IV. Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck
Appearance & behavior: we see a well-groomed old Englishman with the appearance of a 78-year-old (conforms to his biological age). He has white/grey hair, he wears a suit with a tie and a hat. He carries a golden handled walking stick. His posture is gentile and he walks with soft footsteps. The man makes friendly eye contact and he is cooperative in contact. His appearance evokes a feeling of sympathy. The psychomotor activity is slow. The level of arousal is melancholic. The facial expression is peaceful. Hallucinatory behavior is not observed. Speech: the rate of speech is slow and the quantity normal. The tone of speech is adequately modulating. The volume is soft but starts to be louder when he talks excitedly about his grandchildren and the things that he wants to do in life. His way of speaking is fluent with a clear rhythm. Sometimes he is a bit unclear in his articulation. Mood and affect: the mood is neutral (peaceful) with an adequate modulating affect. The range of affect is normal. Suicidal thoughts are not present. The man does have thoughts about death. He wonders when it will be his time and what will happen afterwards. He does not fear death, but he does fear a long period of illness. Thought process: the speed of thinking is normal towards slow. Thoughts are linear. In terms of content, most thoughts are about reflecting on his life with a certain melancholy. His wife had died a couple of years ago and ever since he feels alone. However, he very much enjoys the visits of his children and his grandchildren. His perception is undisturbed. Cognition: his orientation in time, place and person is intact. He is a bit confused about which day it is. Attention can be drawn and easy maintained. Insight and judgment are adequate.
Appearance & behavior: we see a poorly-groomed barefoot young man with the appearance of an 18-year-old (conforms to his biological age). He has black long hair and wears pajamas. His posture is anxious and he walks with small and soft footsteps. The young man does not make eye contact but looks apprehensively to the ground. He evokes a feeling of compassion but also feelings of incomprehension. The psychomotor activity is disturbed. During the conversation he suddenly walks out of his chair and starts to dance a waltz. After just a few seconds he suddenly stops and looks frightened again. The level of arousal is disturbed. The facial expression is frightened. There are signs of hallucinatory behavior: sometimes he looks up suddenly as if he hears something or sees something. At some point he is smiling and starts to dance in the room but we don’t know why. Speech: the rate of speech is fast and the quantity is increased, but the words that he says remain random and unclear as if he speaks in another language. The tone of speech is stuttering and the volume is soft with occasionally an outburst: when the conservation develops further, and the man seems to feel cornered, he starts to talk louder. Sometimes there is a random outburst in which he starts to scream. The fluency and rhythm of speech are clear and articulated. Mood and affect: it is hard to estimate the mood since fear is predominant at the moment. The affect is flattened and at some point, inadequate for the situation (when he starts to dance and smile). Suicidal thoughts are present. However, the man experiences these thoughts as not his own, but rather he feels that someone from the outside is trying to convince him of suicide or to poison him with metals. Thoughts: the speed of thought is fast. Thought process is tangential. The thought content is predominantly filled with ideas that someone is following him. When we ask further about these ideas he explains that he is followed by an elf king who wants to bring him to ‘a dark side’. Perception: he claims that he can see and feel the presence of the elf king. Cognition: his orientation in time, place and person is intact. Attention can be drawn but is harder to maintain, probably as a result of distraction by his hallucinations. Insight and judgment are poor.
Since Märchenbilder is divided into four movements with different (fairy tale) images, I chose to create one character per movement.
When I heard this first movement, it immediately reminded me of Psyche, a fairy tale written by Louis Couperus in 1898. Psyche lives with her father the king and her two sisters in the country Present. She has wings on her back and her big dream is that someday she will fly. But unfortunately, her wings are so delicate that they cannot bear her. Psyche stares at the horizon where she sees a cloud in the shape of a winged horse, the Chimera. One day the Chimera takes Psyche on its back to fly a little. Psyche waits every day full of hope for the Chimera to be allowed to come again, but on the days that he does not come, she feels lonely and alone. Given the year it was written in, it is impossible that Schumann was inspired by this fairy tale. However, I used my imagination of Psyche to create a character for this movement.
