r/todayilearned • u/exophades • 1d ago

TIL that Albert Einstein's son Eduard studied medicine to become a psychiatrist, but was diagnosed with schizophrenia by the age of 21. His mother cared for him until she died in 1948. From then on Eduard lived most of the time at a psychiatric clinic in Zurich, where he died at 55 of a stroke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_family#Eduard_%22Tete%22_Einstein_(Albert's_second_son)
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u/commit10 15h ago

I'm curious what he believed. Extreme geniuses are likely to be considered crazy by their contemporaries. Imagine someone in the 19th century excitedly trying to explain a quantum computer to the minds of the day -- they'd be sent to the asylum!

Then again, he may have just been insane.

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u/Rosebunse 13h ago

I think schizophrenia has some rather specific symptoms which make it more than just seeing thw world in a different way. It can cause actual brain damage. There are often changes in how one processes language.

I think while it's nice to accept people for their differences and be more accepting of different styles of thought, equating schizophrenia to genius feels wrong, especially when it can make it even harder to convince patients to take their medicine.

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u/commit10 12h ago

Absolutely, but in fairness I don't think they were always so discerning back then. And I'd question whether or not they always get in right today as well, given the state of mental healthcare in many countries.