ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates primarily on the poetry of mental illness, particularly depression, which is the commonest and most readily treatable form of mental illness. There is a high incidence of mental illness among artists, and this raises interesting questions about possible links between mental disorders and creativity. Kay Redfield Jamison has found that poets have a particularly high rate of serious mood disorder, with 50" being hospitalised or receiving antidepressants, electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) or lithium. Depression often starts with feelings of anxiety, extreme tiredness or inability to cope with the demands of life. It appears gradually and, except in its mild form, moves inexorably onward. The public and healthcare professionals do not pretend to understand what a nervous breakdown entails, unless they have suffered one themselves. Recovery also brings a return of the spirit – the ability to question treatment dogmas.
