Vincent apparently had had some kind of a seizure or psychoticepisode. Allegedly, he seemed dazed and bewildered, and perhaps drunk,when he appeared at the brothel. The injury to his ear had severed an artery.He returned home and the police, summoned by people at the brothel,found him in bed the next morning. He had lost an enormous amount ofblood.Van Gogh recovered gradually. His depression about what had hap-pened and his fear of another attack weighed on him. But he soon discov-ered that he had not lost his passion for painting and began to paint againin March of 1889. He conjectured that his “attack” may have been broughton by alcohol and even tobacco, but he continued to drink and smoke. Heseemed unable to organize his life and reluctant to set up a studio by him-self. He had lost a lot of his work as a result of floods and damp while hewas in the hospital. He also believed that the loss of his studio, Gauguin’sdeparture, and the end of his ideas of collaborative work with others werehis fault. Theo was worried about his brother’s feelings of guilt and inad-equacy and the possibility of suicide. He constantly tried to reassure himand pointed out that he, Theo, had had a very good year and money wasnot a problem. Vincent considered admitting himself to an asylum, in thehope that further attacks might be prevented.