The Opal Whiteley Mental Health Report

By Stephen Williamson

2006 UPDATE: Opal may have had Asperger'sSyndrome, not Schizophrenia!

I started the Opal Whiteley Memorial in 1994 to talk about subjects that are often taboo. The Memorial is MUCH bigger now. In fact, Opal's fans are more interested in Opal's "magic" than her "mental health"!  However, Opal's life and writings offer important lessons.  I know of no sadder story than Opal's nearly 50 years in England's Napsbury Hospital. Whatever sins she committed against the literary world were surely paid for by nearly a half-century of institutionalization.

Opal was mis-diagnosed with schizophrenia, however experts have also seen characteristics of almost every disorder in the book.  For example, she constantly counts things, like many people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  She had what some would call bizarre ideas, like many people with schizophrenia.  Opal was prone to long manic bursts of energy and creativity, like people with bipolar disorder.  And, anyone familiar with signs of child abuse can see recovered memories and multiple personalities in Opal's behavior.  Opal also may have had typhoid fever as a child.  It causes brain swelling and that could have effected her in several ways.

The first time I read Opal's diary I was convinced it was an open and shut case of this terrible condition. People with schizophrenia may have hallucinations and fixed ideas that seem strange to others. They have great difficulty organizing their lives. Many people who are homeless have schizophrenia. It is an very disabling condition.

In fact, most of the really bizzare statements attributed to Opal come only after years of institutionalization.  She was probably given a lobotomy in the early 1950's and there is no counting the number of pills and electroshock treatments she had.  Lobotomies were surgeries on the brain that had the goal of reducing the delusions of mental patients.  However, in about 10% of patients, the lobotomy actually caused symptoms to increase. I believe this was the case with Opal.  Plus, simply being in a mental hospital for almost 50 years is enough to make anyone crazy.

While Opal did believe she was related to the French royal family (and did over 30 years of research to try and prove it) she did not have hallucinations. In her childhood diary she often appears to be hallucinating, such as seeing fairies.  However, upon closer examination, she never talks to anything that is not real. Her "faeries" are dragonfly insects.  She also uses the word "fairy" to mean the spirit or soul.

At the beginning of the last century many people still believed in "fairies". Opal often writes about seeing "fairies" and "little people". In folklore a "fairy" is a small creature, generally with a human form. Fairies are also said to live in the everyday world such as trees, streams, flowers and hills. Opal believes the fairies bring her pencils and paper to write with.

Opal believed that all things had a living spirit - it's "fairy". In her childhood diary she writes that yellow jackets are fairies too. In her 1918 book, The Fairyland Around Us, Opal writes that her grandmother and her uncle taught her about fairies.  It is important to note that Opal NEVER writes about imaginary creatures that do not exist.  Often when she uses the word "fairy" she is writing about the soul within a living animal or plant. This is much closer to the Native American and Celtic belief system. She is not hallucinating and seeing things that are not there.

Opal presents an complex mix of psychiatric symptoms. Her behavior often is like a person who has a personality disorder (often caused by childhood abuse and neglect).  She also shows signs of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  Opal is always counting things like rocks, trees and the number of steps she takes. Opal's had few close relationships. She may have been briefly married, but that is in dispute.  While she could develop strong bonds with older adults and younger children Opal had great difficulty making friends among people her own age. This seems to have been the pattern throughout her life.  Her male relationships were almost exclusively with men old enough to be her father or grandfather and her women friends tended to be grandmotherly types.

There is one condition that appears to include each of the behaviors that Opal had.  Asperger's Syndrome.  This has only recently been recognized as a form of autism.  People with Asperger's tend to have trouble in personal relationships.  They tend have few interests or hobbies, but they can learn these to an almost genius level. Some can learn and absorb subjects they are interested in faster than "normal people".  They may count numbers , and do activities in specific steps repeatedly.

Despite these positive qualities, people with Aspergers can seem to lack empathy with others and even "common sense".  They often have superior memory skills. Opal amazed people with her ability to remember books and facts.  Opal also had a very formal way of speaking and using words, even at a young age. This is also a characteristic of people with Asperger's. Most people with Asperger's have normal or slightly above normal intelligence. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft is said to have Asperger's Syndrome. Opal was clearly a genius in her nature studies and her later obsession with learning about European nobility. In the past it was not unusual to find them institutionalized for years with nearly every psychiatric label.

Many scientists and creative artists have had this condition. There is debate over if Asperger's should be considered a mental illness and treatable or we need people with Asperger's in the genetic pool.  Some argue that it is not an brain disorder at all, but an important addition to humanity's gene pool.  It has been called the "Geek Syndrome". Opal Whiteley's writings offer us an opportunity to understand Asperger's through the eyes of a young child - with all it's gifts and limitations.

Locking Opal up in a state mental hospital only made her believe that she was someone important, a real "princess". Some of the typical treatment of the 1950's included electro-shock convulsions, powerful tranquilizer such as thorazine, ice baths where you had to lay in a bath of ice and lobotomies. Often these "treatments" failed, leaving the patient even crazier. Opal's treatments did not change her core beliefs at all. A good movie showing a Lobotomy is FRANCES, with Jessica Lange. The Cottage Grove Library now has a lovely life-sized bronze statue of Opal, donated by South Lane Mental Health. A postcard of the statue is shown on this page.

DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR ASPERGER'S   http://aspennj.org/WhatIsAS.html
NOTE: I'VE MARKED THOSE THAT FIT OPAL, ALMOST ALL DO

OPAL    * Marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as: eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and gestures.
OPAL     * Difficulty developing age-appropriate peer relationships. (AS children may be more comfortable with adults than with other children).
OPAL    * Inflexible adherence to routines and perseveration.
OPAL    * Fascination with maps, globes, and routes.
OPAL    * Superior rote memory.
OPAL     * Preoccupation with a particular subject to the exclusion of all others. amasses many related facts.
OPAL     * Difficulty judging personal space, motor clumsiness.
OPAL    * Sensitivity to the environment, loud noises, clothing and food textures, and odors.
OPAL    * Speech and language skills impaired in the area of semantics, (volume, intonation, inflection, and rhythm).
OPAL    * Difficulty understanding others’ feelings.
OPAL    * Pedantic, formal style of speaking; often called “ little professor”, verbose.
OPAL    * Extreme difficulty reading and/or interpreting social cues.
OPAL    * Socially and emotionally inappropriate responses.
OPAL    * Literal interpretation of language. difficulty comprehending implied meanings.
OPAL    * Extensive vocabulary. Reading commences at an early age (hyperlexia).
OPAL    * Stereotyped or repetitive motor mannerisms.
OPAL    * Difficulty with “give and take” of conversation.

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This page also has links to many organizations that help people with mental health issues. If you, or someone you care about has mental health needs, perhaps these links can help. The links below reflect the diversity in mental health care - treatment is better today than in Opal's time - but, we have a long way to go.

 

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