This is a painting that i did a long time ago. It’s just collecting dust in one of my bedroom cabinets. I used to be a huge fan of Monroe. I still am sort of a fan, but I sold off all of the books I had about her. She was schizo something, but it wasn’t schizophrenia. Sorry it’s off center. The painting is much bigger than my scanner.
I don’t remember her exact diagnosis, but it was on the schizophrenia spectrum. Yes, she had to take care of her mother–she had her in a nice institution. She herself was hospitalized, but then Joe Dimaggio got her out. I think all of the fame, with the unkind things people had to say about her, like that she was a bimbo, etc. only exacerbated her illness. I don’t know if she would have been driven over the edge otherwise. She was actually quite intelligent. She had to be to have the career that she had. And she was quite well read. She dropped out of school when she was almost sixteen, and that, I think, haunted her. A lot of people only judge by the degrees.
Whoa…I thought your flower mural was good! Didn’t know you could do portraits too…awesome!
borderline personality disorder was suspected but not SZ… her Mom had Sz…
She mentions this site here, this is a good answer…
None of her psychiatrists (Dr. Hohenberg, Dr. Kris, or Dr. Greenson) ever diagnosed her as schizophrenic.
Although there is a genetic component to schizophrenia, Marilyn did not exhibit the symptoms of it. These include: Hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder and putting together strings of meaningless words, lack of emotion, and other seemingly inappropriate or odd behavior. {Mayo Clinic}. Someone certainly would have made note of her having hallucinations or delusions, yet there is no record of that. She appeared to be cognizant and aware, and certainly can not be accused of lack of emotion. The probability of developing schizophrenia if one parent has it is only about 10%. Schizophrenia.com, a leading compendium of psychiatric specialists in schizophrenia, states: “While a person may have some of the genes that are associated with increased risk of mental illness, research suggests that only if a person is exposed to specific environmental factors and perceived stresses do the genes become active and thereby further increase the risk for, or trigger, the illness. There is no specific amount of genetic or environmental input that has been identified that will ensure that someone will or will not develop schizophrenia.”
She did NOT have schizophrenia.
Source:
Marilyn Monroe historian/investigative writer. Studied her for 18 years, own over 90 books about her, have been featured in two books about her myself, and personally know people authors who have written about
She was so much more than that, though. She was a person who experienced a lot of difficulty in her life. She was a brilliant actress and comedian. Those photos from Playboy’s first issue were from when she was a struggling actress and had to pay the bills somehow. She did a Playboy shoot later, but she was just more cutting edge than a lot of actresses. She was more at home with her sexuality. Bottom line is that she did much more than Playboy.
One of my favorite quotes from her:
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it is better to absolutely ridiculus than absolutely boring.”
I don’t think she had SZ, but since her mom had it, she may have had schizotypal PD or traits similar since it runs in families. I read she didn’t have many friends, was pretty eccentric and original.