An Illness of the Mind That Has Been Defined as a Mental Deterioration Caused by One's Behaviour or Manner of Thinking that Causes Loss of an Equilibrium in the Brain

 32 Years Ago Today

Tuesday 13th of March 1990
Psychologist and writer Bruno Bettelheim commits suicide by asphyxiation with a plastic bag at the age of 87 in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.

His passing comes days later than his body was taken to an intensive care unit for treatment. He was 65 and had a brain transplant. The story of his death is almost as heartwrenching as it is horrifying. He had a massive brain tumor that kept him in severe pain all his life. The death of his children was a terrible loss. The young man had an extremely strong need for food and was desperate. He did not want to die. He could not cope with his illness, and in the spring of 1990, his heart stopped. His lungs were empty of oxygen. He survived by swallowing whole meals and chewing on his favorite foods, and by a very intense period of time. Although he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, he had never experienced psychosis, and had received no psychiatric treatment at all. On November 16th, 1992, he left his home in the early morning and headed to the hospital. He had no family in the hospital waiting in vain for him. Bruno Bettelheim was diagnosed with "epilepsy", an illness of the mind that has been defined as "a mental deterioration caused by one's behaviour or manner of thinking that causes loss of an equilibrium in the brain. In this manner it is known."