I read with interest Caruncho and Fernandez postulation of Chopin
possibly having temporal lobe epilepsy, and resultant complex
hallucinations.
I was struck by a few other explanations which could account for these
bizarre phenomena. He was in a state of poor health, and could have had a
few subacute confusional state in clear consciousness.
Secondly it is not uncommon for truly gifted people such as Chopin to have
synaesthesia, a a process in which one type of stimulus produces a
secondary, subjective sensation( for example when some color evokes a
specific smell)What could be in favour of this is considering that in some
of the accounts these events happened while he was playing music.
What isn't in doubt was that these "hallucinations" did not impede him
from being one of the greatest musicians of all time.
Conflict of Interest:
Nil
I read with interest Caruncho and Fernandez postulation of Chopin possibly having temporal lobe epilepsy, and resultant complex hallucinations. I was struck by a few other explanations which could account for these bizarre phenomena. He was in a state of poor health, and could have had a few subacute confusional state in clear consciousness. Secondly it is not uncommon for truly gifted people such as Chopin to have synaesthesia, a a process in which one type of stimulus produces a secondary, subjective sensation( for example when some color evokes a specific smell)What could be in favour of this is considering that in some of the accounts these events happened while he was playing music. What isn't in doubt was that these "hallucinations" did not impede him from being one of the greatest musicians of all time.
Conflict of Interest:
Nil