Did Poe Have Epilepsy?

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity Episode 441 - Did Poe Have Epilepsy?

As many of you know, I used to work at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond Virginia - my favorite room in the entire museum, and one of my favorite places in the entire world, is the Virginia Poe room name for the mother of Edgar Allan Poe.  Now this building contains  an excellent collection of the writers works - original editions of everything from Hans Pfall - for obvious reasons, the museum takes stringent security measures - security concerns and actions which I don't even begin to understand - nor would I want to.  The reason that I am talking about this collection is that it was given to the museum by a Dr.  John Robertson - he not only had deep pockets, but was a neurologist - a brain doctor - and a genuine expert on the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote a huge book about Poe’s life - especially from from a neurological standpoint - and in the following episodes I would like to address some of his findings regarding America’s Shakespeare - especially where Dr. John Robertson connected his medical expertise to his passion for Poe's works.  And a look at Dr. Robertson's findings are especially relevant when looking at any possible connection of Edgar Allan Poe and seizure disorders.

As mentioned before, Dr. John W. Robertson's (1856-1934) was a neurologist and author who was a prominent Poe collector. His collection of Poe's works and memorabilia was substantial and is noted to have included original manuscripts and rare editions. He was a benefactor of the Poe Museum in Richmond and is also listed as having placed a plaque at a cemetery with the museum's founder, James H. Whitty. This deep interest in Poe's life and his writings went beyond simple collection; it fueled his professional endeavors.

Transcript

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity Episode 441 - Did Poe Have Epilepsy?

As many of you know, I used to work at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond Virginia - my favorite room in the entire museum, and one of my favorite places in the entire world, is the Virginia Poe room name for the mother of Edgar Allan Poe.  Now this building contains  an excellent collection of the writers works - original editions of everything from Hans Pfall - for obvious reasons, the museum takes stringent security measures - security concerns and actions which I don't even begin to understand - nor would I want to.  The reason that I am talking about this collection is that it was given to the museum by a Dr.  John Robertson - he not only had deep pockets, but was a neurologist - a brain doctor - and a genuine expert on the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote a huge book about Poe’s life - especially from from a neurological standpoint - and in the following episodes I would like to address some of his findings regarding America’s Shakespeare - especially where Dr. John Robertson connected his medical expertise to his passion for Poe's works.  And a look at Dr. Robertson's findings are especially relevant when looking at any possible connection of Edgar Allan Poe and seizure disorders.

As mentioned before, Dr. John W. Robertson's (1856-1934) was a neurologist and author who was a prominent Poe collector. His collection of Poe's works and memorabilia was substantial and is noted to have included original manuscripts and rare editions. He was a benefactor of the Poe Museum in Richmond and is also listed as having placed a plaque at a cemetery with the museum's founder, James H. Whitty. This deep interest in Poe's life and his writings went beyond simple collection; it fueled his professional endeavors.

Robertson's most famous work is his 1921 book, "Edgar A. Poe: A Study." In this study, he used his background as a neurologist to argue that Poe's behavior, often attributed to alcoholism and moral failings, was in fact caused by complex partial seizures. He analyzed historical accounts of Poe's "spells" and "fits" and reinterpreted them as symptoms of a neurological condition that was not well-understood in the 19th century. Robertson's work was a pioneering example of applying a medical perspective to a literary figure, offering a more empathetic and clinical explanation for Poe's tormented life.
Now the value of rare first editions, especially those of a foundational literary figure like Poe, was significant even in the early 20th century. A successful neurologist and author, Dr. Robertson had the financial means to pursue his passion for collecting.

And in the early 1900s, rare book collecting was a popular and lucrative hobby for the wealthy elite. First editions of authors like Poe were highly sought after, and their value had already begun to climb. A single first edition of "Tamerlane and Other Poems" (1827), for example, was an incredibly rare and valuable item, with only a few known copies in existence. Acquiring a collection that included not only this, but also other first editions, original manuscripts, and letters would have required considerable financial resources.

As a prominent neurologist, Dr. Robertson would have been a high-earning professional. In the early 20th century, the medical field was a very profitable career path, and specialists like neurologists were particularly well-compensated. This profession would have provided him with the necessary income to build and maintain his extensive and valuable collection of Poeana, making him a major figure in the world of rare books and manuscripts.

