Does Schizoaffective Disorder explain the mental illnesses of Robert Schumann and Vincent Van Gogh?

The geniuses Robert Schumann and Vincent Van Gogh show striking similarities both in the longitudinal nature of the progression of their illnesses, and the symptoms they experienced. There have been physiological explanations posed for both men, including Meniere's disease, tertiary syphilis, acute intermittent porphyria, terpenoid and lead poisoning, intracranial masses, temporal lobe epilepsy and dementia caused by vascular hypertension. The evidence for these physiological explanations is assessed. Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder have also both been postulated to explain the symptoms of the two men, but neither man perfectly fits the diagnostic criteria for either. Schizoaffective disorder is a term used to describe patients who experience symptoms from both the psychosis of Schizophrenia and the mood disorders of Bipolar disorder. This paper aims to explain why Schizoaffective disorder explains the symptomology of these men better than either Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorder does alone. Schizoaffective disorder, however, did not exist as a diagnosis when Van Gogh and Schumann were alive, and so was not considered by their physicians.