Lafferty 1

Katie Lafferty
White
UWRT 1104-013
21 April 2019

Annotated Bibliography
Articles
Chrisler, Joan C. “Exploring Mental Illness through a Poetry-Writing Assignment.”
Teaching of Psychology 19.3 (1992): 173–174. Web.

This article is from a completely different perspective than the others; it

demonstrates how students were given an opportunity to write poetry trying to explain
and empathize with people who suffer from mental illnesses. The students were able to
show their creativity without limitations; in order to earn a good grade on this assignment
the only thing the students had to do was create a poem that “must convey an excellent
understanding of anxiety, depression, psychosis, or some particular disorder.” This is
important to not only my topic, but the general understanding of mental illnesses. Mental
illness is a highly misunderstood topic in the world. Many people brush off the many
faucets and details of specific diseases and don’t understand the severity of it and how it
can affect a person's life. A lot of people think depression and anxiety is something that a
person can just deal with, but it is way more important than just dealing with it. Finding
outlets and ways to cope with these illnesses makes living so much more enjoyable,
which is why creative writing and more specifically, poetry, can be a source for people
suffering. The fact that poetry was able to provide people with a basic understanding of
the topic is amazing. Creative writing, in general, provides an opportunity for not only
those suffering with mental illness but those who want to better understand what they are
going through.

Furman, Rich et al. “Inside a Provider’s Perspective: Using Practitioner Poetry to Explore the
Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 33.4 (2006): 331–
342. Web.

Furman discusses how poetry can be used to see inside the mind of any person. The
article proves that this type of creative writing can be used to dissect the experiences of
someone’s life and understand why they think the way they do and why they are the way
they are. The article states, “Poetry can be conceptualized as a subjective and personal
means of data transmission that can assist explorations into the unfolding drama of
human experience.” This is a main point in the article to which all of the other ideas
unfold. Everybody suffers throughout their life, and for many people it is difficult to talk
about the traumatic experiences they go through on a day to day basis. People with
mental illnesses are forced to suffer in silence a lot of the time, and this makes it even
more difficult to live and thrive in the world we exist in.The article is convincing because
 Lafferty 2

it gives many examples and details regarding how poetry can be used to unfold
someone's thoughts. It supports my main idea for this assignment because it agrees with
the fact that poetry can be used to know someone on a more personal level and somehow
sympathize and be more knowledgeable on what they are going through.

Lapum, Jennifer L. “Poetry: The Un-Beautiful Mind: a Poem of Mental Illness.” Journal of
Poetry Therapy 24.4 (2011): 269–270. Web.

This article is different than the last because it shows a written poem that describes
mental illness. The poem talks about how a person’s mental illness makes them who they
are and how they struggle with the burden of dealing with it in day to day life.
Specifically, the poem shows the feelings of someone who is walking down the street
feeling constantly ridiculed and judged by those around them; this person may suffer
from anxiety or more seriously, schizophrenia. Although they may not know what people
around them are thinking, they are able to express how they feel about those thoughts
through their words. While the last article talked about how poetry can be used to help
people with mental illness this one proves that by showing someone writing about the
way they feel in the form of a poem. Creative writing is used as a source to express their
emotions and trapped feelings, which gives others the opportunity to better understand
and know what they are going through. This further proves my main topic, assuming that
poetry aids people in expressing how they feel therefore giving them an outlet for their
mental illnesses.

Ofri, Danielle, and Ofri, Danielle. “The Debilitated Muse: Poetry in the Face of Illness.” The
Journal of medical humanities 31.4 (2010): 303–317. Web.

This article looks at the connection between poetry and mental illness in a completely
different light. It shows and proves how many renowned poets have suffered from mental
illnesses and how it affected their writing. Ofri describes poetry as, “economy of
observation about the vast chaotic world.” Ofri continues to give examples of famous
poets who suffered through some traumatic point in their lives only to make their writing
stronger and provide an outlet for the feelings they harbored. She mentions poets such as
John Milton and Jorge Luis Borges. Excerpts from poets who suffered from mental
illnesses writings are given throughout this article. In their poetry they describe how they
feel; some of these excerpts show how alone the poet feels or how they feel death
wavering upon them. Some of the poems even state how they feel about poetry
specifically. Borges describes poetry as being “the dawn and sunset.” This shows that
through his rough patches, at the end of the day he always has something that will
support and understand him; this being his writing. This article with very specific
examples, continues to prove what the other articles prove, writing creativity is a source
 Lafferty 3

of comfort and stability for people who live unstable lives with mental illnesses such as
depression and anxiety.

Quinlan, Kathleen. “From Therapy to Poetry and Back Again: One Writer’s Journey.” Journal of
Poetry Therapy 26.2 (2013): 115–125. Web.

This article, written by Kathleen Quinlan, is an amazing and person accounting of how
poetry can be used as a form of therapy for those suffering with mental illnesses.It shows
the journey of the author, who has struggled with mental illnesses for as long as she can
remember. She went to many therapy sessions and many psychologists just to be
diagnosed with an assortment of different mental issues. Quinlan states that throughout
her life she had always been interested in creative writing but, "personal crisis sent me
back to pen and paper." She then goes on to tell the story of a man who wrote poetry after
he witnessed someone hanging themselves and was later diagnosed with many different
types of mental illness. This inspired Quinlan even more so to write poetry and show how
she felt through her words. This relates perfectly back to my topic. Although therapy is
obviously an important factor in dealing with your problems on a day to day basis, poetry
can be used as another source of dealing with certain emotions. Some therapists even use
poetry and creative writing as a way for their clients to understand what they are going
through. Sometimes it's hard to talk about they way you feel to another person, which is
why poetry can be used as a more personalized type of therapy.

