PHILOSOPHICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE EXPERIENCE OF EXPERIENCING MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE LIFE AND WORK OF UKRAINIAN WRITERS (USING THE EXAMPLE OF M. GOGOL AND I. FRANKO)

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . The article analyzes the manifestations of mental illness in the life and work of Ukrainian writers M. Gogol and I. Franko. It is noted that mental illnesses have existed as long as humanity, but only with the development of psychology and psychiatry were they officially recognized. Literary, historical and medical evidence demonstrate that traumatic experiences are a universal part of human experience, and scientific research allows us to better understand and treat this condition.

M e t h o d s . The study used a system of general scientific research methods, namely theoretical ones: analysis, generalization, systematization and interpretation of scientific sources. A historical-philosophical comparison and a comparative approach were applied. The source base was the texts of I. Franko, M. Gogol and their modern interpretations

R e s u l t s . It is highlighted that in the memoirs of contemporaries and in the correspondence of I. Franko, signs of deep depression, psychosis, paranoid states, presumably – schizophrenic spectrum are traced (this term is used only retrospectively, as a scientific hypothesis). It is indicated that M. Gogol has signs of circular schizophrenia, as evidenced by the absence of full-fledged light intervals between almost annual affective phases, distinct changes in personality and the nature of creativity, the gradual loss of creative spontaneity and cheerful humor inherent in the early period.

C o n c l u s i o n s . It is noted that both I. Franko and M. Gogol had certain signs of mental illness, although in I. Franko these were rather depressive states or feelings of despair, and in Gogol, manifestations of circular schizophrenia. Attention is focused on the fact that manifestations of mental illness did not prevent the above-mentioned Ukrainian writers from creating a number of brilliant works and becoming classics of Ukrainian and world literature.