Session Spotlight: Artists’ Mental Health

Artists—painters, musicians, writers, actors, dancers, and others in the arts—are a distinct patient population with their own unique mental health risk factors and challenges, said experts speaking at the Annual Meeting.

“These stories of artists whose suffering becomes entangled with their creative aspirations and achievements make for fantastic Oscar-winning movies, but this myth didn't just come out of nowhere,” said Alana Mendelsohn, M.D., Ph.D., cofounder and president of Creatives Care, a nonprofit organization in New York City that provides free services to help artists access mental health care. “Historically there have been an awful lot of people in the visual, literary, and performing arts who would qualify as ‘tortured artists.’

“We have lost too many talented artists to suicide and substance abuse, and what’s more worrying is the extent to which we’ve normalized this phenomenon,” Mendelsohn said. “But the prevalence of mental illness and substance abuse and suicide in the arts is not something that should be normalized.”

Mendelsohn shared data from more than a dozen studies that bear witness to the higher rates of mental health and substance use in artists compared with the general population, including:

• Higher rates of mood disorders, alcohol misuse, and panic, anxiety, and eating disorders in writers
• Higher rates of substance use in visual artists
• Higher rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use in actors
• Higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance use, and eating disorders in musicians
• Higher rates of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders in dancers

Mendelsohn said that artists have several predisposing risk factors for mental health and substance use. For example, they may pursue creative work for catharsis, self-expression, or inner purpose; they may hold marginalized identities; and their family dynamics may include stress from overinvolvement (“stage moms”) or opposition to their career choice. there is also the added element of self-fulfilling prophecy.

“The normalization or romanticization of mental illness or substance abuse in the arts might draw in people who already have those challenges or susceptibilities,” she said.

Mendelsohn said that people with mental health or substance use challenges may feel that certain artist lifestyles are a better fit for them.“[P]eople who struggle with mood disorders, insomnia, or substance abuse can find it hard to hold down a regular day job,” she said. “Artistic work is often flexible and self-directed, and people may pursue creative work precisely to avoid a traditional day job and lifestyle even knowing that this work is often unstable and volatile.”

Once immersed in their careers, artists go on to face several environmental risk factors, Mendelsohn said. These include arduous training, intense competition, physically demanding work environments, financial instability, and lifestyle instability such as touring.

Amy Rosenthal, L.C.S.W., clinical director at Creatives Care, said that the artist’s work matters in treatment. “Keep in mind that for many artists, being an artist isn’t just a job. It’s part of their identity,” she said. “It often defines their life structure and choices, with significant implications for their living arrangements and relationships, and many artists use their personal and life experiences to inform the types of artistic work they do. Their work may also be informed by or engaged with what is happening in treatment.”

Lida Rubanava, L.M.S.W., care navigator at Creatives Care, discussed several of the obstacles artists face in getting mental health care. “Schedules because of touring, remote projects, and performances may mean [artists] need more support,” she said. “Know that your [patient] may truly be unable to find a quiet, private moment to make it to an appointment.”

Rubanava added that artists may also have concerns about medication and fear that it will suppress their creativity, and encouraged psychiatrists to explore those fears along with their patients’ art. “Invite them to bring art and creativity into the session and discuss what feels meaningful to them as well as their creative and technical processes,” she said. “This can offer insight into their mood, identity, and internal imperative, which you can integrate into your therapeutic framework.” ■

(Image: Getty Images/iStock/Jana Ilic Stankovic)