Why do Young Artists Cling to Mental Illnesses to Inspire Creativity?
Art can be a cope. But mental illness is not the reason artists are successful. It’s not the reason why your art is great.
A common phenomenon in the age of social media is the perpetration of “tragically beautiful” mental illnesses. This problematic concept is supported by teenagers sharing black and white images of a beautiful girl with scars in neat lines, and pseudo-intellectual quotes that hint at glorifying suicide, depression and anxiety. This, in turn, suggests to impressionable young adults that poor mental health is as necessary to art as a paintbrush.
Where did this myth begin?
Great artists such as Van Gogh famously suffered from undiagnosed mental health issues, and the narcissistic dissociative phenomena in the paintings of Frida Kahlo is a popular interpretation. For many, art is a way of expressing feelings. But the stereotype of the “tortured artist’s soul” needs to stop.
According to the World Health Organization, over 350 million people have been diagnosed with depression world-wide. With the influence social media has on our younger generation, we are promoting unhealthy lifestyles and teaching them that serious issues are completely okay and something to brag about having.
Why has social media exacerbated the situation?
By sharing art online, artists are open to making new friends, meeting new people, and seeing the world in a way that has never been seen before. But social media platforms promoting self-medication is a big influence on teenagers. Glorifying mental illnesses to younger audiences teaches them not only to desire the illness and that it’s a “beautiful” characteristic, but to think that artists need to suffer to create beauty. Mental illness is not a sexy frame of mind; your art will not be deep and broody and everyone will love you for it. Anorexia is not a skinny model delicately hunched over with a protruding spine, like Ivonne Thein’s misinterpreted exhibition “32 kilos”. It’s screaming over a sink, with tears pouring down your face as you try and rip the bones out from under your flesh.
De-stigmatisation of mental illnesses:
It seems like the movement to de-stigmatise mental illness has grown so much, artists are inspired by the works of others documenting their struggles with mental health, and now are confused with something that young people should aspire to. “I have xxx mental illnesses” is considered to be a badge of pride, and the longer your list, the better. As though if you don’t consider yourself depressed then you don’t feel things deeply enough to be any better than “the masses of society”. Really, art is a way of separating yourself from everyone else.
This glorification of mental health issues really becomes a problem when somebody with a genuine illness logs online and sees the promotion of posts that promote self-harm described as a form of art in itself as “delicate swirls of pain” and suicide makes you this immortally beautiful soul; an “angel who just wants to go home”.
Aren’t creative people more inclined to mental health issues?
A team of Icelandic scientists have found that creative people ARE prone to suffering mental illness: Actors, dancers and musicians are “more likely to have the genes causing schizophrenia and bipolar disorder” compared to those with practical jobs, like fisherman and farmers. But this is not to say that you NEED to struggle to create art. The beautiful thing about it is that everyone can be an artist, no matter who you are or what you have to say.
Art can be a cope. But mental illness is not the reason artists are successful. It’s not the reason why your art is great.
If you need help, please contact mental health supports:
SAMARITANS (UK) — 116 123
NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE (USA) — 800–273–8255
