Writing on the wall for poets?

Since I'm a writer myself (not just of newsletters and e-letters like
this, but fiction and non-fiction books as well), I'm not sure
exactly how to take this next bit of news, but I'm fascinated by it
nonetheless, so naturally I'm going to spill it to you. I'll explain
why it's important a little later. Here it is:

Poets die younger than writers of novels, plays, or non-fiction
books.

Studying centuries worth of data from the U.S., Turkey, China, and
Eastern Europe, a California State University researcher concluded
that poets (followed closely by playwrights) lived lives that were
on average nearly 10% shorter than the longest-lived authors
studied, the non-fiction scribes. He did not study the causes of
death. He did, however, document a correlation between poetry
writing and mental illness.

This got me thinking that the reason behind the shorter average life
span of poets must surely be a high prevalence of suicides. And
indeed, an informal Internet search revealed a stunning number of
poets (playwrights, too) who've taken their own lives, a trend
stretching back as far as poetry itself — to Greek and Roman
times, even.

Think about it — a lot of household name writers of poetry, plays,
and somber fiction have offed themselves. To name a few: Sylvia
Plath, Vachel Lindsay, John Berryman, Anne Sexton, Ernest
Hemingway (a poet, too), Virgina Woolf (more fiction writer than
poet), Sergei Esinen, Sara Teasdale, and many others. As well,
seemingly countless rock-and-roll musicians who've been dubbed
"poets" by popular culture (an arguable concept, I know, but it
serves the point at hand) have self-determined their fates.

What the research doesn't study is this: How much LONGER did
these people live because they were able to exorcise their demons
on the page than they would have if they'd found no such outlet?
I've long been a believer in the healing power of expression (read
my Daily Dose from 10/24/2003 for more on this), and I wish there
were some way to study or calculate how many unbalanced,
suicidal, or mentally ill people have avoided leaping from a bridge
or slitting their wrists because they WERE dealing with their
feelings in poems or plays.

What's my point in all this, other than to fascinate? Keep
reading...

**************************************************************
              Drop the "Diet" Mentality 

There is no such thing as a "diet" that works.  Dr. Douglass
will be the first to tell you that the only way to lose
weight and keep it off is to make a permanent change in your
eating habits--cut out the carbs and refined sugars and
concentrate on foods that are high in protein and animal
fats. 

With holiday season now upon us, it becomes increasingly
difficult to keep your mind on your waistband while keeping
it off the sweet holiday cookies, cakes and pastries.  But
its about to get a little easier.  Dr. Douglass, along with
Real Advantage Nutritionals, has developed a supplement to
help you:

* Rev up your metabolism
* Increase your energy
* Manage your desire for carb-heavy foods
* And even help relieve stress, anxiety and tension

Drop the "diet" mentality and begin dropping pounds--quickly,
safely and almost effortlessly. If you're aren't completely
satisfied with your results, you don't pay! Visit below for
more information on this offer...free of any risk...to help
you triumph over your weight loss struggle once and for all! 

http://www.youreletters.com/t/73841/6626399/643171/0/
(if you can't open here use the HTML links listed below)

**************************************************************
To start receiving your own copy of the Daily Dose, visit:
http://www.realhealthnews.com/dailydose/freecopy.html

An effect, not a cause

The brutal reality is that in any given population, a certain
percentage of people will be mentally ill or suicidal (more so
among groups in which antidepressant drugs proliferate).

And the notion that personal creativity is linked to the occurrence
of madness or suicide is nothing new. There is much circumstantial
evidence through the millennia to support such a correlation —
hence the expression "You have to suffer to write."

But in my opinion — a point of view, keep in mind, that's
unsullied by the brainwashing of popular psychology — human
beings have a remarkable instinctual talent for seeking what they
need to survive, whether it's food, drink, love, shelter, or a blank
sheet of paper (or canvas) to create on. Those with the urge to be
creative are doing so out of some need to emote and express to
cope with whatever's going on in their heads... 

For anyone in the mainstream to assume it's the creativity that
CAUSES the craziness is to not see the forest for the trees.
Creativity is an EFFECT of one's internal struggles. Does this
mean that anyone who's a prolific writer of angst-ridden poetry or
fiction is about to go "postal" or commit suicide? Of course not.
But it could mean that he or she may be trying to deal with some
family or personal issues in the only manner available.  

My recommendation? Perhaps all good parents and grandparents
should take an interest in the writings of their children and
grandchildren. For one thing, kids need constant encouragement
and validation of their talent and uniqueness. Reading some of the
things they've written gives adults a way to render both praise and
constructive criticism that can help boost a child's self-esteem (I
know, I'm sounding like a psychologist—but it's so true!). More
importantly, though, reading what kids write can give concerned
adults a handle on what their youngsters are going through, and
might clue them in on ways in which they can help...

And as long as those ways involve love, contact, and shared fun
times together instead of a prescription for Prozac, nothing but
good can come of it.