Van Gogh Syndrome: Self Amputation in 36-Year-old Schizophrenia Patient

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-310-8_9How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Van Gogh Syndrom. Schizophrenia. persecutory delusion

Abstract

Background

Psychiatric settings often encounter pathological self-mutilation cases. It has associations with many mental conditions, including psychosis, drug addiction, mood disorders, intellectual impairment, and personality disorder. A well-known case of self-mutilation is Vincent Van Gogh, a widely recognized painter in the 19th century. He severed his left ear during a psychotic episode. In the general population, it has been estimated that self-injurious conduct affects 6% of adults and 16%–18% of adolescents; however, in clinical psychiatric groups, the prevalence may reach 40%–80%. Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is “the deliberate, self-inflicted damage of body tissue without suicidal intent and for purposes not socially or culturally sanctioned”. Most NSSI patients use a variety of self-injury methods.

Case Report: The case follows a 36-year-old man with Schizophrenia and persecutory delusion who had self-mutilated his right ear for the past three months. In addition, during the last two months, the patient had a history of attempting to injure himself in multiple ways. The patient has a history of an abusive father and a family member with Schizophrenia. There is no history of medications or treatment for the patient in the past two months.

Conclusion

Self-harming behaviour is also a significant public health issue. NSSI is an occurrence that can happen repeatedly in Schizophrenia. Given the high likelihood of self-harm in psychiatric patients, comprehensive management is necessary for a better prognosis. This patient might present a unique challenge for nursing staff and psychiatrists, necessitating a customized care plan. Behavioural, pharmaceutical, and psychological interventions are necessary for these patients to receive the medical attention they need.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Dika Asrika Asrul
AU  - Cindy Chias Arthy
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/12/18
TI  - Van Gogh Syndrome: Self Amputation in 36-Year-old Schizophrenia Patient
BT  - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of Neuroscience, Neurology and Psychiatry Universitas Sumatera Utara (ICONAP 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 68
EP  - 74
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-310-8_9
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-310-8_9
ID  - Asrul2023
ER  -