Suicide and the Creative Arts (Psychology Research Progress Series)

Suicide and the Creative Arts......Page 3
Contents......Page 9
The Contributors......Page 11
Art Suggests Motives for Suicide......Page 13
Art Shapes and Reflects Public Attitudes toward Suicide......Page 16
A Summary of the Chapters......Page 17
References......Page 24
Part I: Painting and Traditional Visual Arts......Page 25
Suicide and the Arts: From the Death of Ajax to Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe......Page 27
I......Page 29
II......Page 30
III......Page 31
IV......Page 33
V......Page 35
VI......Page 38
VII......Page 39
VIII......Page 40
IX......Page 42
X......Page 44
XI......Page 45
XII......Page 47
XIII......Page 50
References......Page 53
Appendix 1: Artists who Died by Suicide......Page 56
The Suicide of Ajax: A Note on Occupational Strain as a Neglected Factor in Suicidology......Page 61
The Ajax Effect Today......Page 62
Results......Page 63
Conclusions......Page 64
References......Page 65
Part II: Suicide in the Movies......Page 67
Suicide in Movies: Gender and Choice of Suicide Method......Page 69
References......Page 73
The Rape-Suicide of Lucretia......Page 75
Methodology......Page 79
Analysis......Page 81
Conclusions......Page 86
Appendix 1. Films with Rape-Suicides: Titles, Year of Cirulation and Victim Characteristics......Page 87
References......Page 89
Suicide Films about Adolescents......Page 91
Adolescent Suicide in Movies......Page 93
Discussion......Page 102
References......Page 103
Pain and Altruism: The Suicides in John Wayne's Films......Page 105
Methodology......Page 107
Case Analysis......Page 110
Statistical Analysis......Page 118
Discussion......Page 119
References......Page 120
Part III: Suicide in Literature......Page 123
Methodology......Page 125
A Taxonomy of Motives......Page 126
Results......Page 127
Conclusion......Page 128
Appendix 1. List of Literary Classics Containing Suicides by Author, Title, Character and Motive for Suicide......Page 129
References......Page 135
Suicide in Detective Fiction......Page 137
Defining the Genre......Page 138
Further Definitions and Exceptions......Page 140
The Numbers......Page 144
Novels and Short Stories Used for the Sample......Page 147
References......Page 148
Suicide in the Opera......Page 149
Discussion......Page 154
References......Page 157
Part IV: Understanding Suicide through the Arts......Page 159
Psychology and Literature......Page 161
Studying Suicide through Literature......Page 165
Discussion......Page 167
References......Page 168
Oedipus......Page 171
Jocasta......Page 173
Haemon......Page 174
Antigone......Page 176
References......Page 177
Part V: Suicide in Artists......Page 179
A Model of Occupation and Suicide Risk......Page 181
Demographics......Page 182
Methodology......Page 187
Results......Page 189
Discussion......Page 195
References......Page 198
Suicide in Creative Women......Page 201
Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Creative Women......Page 202
The Role that Creativity Played......Page 205
Comparing the Suicidal Women with Suicidal Men......Page 206
The Role that Creativity Played......Page 209
References......Page 210
Vincent van Gogh......Page 213
An Artist in Search of a Medical Diagnosis......Page 214
Suicide......Page 217
Van Gogh on Suicide......Page 218
Medications and Alcoholism......Page 220
What if van Gogh had been Given Modern Treatments?......Page 221
The Role of the Family......Page 222
References......Page 225
Artist Suicide in the Cinema......Page 227
Methodology......Page 228
Results......Page 230
Conclusions......Page 237
References......Page 239
Part VI: Contagion......Page 241
Copycat Effects of Fictional Suicide: A Meta-analysis......Page 243
Contagion Involving Fictional Stories of Suicide......Page 244
Review Techniques......Page 245
Formation of Hypotheses......Page 246
Methodology......Page 248
Analysis......Page 249
Discussion......Page 250
References......Page 252
Gloomy Sunday: Did the "Hungarian Suicide Song" Really Create a Suicide Epidemic?......Page 257
The Song and the Rumor......Page 258
Early Reports......Page 259
Suicide in Hungary......Page 260
Musical Subcultures and Suicide......Page 261
Other Suicide Songs......Page 262
References......Page 263
The Kabuki Effect......Page 265
A Possible Suicide Epidemic after Weininger's "Sex and Character"......Page 266
References......Page 267
Part VII: The Creative Arts and Psychotherapy......Page 269
Poetry as Therapy: The Life of Anne Sexton......Page 271
The Life and Suicide of Anne Sexton......Page 272
Sexton's Poetry......Page 273
Analogies to Cognitive Therapy......Page 276
Similarities between the Creative Process and Psychotic Thinking......Page 277
Does Writing Help or Harm the Suicidal Individual? A Dissenting View......Page 278
References......Page 280
Masked Depression and Suicidal Ideation in the Drawings of Schizophrenic Patients......Page 283
Artwork as a Psycho-Diagnostic Tool for Psychotic Patients......Page 284
Symptoms of Depression in Paintings......Page 285
Suicidal Ideation in Patients' Paintings......Page 286
Masked Depression in Schizophrenic Patients......Page 287
Images that Words Cannot Express......Page 288
The Patients and their Paintings......Page 289
The Tree as a Symbol......Page 301
Concluding Remarks: Recurrent Symbols in Patients' Drawings......Page 305
Epilogue......Page 307
References......Page 308
Part VIII. Conclusions......Page 311
Points of Departure......Page 313
Resources for Research......Page 316
Photographic Portrayals of Suicide......Page 320
References......Page 321
Index......Page 323