact on Phillip K Dick
The effect of Schizophrenia on Dick made him to have a series of funny belief some of which he wrote down in his later works.
While recovering from the effects of sodium pentothal on the 20th of February, 1974, a young woman made a home delivery to him. He was attracted to the young woman as well as her golden necklace. He asked about the design of the necklace which was fish shaped and she replied that it was a sign which the early Christians used. He then named the design vesicle Pisces. He believed that a reflection of the sun on the gold necklace produced a pink beam which has the ability to impart clairvoyance and wisdom. There was also a case where he encountered another pink beam which imparted to him that his son who was still a baby was ill. He immediately took the child to the hospital where the child was confirmed to be ill.
Since his encounter with the young woman, he had series of hallucinations which he initially blamed as side effects from his medication. After weeks of no improvement however, he believed he experienced an invasion in his mind which made him feel he just became sane since he was born.
He referred to his hallucination experiences in February and March of 1974 as 2-3-74. He also believed his hallucinations had geometric patterns, and that he sometimes saw brief pictures of ancient Rome and Jesus.
With time, his hallucinations begin to increase in frequency and length and be believed that he lived two different lives, one as Thomas and the other as his real self. At some point, he also felt as if the spirit of prophet Elijah taken over him and he believed an episode from ‘Flow my tears, the policeman said’ was the exact details of a story in bible from the book of Acts which he had never come across.
He won a lot of awards and died on the 17th of February 1982 after suffering a series of stroke.
Psychosis can be incredibly powerful and the complexity of the human brain has ensured that much of it still remains a mystery; however science has come a long way in the last 100 years.
Join us at 7:00PM on June 2nd 2015, at the 1st session of our Mid-Year Public Health Information Session. Clinical Director Anneke Bull, who has over 30 years’ experience in Mental Health, will provide insight into the complexities of the human brain, how psychosis affects normal people and what to do if you or someone you know has a psychotic episode.
These mid-year sessions will provide you with a detailed education about mental health and dispel many of the lingering myths you might have about mental health.
[UPDATE: Limited tickets reaming for 1st & 2nd session, please book before they are sold out]