"mental illness"

BBC news have released an article about poets... Poetry, the creative process and mental illness

"The incidence of mood disorders, suicide and institutionalisation was 20 times higher among major British and Irish poets between 1600 and 1800 according to a study by psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison.

In other words, poets are 20 times more likely to end up in an asylum than the general population."

im not going to analyze the article too much, just share a few thoughts that came to me... it sure was interesting and had some good points like "Of course the more people break the rules, the more likely they are to be perceived as 'mentally ill'."

declaring one mentally ill has always been also a method of rulers to quiet opposition and great thinkers who could be of harm to them. i think "mentally sick" people are very often the most original, most real, most creative, most open people of all. the definition of normal nowadays is someone who cant look at things from another point of view, and are locked to the one sad reality the people in power want them to be in.

in many indigenous tribes, people that would be nowadays considered sick, we're often shamans and healers. it is a usual concept that a shaman must become sick and be healed(or heal himself) so he learns about the sickness and how to cure it. see also Wounded healer

creative genius, artistic talent, madness, mysticism and drugs have always gone hand in hand... gives you something to think about