SYD BARRETT: WAS HE SUFFERING FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA OR ASPERGER'S SYNDROME?

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (Cambridge, January 6, 1946 - Cambridge, July 7, 2006) was a British singer, guitarist, composer and painter, founder and leader of Pink Floyd from 1965 to 1968, when he left the group. Before retiring to private life, he recorded two solo albums, "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett", published in 1970. His experience and skills strongly influenced the subsequent production of the group, especially albums like "Dark Side of the Moon", "Wish You Were Here" and "The Wall". The innovative guitar style of Barrett and his propensity to exploration of new experimental techniques, like the use of dissonance, distortion and feedback, had an enormous impact on several musicians, from David Bowie to Brian Eno to Jimmy Page. After his retirement, Barrett led a secluded life painting and devoted to gardening, completely ignoring all the popularity and by losing his own tracks fueling even more his legend. A series of biographies were written about him since the eighties. In any case, the Pink Floyd composed and recorded several musical tributes dedicated to him after his departure from the band. The use of synthetic drugs of any kind and social withdrawal fostered the clinical impression that Barrett was suffering from schizophrenia. Recent studies, however, would suggest the hypothesis that he was suffering from a low-functioning Asperger's syndrome. The aim of this paper is to review Barrett's data that would indicate that this was actually his diagnosis.