Citation

Carson A, Lester D. Suicide Stud. 2022; 3(4): 63-71.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, David Lester)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

The recent and earlier poems of three poets who died by suicide (Cesare Pavese, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton) were analysed using the LIWC. The recent poems had more religious words and, surprisingly, more question marks. The gender-themed poems were oriented more toward others and to the present and future.

The relationship between artistic creativity and mental illness has long been a subject of debate, initially derived from a mistranslation of the Greek philosopher, Plato. As a result, "artistic inspiration" came to be seen as a "symptom of psychopathology", a view that led to the trope of the 'mad artist' (Schlesinger, 2012).

This trope has been applied to artists of all kinds, but poets have been found to have higher rates of this so-called 'madness' than others in the creative fields, most notably, higher rates of depression (Thomas & Duke, 2007; Kaufman & Baer, 2002). Many hypotheses regarding this connection have been suggested. For example, perhaps poetry's emotional and more personal nature draws to this particular art form those more susceptible to mental instability (Kaufman & Baer, 2002). However, a definitive reason for this relationship remains to be proven...

Language: en