John

Lennon: Psychopathology

You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star, Friedrich

Nietzsche beautifully summarized the idiom that great art comes from great suffering; it
is easy to identify countless artists throughout human history to fit this model, including
one of the most notable musicians of the twentieth century, John Lennon. Born during a
German blitz on London, chaos characterized much of Lennons life until his tragic
murder on December 8, 1980. An abnormal childhood marked by the heartbreaking death
of his mother and an absentee father lead to an adulthood in which Lennon struggled with
depression and substance use disorders.
Born October 9, 1940, John Lennons childhood was marked by instability; with a
young mother, Julia, unfit to care for him, and an absent father, at the age of six John was
put in the care of his aunt, Mimi Smith. Aunt Mimi provided a more structured and
conservative environment, but Johns artistic talent was marginalized and his creativity
was confined to his journals. Lennon reflected in an interview with Rolling Stone
Magazine, I was always differentA couple of teachers would notice me, encourage me
to be something or other, to draw or to paint - express myself. But most of the time they
were trying to beat me into being a f*****n' dentist or a teacher (Herbst 150). When he
reached adolescence, John began to spend more time with his mother, Julia; she
introduced him to rock n roll and bought him his first guitar. Their relationship was
closer to siblings than mother and child, but their bond grew over their shared artistic
natures. Tragically, a car struck and killed Julia as she was walking to the bus stop; John
was just seventeen. It was the worst thing that ever happened to [him] (Lewisohn); the

trauma would live with John for most of his life, and inspire many lyrics, if not, full
songs.
Lennon was never diagnosed with acute traumatic stress disorder or posttraumatic
stress disorder, but a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder would likely have been
appropriate. Lennon refused to speak to his friend who had witnessed the accident for
many months, and for the following two years he drank heavily and frequently and often
got into fights; additionally, Lennon was at a predisposition to suffer from a traumatic
stress disorder as a child of divorce and an unbalanced childhood. Later in his life,
Lennons preoccupation with Julia was evident when he wrote the song Mother with
the lyrics Mother, you had me / But I never had you / I wanted you / But you didn't want
me. The song shows the pain he felt from her initial abandonment and then her death;
certainly, Lennon carried the pain of his loss throughout his life.
The tragedy of Julias death was one attribute that lead to Lennons eventual drug
use. Drugs were easily available at an art school in the late 1950s, and Lennon was
intrigued; in 1974 he recalled the first drugs I ever took, I was still at art school, with the
group - we all took it together - was Benzedrine from the inside of an inhaler. The door
to experimentation had been kicked open; when The Beatles (unknown at the time) went
to Hamburg, Germany, Lennon was introduced to Amphetamines in the form of Preludin.
Lennon became dependent on these uppers to survive the long hours, and as soon as one
pill would wear off hed take another; furthermore, he would enjoy the synergistic effects
of combining Preludin with alcohol for an increased trip. Upon return to England, The
Beatles were introduced to cannabis; marijuana became their drug of choice, and most
days did not pass without Lennon getting high. The Beatles squeaky-clean image was

soon tarnished with rumors of drug abuse, with many critics pointing out the change in
musical style as well as fashion style. Several drug arrests later, and the four men from
Liverpool could not deny their affinity for mind-altering substances.
In 1965, LSD had entered John Lennons life, and it profoundly changed him and
his music. Cynthia Lennon, Johns first wife, recalled, when John was tripping I felt as
if I was living with a stranger. He would be distant, so spaced-out that he couldn't talk to
me coherently weeks of his first trip, John was taking LSD daily (beatlesible.com). It
was not simply a recreational luxury for John Lennon; he needed mind altering
substances to get him through the day. He believed it made his art better, but it tore him
from his family and eventually helped to drive a wedge between The Beatles. Many
people associate Yoko Ono with the disbanding of The Beatles, but John Lennons
psychological state had steadily declined, aided by his drug use and pressures of fame.
John and Yoko were slightly eccentric personalities and lovers of art; through
their relationship, Lennon was exposed to new styles of creativity and new philosophies.
Notably, Lennon received a copy of Arthur Janovs The Primal Scream: Primal Therapy,
the Cure for Neurosis. Based in the psychodynamic perspective, Janov theorized that
maladaptive behaviors are routed in childhood traumas and proposed primal scream
therapy as a tool to face the pain previously experienced.
[Janov suggested]Adults who had been denied the childs basic, crying
need for love, security, an attention tended to blot out the memory, finding
apparent consolation the sweets of adulthood-fame, wealth, or sex. But as
long as those long0ago, unfulfilled needs were suppressed, their behavior
remained essentially unreal and thus prone to neurosis in every form.
Primal scream therapy was designed to break down the force of years of
compressed feelings and denied needs by [articulating childhood pain] as
primally as babies do and so finally be cleansed of [the pain]
(Norman 639)

Lennon eagerly began treatment with Janov at Lennons home. Later, Janov would report
that he was profoundly shocked at the state of Johns mental health and the amount of
pain he carried. Janovs therapy with Lennon looked more like psychoanalysis, because
John claimed he did not know how to scream; through probing questions and long
conversational sessions, Lennon faced the pain of his youth. For the first time, he felt the
pain caused by his fathers abandonment, his mothers death, the death of several close
friends, his religious confusion, among many other things. Lennon later said, [this
therapy] is excruciating Its like somewhere along the line, we were switched off not to
feel things This therapy gives you back the switch. (Norman 640) Though Janovs
theory and the primal scream therapy lack experimental support, and have been criticized
by many in the psychology field, the therapy was effective for at least on patient. Lennon
eventually found enough inner peace outside of his fame that he became an introverted,
stay-at-home dad.
Sadly, on December 8, 1980 Mark David Chapman murdered the forty-year-old
Lennon. The long-term effects of his childhood instability and trauma, his substance
abuse disorder, and his psychodynamic therapy will remain a mystery. His life was cut
short, but his impact on the world was greater than most; unfortunately, it seems that
many of Lennons incredible songs came from a place of incredible pain. Artist and
geniuses often face psychological turmoil, and John Lennon was no different. Perhaps,
one-day psychologists will be able to explain why powerful art comes from profound
pain.

Bibliography
@beatlesbible. "The Beatles and Drugs." The Beatles Bible. N.p., n.d. Web. Accessed 19
Nov. 2016.

Stone, Rolling. "100 Greatest Singers of All Time." Rolling Stone. N.p., 02 Dec. 2010.
Web. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
Herbst, Peter. The Rolling Stone Interviews 1967-1980: Talking with the Legends of Rock
& Roll 1967-1980. London: Rolling Stone, 1981. Print.
Lewisohn, Mark. "How John Lennon Buried His Mother in Song." Newsweek.
Newsweek, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.
Norman, Philip. John Lennon: The Life. New York: Ecco, 2008. Print.
Sheff, David. "50 Years of the Playboy Interview: John Lennon and Yoko
Ono." Playboy. Playboy.com, 24 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.