The next part of this podcast episode it's where things become a little bit shadowy - the rumored connection between the master of the Macabre,  
Edgar Allan Poe, and the neurological condition known as epilepsy.

For centuries, epilepsy, often called the "falling sickness," has been shrouded in mystery and misinterpretation. Even today, despite significant medical advancements, a certain stigma can still cling to the condition. In Poe's time, the understanding was even more rudimentary, often intertwined with superstition and fear. This makes definitively stating whether Poe experienced epileptic seizures a challenging endeavor.

Unlike some other literary giants, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, whose struggles with epilepsy are well-documented through personal letters and eyewitness accounts - and even vivid descriptions of epileptic seizures in their works - the evidence for Poe is largely anecdotal and inferential. We lack the direct, unequivocal proof that would satisfy modern medical diagnosis. There are no detailed medical records explicitly stating Poe suffered from seizures. His contemporaries, while often commenting on his erratic behavior and periods of illness, don't offer concrete descriptions of what we would recognize today as epileptic events.

However, the whispers and suggestions persist. Several biographical accounts and analyses of Poe's life and writings have pointed to the possibility. Some biographers have noted periods of Poe's life characterized by intense physical and emotional distress, collapses, and altered states of consciousness. These episodes, coupled with the dramatic and often unsettling nature of his literary themes, have led some to speculate about a neurological basis.

Consider the vivid and visceral descriptions within Poe's work. His tales often plunge into the depths of human psychology, exploring themes of madness, altered perception, and the fragility of the human mind. Stories such as "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Pit and the Pendulum" are rife with intense sensory details and a heightened sense of dread. Could these reflect, in some way, the internal experiences of someone grappling with neurological disturbances? It's a compelling thought, though it remains firmly in the realm of interpretation.

Furthermore, Poe's well-documented struggles with alcohol abuse have often been cited as a potential trigger for seizures in individuals predisposed to the condition. While alcoholism itself does not cause epilepsy, it can lower the seizure threshold, making seizures more likely in those with an underlying neurological vulnerability. Poe's tumultuous life, marked by periods of intense creativity followed by bouts of despair and self-destructive behavior, could have exacerbated any potential neurological predisposition.

It's crucial to emphasize that drawing a definitive link between Poe's literary themes and a potential epileptic condition is speculative. However, exploring the possibility allows us to consider Poe's life and work through a different lens, one that acknowledges the potential impact of physical and neurological factors on his experiences and his art.

So, while we can't definitively add Edgar Allan Poe to the list of writers with confirmed epilepsy in the same way we can with Dostoevsky or Gustave Flaubert - writers who I will be delving into in the next few weeks - the historical anecdotes and interpretations of Poe;’s life and work leave a lingering question. Did the "master of the macabre" also grapple with the "falling sickness"? The evidence remains elusive, lost to the mists of time. Yet, the very possibility serves as a reminder of the complex interplay between the mind, the body, and the enduring power of literary expression, even in the face of potential personal struggles.

And while we don't have definitive, clinical diagnoses of epilepsy in Poe's works, he masterfully uses language that evokes the experience of seizures and seizure-like states, often referred to as "catalepsy" or a "trance." These passages are crucial to understanding the psychological and physical horrors that permeate his writing.

Here are sections from threeof Poe's works where characters have experiences that can be interpreted as epileptic or seizure-like:

1. The Fall of the House of Usher
Lady Madeline Usher, Roderick's twin sister, is afflicted with a mysterious illness that has "a cataleptical character." Many critics believe that her disease is central to the story's horror.

"A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent partial affections of a cataleptical character, were the unusual symptoms of the malady of the Lady Madeline Usher."

Later in the story, the narrator describes an episode that is highly reminiscent of a seizure. The language is both psychological and physical, blurring the lines between mental anguish and bodily torment.

"A feeling, for which I have no name, a feeling which I could not shake off, came over me when I saw him thus. It was no longer the old familiar look, but an expression of agony, and of a kind of terror; it was, in short, the look of a man who, having been for a long time on the rack, is at last released from the torture, and at the same moment struck with the paralysis of a fit."

While this description is of Roderick's psychological state, the use of "paralysis of a fit" directly invokes the physical symptoms of a seizure, linking his mental breakdown to a physical, almost convulsive, event.

2. Berenice
In Berenice, the narrator, Egaeus, is consumed by a monomaniacal obsession with his cousin Berenice's teeth. The story is rife with descriptions of his mental and physical lapses, which read like complex partial seizures.

