Ingenious Drug Addicts Of The Soviet Union. Mikhail Bulgakov - Great And Terrible

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) - Russian writer, playwright, theater director; the main works of the writer were not published during his lifetime

Bulgakov's period of strong dependence on morphine was clearly defined in time. Once, “either in 1913 or in 1914,” according to the writer's first wife, Bulgakov brought home cocaine and said: “We must try” (Parshin L. K., 1991). And he enriched his medical experience, making sure in practice that the drug should only be tried, and only then whoever is lucky.

In 1917, "sucking through the tube diphtheria films from the throat of a sick child," became infected. He was forced to inject himself with an anti-diphtheria serum, to which he was severely allergic: he began to itch, a rash appeared, and his face was swollen. Bulgakov, naturally, asked to make him morphine. Repeating injections for several days led to an effect that the doctor did not expect: a strong dependence on the drug.

By 1918, his physical and mental condition had become dire. Periods of severe depression were repeated, it seemed to Bulgakov that he was going crazy, and he begged his wife not to send him to the hospital. In the spring, in a very serious condition and after unsuccessful attempts at healing, which were reflected in the story "Morphine", he moved to Kiev.

See also: Ingenious drug addicts of the Soviet Union

• Valery Bryusov
• Leonid Brezhnev

Soon "he began to drink opium straight from the bottle … Fear of publicity, horror of a hopeless future, completely clear to him as a doctor - all this helped for a while, but then he lost his composure." Bulgakov's first wife, Tatyana Nikolaevna, recalled how the writer “threw a burning primus at her, another time - aimed from a Browning … She began to deceive him, injecting distilled water instead of morphine; endured his reproaches, bouts of depression. Gradually, something happened that is rare - complete withdrawal. As a doctor, he undoubtedly understood well that what happened was almost a miracle”(Chudakova MO, 1988).

However, is it complete? In 1924, doctors diagnosed Bulgakov with hypertensive nephrosclerosis and prescribed him morphine to relieve pain symptoms. Which Bulgakov used until his death

Morphine abuse could not pass without leaving a trace for the mental sphere. Bulgakov's letter to V. V. Veresaev from 1934 contains the following lines: “… I am being treated with electricity and water for a nervous breakdown … By the beginning of spring I was completely ill: insomnia, weakness and, finally, the most disgusting thing that I have ever experienced in life, the fear of loneliness, that is, more precisely, the fear of being alone. Such disgusting that I would rather have my leg cut off! Well, of course, doctors, sodium bromide and the like. I'm afraid of the streets, I can't write, people tire or scare me, I can't see newspapers, I walk arm in arm with Elena Sergeevna or with Seryozha - death alone!"

“Death from thirst is a heavenly, blissful death in comparison with the thirst for morphine. So buried alive, probably, catches the last insignificant air bubbles in the coffin and tears the skin on the chest with nails.

Mikhail Bulgakov, story "Morphine"

In Mikhail Bulgakov, various phobias can be stated, which, as a rule, are found in neurotic disorders. Narcological interest is the fact of a temporary and almost complete cure for morphinism. Even today, such an outcome of drug addiction is not a very common occurrence

Sources:

• Akifiev A. P. Genetics and fate. M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2001.
• Brachev V. Occult origins of the revolution. Russian masons of the twentieth century. M.: Publisher Bystrov, 2007.
• Bulgakov M. A. Letters // Collected Works in 5 volumes. T. 5. M.: Fiction, 1990. S. 387-603.
• Bykov D. L. Boris Pasternak. 4th ed. M.: Young Guard, 2007.
• Volkov S. History of Russian culture of the twentieth century from Leo Tolstoy to Alexander Solzhenitsyn. M.: Eksmo, 2008.
• Gippius Z. N. Living Faces. L.: Art, 1991.
• Parshin L. K. Devilry in the American Embassy in Moscow, or 13 mysteries of Mikhail Bulgakov. M.: Book Chamber, 1991.
• Rudnev V. P. Polyphonic body. Reality and schizophrenia in the culture of the twentieth century. M.: Gnosis, 2010.
• Stepanyan V. N. Life and death of famous people. M.: AST; Zebra E, 2007.
• Khodasevich V. F. Necropolis. Memories. M.: Soviet writer, 1991.
• Chudakova M. O. Biography of Mikhail Bulgakov. 2nd ed. M.: Book, 1988.