The aim of this new collage is to provoke new thoughts about the works of Sylvia Plath and suicide. Are artists more likely to struggle with mental health issues or is it just the myth of the mad genius that endured for centuries? A conclusive link has never been made between mental health issues and creativity. But for the first time reliable data* has recently shown that in the UK the suicide rate among people working in creative roles is significantly higher than the national average. But how reliable are such studies really? Of course under special circumstances everyone can be at risk and e.g. clinical depression is a serious illness which can affect anybody. Whether someone is an artist or not, we should take our fellow human beings seriously and always listen carefully. It is also important to analyse the causes, whether they are individual or social. Because we must not forget that the ills of our society can significantly increase the pressure on vulnerable people.
*Office for National Statistics: »Suicide by occupation, England: 2011 to 2015«
BOTANIC MIND FERTILIZERS:
The semi-autobiographical novel »The Bell Jar« (1963) by American poet Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) and her poetry collection »Ariel«. The Bell Jar became a cult book in the 1970s. The turmoil of its protagonist in the face of societal demands struck a chord with many women and contributed to the Plath’s posthumous rise as an icon of the women’s movement. Ariel was originally published in 1965, two years after Plath’s death by suicide. The poems in the edition, with their free flowing images and characteristically menacing psychic landscapes, marked a dramatic turn from Plath’s earlier poems. In her writing Plath was exploring a dark, taboo, personal subject matter. Sylvia Plath was clinically depressed for most of her adult life. In 1953 she had already tried to commit suicide. Her father, a German entomologist, died when Sylvia was only eight years old. Plath had a troubled marriage with the English poet Ted Hughes. In 1961 she miscarried their second child. In 1963 the couple had two children, who slept next door when Sylvia put an end to her young life.
Analyse your mind!
THE MIND BOTANIST
D.B.
Botanic Mind 