The eyes were lifeless, and lustreless, and seemingly pupil-less, and I shrank involuntarily from their glassy stare to the contemplation of the thin and shrunken lips. They parted; and in a smile of peculiar meaning, the teeth of the changed Berenice disclosed themselves slowly to my view. Would to God that I had never beheld them, or that, having done so, I had died!

And 

"The attention of my soul was now, as in a fit, riveted by the teeth. I could not, for the life of me, comprehend a single word she uttered, but I saw her teeth, and I saw her teeth only."

The phrase "as in a fit" is a direct parallel to a seizure. The fixed, obsessive gaze on a single object (Berenice's teeth), and the inability to comprehend or respond to external stimuli, are classic symptoms of a focal or complex partial seizure. He enters a state of automatism, where his consciousness is altered, and his actions are involuntary and without clear purpose.

3. The Black Cat
While not a full-blown seizure, the narrator's actions in The Black Cat are often described as being in a state of a "fit" or a sudden, uncontrollable rage that seems to take over his body. This suggests a post-ictal state (the period immediately following a seizure) or a psychomotor seizure where violence or bizarre behavior can occur.

"I took a pen-knife from my waistcoat-pocket, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket! I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity."

The narrator describes this act of violence as a sudden, almost involuntary outburst, a departure from his former self. He blames his actions on a "fiend" of alcohol, but the sudden, aphasic rage and the subsequent lack of memory or understanding of his own actions can be seen through a neurological lens. His consciousness is split, and he feels he is no longer himself. This state, characterized by "rage beyond reason," is a common feature in accounts of temporal lobe epilepsy.

4. And last, but far from the least of examples is the “pit and the pendulum.”
The story is saturated with language and imagery that vividly describes seizure-like experiences, particularly the sensation of a "seizure" of consciousness and the terrifying transition from a state of awareness to a state of complete oblivion.

This next passage is rather lengthy, but stay with me and I think you will see Edgar Allan Poe could manipulate the senses of the reader as he describes what appears to be his mysterious judges -

I saw that the decrees of what to me was Fate, were still issuing from those lips. I saw them writhe with a deadly locution. I saw them fashion the syllables of my name; and I shuddered because no sound succeeded. I saw, too, for a few moments of delirious horror, the soft and nearly imperceptible waving of the sable draperies which enwrapped the walls of the apartment. And then my vision fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table. At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white and slender angels who would save me; but then, all at once, there came a most deadly nausea over my spirit, and I felt every fibre in my frame thrill as if I had touched the wire of a galvanic battery, while the angel forms became meaningless spectres, with heads of flame, and I saw that from them there would be no help. And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave. The thought came gently and stealthily, and it seemed long before it attained full appreciation; but just as my spirit came at length properly to feel and entertain it, the figures of the judges vanished, as if magically, from before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades. Then silence, and stillness, night were the universe.

Now, this entire narrative - or whatever you wanna call it - is built on the foundation of the narrator's fragmented and disoriented consciousness. The story begins with a description of his mental state as he is being sentenced by the Inquisition. This moment is perhaps the most powerful example of a seizure-like event in the story.

Here is a key passage:

"I saw the lips of the black-robed judges. They appeared to me white—whiter than the sheet upon which I trace these words—and thin even to grotesqueness; a thinness which gave them a sinister expression... And then there stole upon me a sense of the ghastly and the vague; and then a feeling of unutterable horror, of which I could form no idea, seemed to enwrap me as in a shroud. And then... a sudden shriek, like that of a bird of prey, echoed through my brain; and then a feeling of utter darkness, and then, and then... a feeling of a sudden rush of blood to my head, and then... a feeling of an icy coldness... and then... a feeling of a sudden flash of light, and then..."

Let's break down this passage to show how it can be interpreted as a seizure or an aura:

Aura (Pre-Seizure Sensation): The narrator experiences a series of sensory and emotional changes that are characteristic of auras before a seizure. He sees the judges' lips as "whiter than the sheet" and a "sinister expression." This is a perceptual distortion, a common feature of auras.

Psychic and Emotional Changes: The feeling of "unutterable horror" and being "enwrapped as in a shroud" are classic symptoms of an emotional aura, often described as a sudden, overwhelming sense of dread or fear.

Auditory Hallucinations: The "sudden shriek, like that of a bird of prey, echoed through my brain" is a clear auditory hallucination, another frequent symptom of a complex partial seizure originating in the temporal lobe.

