Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: Discussing the psychiatric diagnosis of Alberto Santos-Dumont, considered in Brazil to be the inventor of the airplane, who was admitted to psychiatric institutions several times and committed suicide. Methods: A narrative review was carried out on the psychopathological manifestations he presented, based on some of the most important biographies about the aviator. No scientific article on the topic was found. Results: Depressive episodes were well characterized. Behavioral changes that suggest manic episodes have also been reported. Conclusion: He probably suffered from bipolar disorder.
Highlights
Alberto Santos-Dumont (ASD) is one of the great national heroes of Brazil
ASD’s behavioral changes were attributed exclusively to a neurological disease, multiple sclerosis, and his depression was seen as a mere emotional reaction to the use of the airplane as a weapon in the First World War and the Constitutionalist Revolution of the Brazil[3]
The chronology of the ASD clinical case is summarized in table 1
Summary
Alberto Santos-Dumont (ASD) is one of the great national heroes of Brazil. In this country, he is considered the inventor of the airplane, a merit that, in the rest of the world, is attributed to the Wright brothers, from the United States[1]. The history of ASD’s mental illness is little known, and much information about it, deliberately or not, has been distorted. When he killed himself, a fake was mounted, and the coroner, on the death certificate, fraudulently, pointed out “cardiac collapse” as the cause of death[2]. ASD’s behavioral changes were attributed exclusively to a neurological disease, multiple sclerosis, and his depression was seen as a mere emotional reaction to the use of the airplane as a weapon in the First World War and the Constitutionalist Revolution of the Brazil[3]
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