Books

Berlin, Richard M. Poets on Prozac : Mental Illness, Treatment, and the Creative Process .
Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. Print.

This book asks the simple but complex question, "Do poets need to be mentally ill to
produce great work?" The book continues to state simple facts about poets, such as they
have a higher rate of mental illness and how popular culture has reinforced this idea.
Berlin continues to quote lines from famous poets such as Shakespeare, in which they
exploit their mental illness through their writing. The author draws lines between manic
depressive diseases and the "artistic temperament." The author tries to connect mental
illness and creativity from a biological standpoint, discussing the brain and the limbic
system which is directly connected to creativity. Through all of this discussion from
many different standpoints, Poets on Prozac provides the opportunity for the reader to
see the connection between creativity and mental illness and how it's possible that a more
creative person may be more susceptible to being mentally ill. It shows how poetry and
creative writing can cause problems rather than treat them. Although creativity can be
linked to mental illnesses, that doesn't mean that poetry, specifically, can't offer a way to
 Lafferty 4

express those illnesses and come into contact with what they really mean. This book
shows these ideas from both sides of the spectrum.

“Health and Clinical Perspectives-Chapter 4.” Creativity. N.p., 2007. 115–152. Web.

The book Health and Clinical Perspectives doesn’t single handedly focus on mental
illnesses and poetry, but chapter four gives an outline on how creative writing can be
used as an outlet for people suffering. This is very similar to all of my other articles and
references that I have aquired. The book Health and Clinical Perspectives doesn’t single
handedly focus on mental illnesses and poetry, but chapter four gives an outline on how
creative writing can be used as an outlet for people suffering. This is very similar to all of
my other articles and references that I have acquired. The chapter talks about similar
ideas that have been discussed in the previous articles, which continues to prove that my
main topic, poetry is helpful to people who suffer with mental illnesses, is true. The
chapter talks about poetry in more broad terms, creativity. "Creativity can help the
individual maintain both psychological and physical health." The chapter goes on to talk
about people who are more creative being called weird and strange by outsiders. While
the book chapter talks about the positives of writing, it also discusses the potential
negatives, stating that there have been reports of a substantially higher rate of suicide and
bipolar disorder in writers. This statistic follows along with a theory that was picked up
throughout my research. The Sylvia Plath Effect, this theory is that people who are more
creative are more likely to commit suicide. It is linked to Sylvia Plath, a woman who
wrote poetry but became so overwhelmed that she stuck her head in an over and
ultimately died. This chapter gives an alternate view to the connection of poetry and
mental illness, giving both positive and negative outcomes of creative writing.

News Article
Pescod, Nicholas. “Writing Helps Poet Manage Mental Illness.” Nanaimo News Bulletin 20 Feb.
2014. Web.

This article tells the story of a man who was tackled by police after jumping in front of
his car because the voices in his head told him to. This man's name was Timothy Merrill
and after this incident he received treatment and turned to writing as a source to cope
with his mental illness. He suffers from schizophrenia. Now Merrill has published several
books with all of his works in it and takes pride in his writing, even if started with
something horrific. He now is an advocate for those with mental illnesses and tells people
to talk to a doctor and to never go through with harming yourself. This article shows a
specific example of a man who suffered from something traumatic and the one thing that
helped him through it was being able to write. The books I discussed proved that mental
illness may be connected with creativity but this article is a firsthand example of how
 Lafferty 5

creativity helped a man become a better person. Through therapy and writing he was able
to live a normal life when he couldn't previously.

Video
“How Creativity and Mental Illness Are Linked.” Youtube, uploaded by Seeker, 9 Sep. 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWzhVauFbSU.

This video that I found on Youtube discusses the link between creativity and mental
illnesses. It talks about the idea of the "tortured artist." The speaker in the video quotes
Plato who states, "Madness is a gift from heaven, is the channel in which we receive the
greatest blessings." The speaker goes onto specifically mention the notion that writers
are known for ending their lives. The video talks about a study conducted that proved the
connection between mental illness and creativity. The study showed that of the 30
writers interviewed, 80% of them had been hospitalized for some type of mood disorder
such as bipolar disease or depression. Those in creative field, especially those who
have become famous or well known, are more likely to have some sort of mental illness.
This video goes hand in hand with the books we discussed earlier, both are trying to
prove the connection between mental illness and creativity, more specifically poetry.
This could be correct but I think it is in more broader terms. Those who are in general
more on the creative side are more susceptible to suffering from mental illnesses, while
those who are more logical are less likely to.

Interview
Grosse, Chase. Personal interview. 15 April, 2019.

I conducted an interview with my uncle who just recently got his PhD in Psychology. I
asked him about poetry therapy because through my research I found an organization
called the National Association of Poetry Therapy. After asking him about this he
informed me that poetry therapy was a nationally recognized form of poetry. The Nation
Association of Poetry Therapy or NAPT, is really just an organization. He went on to tell
me that poetry can be used as a factor in certain types of therapy because things like
journals are used. “Creative writing is a way for patients to express their feelings,” he
told me. This proves to be really interesting to me because that idea was the main focus
of my research. To have the idea reassured by someone I know with a PhD made the
research extremely fulfilling. After continuing to have conversation about the use of
creative writing in therapy, Dr. Grosse and I both agreed that poetry is a positive outlet
for people with mental illnesses.