If Mr. Ramirez died in , then he was institutionalized during an era that was much less forgiving of mental illness and eccentricites than now although we still have a long way to go. It seems quite plausible that if he were born and lived in the later part of the 20th century, doctors would not think his degree of mental illness warranted hospitalization. Some sociologists are researching this issue now. How was he so, why was he institutionalized?
Suffering forces us to seek meaning; art is one instrument of that search. Certainly he sought mental and creative freedom, which we now celebrate through his exquisitely beautiful works. I confess to being bothered by the implication, apparently made on the basis of superificial similarities, that there is some kind of connection between creativity and mental illness.
That some artists have been mentally ill is beyond doubt — but the same thing is true of all professions better an artist than a brain surgeon. The great majority, though, have not. And while a few geniuses have made of their illness something universal, mental illness is usually a serious impediment to artistic creativity, and to creativity in general, as it is to most endeavors.
What is true I think is that a hypomanic state can confer heightened creativity. But most artists do not suffer from bipolar disorder or anything like. I imagined someone simply out of equilibrium, as a result of the circumstances maybe an illness, or maybe the confinement of the institution of his life. The creativity required by a research scientist goes above and beyond the stereotypes. You need a very active imagination that works in concert with the discipline most people associate with science.
But I resent the apparent exclusion of science from the realm of creative disciplines. It most certainly is creative. Having spent a year of my life in mental institutions, I must say that I met several visually creative people who did wonderfully insightful portraits of fellow patients.
In addition, there were a few verbally creative people who wrote good poetry. We had the time on our hands to develop modes of self-expression, if not the encouragement for same. If, as it is said that there is an artist in all of us, maybe the artistic impulse bubbles up more visibly in the mentally ill. As patients, many of us thought the crazy people were outside. A person interested in learning more about art therapy can talk with his current mental health professional or contact local mental health organizations and ask about nearby services.
Alicia Sparks. Please enter the following code:. Login: Forgot password? And of course, if you think that, you're going to stay there that way. With the tortured artist identity, they may believe their creativity is a form of therapy, to create a fantastical kind of world to the real one we live in.
But if that therapy starts to not work anymore, what happens then? Is that why Virginia Woolf swam into the middle of a river and drowned herself? Is it why Sylvia Plath put her head in an oven, while her children slept in the next room? For some people, their mental health problem can become weaved in as part of their identity.
If they come up against the prospect of getting better, they may start to wonder who they are without their problems. They might think, "Who am I when the pain is gone? Munch, for instance, wrote in his diary: "My fear of life is necessary to me, as is my illness. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art.
A creative's desire to be profound and influential in their field might outweigh any desire to get help, ultimately leading them down a road where their mental health deteriorates further. On the other hand, artists and other creatives may suffer from " impostor syndrome. Everybody only sees a certain side of us, she said, because of how we are portrayed, or because people simply interpret life's events differently.
Those in the limelight are bound to be more likely to struggle with this, because of how the media can twist what happens in their lives to sell stories. They have no control over what's printed about them, or how they are perceived. One study from the Office of National Statistics in England, covering the years from to , showed people who work in arts-related jobs were up to four times more likely to die by suicide. Meanwhile, another study, from , found being an author was specifically associated with increased likelihood of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, unipolar depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and suicide.
But many psychologists are skeptical about the proposed link, suggesting people with emotional volatility might be drawn into creative industries and the entertainment world. Thus we the public are more aware of it when they take their own lives, or suffer from a debilitating mental health problem. For example, studies have shown how night owls people whose natural rhythm makes them stay up later and wake up later are often more creative than early birds.
But most of us don't live in a world where our social and work schedule fits around our body clock, so we have to make do with being a bit sleep deprived some of the time. For example, researchers have used biofeedback to study the effects of visual art on neural circuits and neuroendocrine markers to find biological evidence that visual art promotes health, wellness and fosters adaptive responses to stress.
In another study, cognitive neuroscientists found that creating art reduces cortisol levels markers for stress , and that through art people can induce positive mental states.
These studies are part of a new field of research, called neuroesthetics : the scientific study of the neurobiological basis of the arts. Neuroesthetics uses brain imaging, brain wave technology and biofeedback to gather scientific evidence of how we respond to the arts. Through this, there is physical, scientific evidence that the arts engage the mind in novel ways, tap into our emotions in healthy ways and make us feel good. The arts have also been found to be effective tools for mindfulness, a trending practice in schools that is effective for managing mental health.
Being mindful is being aware and conscious of your thoughts and state of mind without judgement. The cognitive-reflective aspects of the arts, in addition to their ability to shift cognitive focus, make them especially effective as tools for mindfulness. Specifically, engaging with visual art has been found to activate different parts of the brain other than those taxed by logical, linear thinking; and another study found that visual art activated distinct and specialized visual areas of the brain.
Read more: Visual arts help marginalized youth learn mindfulness and self-compassion.
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