Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:1005-1012
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
The madness of art
L Edel
The author finds a constant thread of what Benjamin Rush termed
"tristimania" in works of great authors. The madness of art, Henry James's
description of the need to transform and metamorphose personal experience
by means of prose, poetry, or other artistic expression, is illustrated in
the lives and works of many great writers. Psychotherapy as a means of
dealing with depression in artists can be either rejected or used to
advantage. The author posits that the most enduring works may be those of
artists who have lived through their sadness to experience and control
their rage against aging.