Physical Sensations: The "sudden rush of blood to my head," "icy coldness," and "sudden flash of light" are all vivid descriptions of physical sensations that precede or occur during a seizure. The rush of blood could be a feeling of a flush or an intense pounding, and the light could be a visual hallucination.

Loss of Consciousness and Memory: The series of "and thens" with fragmented sensations and the ultimate descent into "utter darkness" perfectly mirrors the experience of losing consciousness during a tonic-clonic seizure. The narrator's consciousness is broken and disjointed, and he is unable to form a coherent memory of the event, which is typical of a post-ictal state (the period after a seizure).

The rest of the story, with its focus on the narrator's disoriented state, his fragmented memories of the dungeon, and his struggle to regain his senses, can be seen as a prolonged post-ictal state. He is constantly confused about his location, the passage of time, and the true nature of his surroundings, which are common post-seizure symptoms.

So, while "The Pit and the Pendulum" doesn't have a character explicitly defined as epileptic, Poe uses the physical and psychological experience of a seizure—the aura, the loss of consciousness, and the post-ictal disorientation—as the very framework for the story's descent into horror. It is a powerful literary device that allows the reader to experience the madness and terror of the situation not just from a psychological perspective, but from a neurological one as well.

At the same time, the issue or fact that many times there might have been that appeared to be an episodic episode mixed with substance abuse - even today that appeared to be an epileptic episode - and how today this is quite a problem in society because of individuals who are having bona fide medical epileptic seizures, and their actions are taken by the police as public drunkenness.  The effects of certain drugs and alcohol can mimic, trigger, or be confused with epileptic seizures, leading to dangerous misdiagnoses and stigmatization. Many of Edgar Poe’s out of control actions - especially near the end of his life - could've been caused by a mixture of substance abuse and a physical episode.

Now the intersection of substance abuse and seizures is a significant issue, both in Poe's time and today. In Poe's era, the understanding of both epilepsy and addiction was rudimentary. Poe's well-documented struggles with alcohol were often linked to his erratic behavior, which some biographers have speculated included seizure-like episodes. Alcohol withdrawal can indeed cause seizures in individuals who are not epileptic. A person in a state of delirium tremens (DTs), a severe form of alcohol withdrawal, may experience intense tremors, hallucinations, and convulsions that can easily be mistaken for an epileptic seizure.

Because of this, it is difficult to definitively prove whether Poe had epilepsy or if his episodes were purely a result of substance abuse and withdrawal. The medical community at the time lacked the tools and knowledge to differentiate between these conditions, and public perception often conflated the two, viewing both as a moral failing rather than a medical condition.

Modern Society and Misdiagnosis
Today, this problem persists. First responders, medical professionals, and the general public can mistake a genuine epileptic seizure for public drunkenness, drug overdose, or other substance-related issues. This is a serious problem for several reasons:

Delayed or Incorrect Medical Care: 
If a person is having a seizure but is assumed to be under the influence, they may not receive the prompt medical attention they need. Misdiagnosis can lead to incorrect treatment or, in some cases, no treatment at all.

Stigmatization and Legal Consequences: Individuals having a seizure in public might be treated with disdain or arrested for public intoxication. This can lead to legal issues, fines, or even jail time, and further reinforces the social stigma around both addiction and epilepsy.

Safety Risks: A person having a tonic-clonic seizure may be in a vulnerable position. If they are assumed to be drunk, bystanders may not take the necessary precautions to ensure their safety, such as moving them away from traffic or sharp objects.

Overlapping Symptoms: The symptoms of a seizure can sometimes overlap with those of drug or alcohol intoxication. Both can cause slurred speech, disorientation, uncoordinated movements, and confusion. This makes it challenging for even trained professionals to make a correct diagnosis without a full medical history or an eyewitness account of the event.

While substance abuse can lower the seizure threshold in people with epilepsy, it's crucial to understand that many people with epilepsy do not use drugs or alcohol. The conflation of the two issues continues to harm those with bona fide medical conditions and highlights the ongoing need for public education and proper training for emergency responders.

Sources include the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe, and Edgar A Poe: A Study by John W Robertson MD

Join celebrate creativity for episode 442 -  Symbols - for a continuation of a look at Edgar Allan Poe possible seizure disorder,

Thank you for listening to celebrate creativity.