Appearance & behavior: we see a poorly groomed cachectic (very thin) Caucasian woman with the appearance of a 17 year-old. Her biological age is 24. The woman has brown half-long straight hair and wears an ivory colored white dress without sleeves and she has wings attached to her back. She wears no shoes. Her posture has something delicate but fragile about it. She is bent over at her shoulders and mainly looks to the ground. There is no evidence of self-harm. Sometimes she makes eye contact, but she looks away quickly. She is cooperative in contact but seems to keep her cards to her chest when she answers questions. She evokes a feeling of sadness. Her psychomotor activity is normal. Her level of arousal is mainly calm but sometimes she seems to be excited about something. In these moments of excitement, she talks to herself. Her facial expression alternates between apprehension and excitement. Hallucinatory behavior is not observed at the moment. Speech: the rate of speech is normal. The quantity of speech is minimal: she only answers questions as if she seems to be hiding something. The tone of speech is modulative. The volume of speech is mainly soft, but sometimes she suddenly speaks out loud and clear. The fluency and rhythm of speech vary between articulate and slurred. Mood and affect: a gloomy mood with a labile modulating (easily changing between euphoric and dysphoric) affect. She changes easily between states of fear and sadness and courage and happiness. Suicidal thoughts are not present. She explains that she thinks about death, but more as an existential thought. She doesn't make plans. The speed of thinking is normal. The thought process is somewhat incoherent (there is no logical sense). Her thought content is filled with the abnormal belief that she wants to fly and is waiting for a horse to take her on his back. She is sad because the horse did not come to see her today. On the days that the horse does not come, she does want not eat. Furthermore, she does not understand why she cannot fly although she has wings on her back. Perception: the woman claims that she can see a white horse with wings. Sometimes she can hear his voice in her head. It is a kind voice that she can talk with. Cognition: her orientation in time, place is not intact. She thinks that she lives in a country that is called The Present in the year 1889. Orientation in person is intact. Attention can be drawn but is hard to maintain. She seems to fall back quickly into her own mind. Insight and judgment: the woman does not recognize her thoughts about the horse and flying as abnormal. She does not want help from others.
Appearance & behavior: we see a Caucasian man with the appearance of a 33-year-old (conforms to his biological age). He has dark brown short hair and wears a silver colored metal armor with a shield and sword. His posture is confident and he walks with loud footsteps. The man makes adequate eye contact. He seems cooperative in contact and evokes a feeling of amusement. His psychomotor activity is normal. The level of arousal is full of excitement. There is one moment that he seems a bit agitated, but this agitation seems to resolves itself. His facial expression is excited. Hallucinatory behavior is not observed at the moment. Speech: the rate of speech is pressured and the quantity is excessive. The tone of speech is tremulous and the volume is loud when he talks about the subject that he is excited about. However, when confronting questions are asked the volume gets softer and a bit agitated. The fluency and rhythm of speech are clear and articulated. Mood and affect: the mood is euphoric with an adequate modulating affect. The range of affect is expansive and the intensity blunted. Suicidal thoughts are not present. Thought process: the speed of thinking is fast. Thoughts are tangential, in such a way that they are predominantly coherent but sometimes he gets stuck in the perseveration of ideas in which he starts to ruminate about fears. Another moment he is very excited and tells about a big party in a huge palace where people are drinking wine and dancing. The thought content is predominantly filled with megalomania: ideas of being a knight and that he has special powers. He says that has many important things to do. He has only slept 3 hours a day in the past few weeks. Tomorrow, he needs to leave early in the morning before the sun comes up to continue his journey. Therefore, he needs his horse. The perception is undisturbed. Cognition: his orientation in time, place and person is not intact. He thinks that she lives in a medieval castle in 1420 and that he is a knight who serves the king. Insight and judgment are poor.