Creativity, Spirituality, and Mental Health

Questions I intend to explore include: Can creative expression render mental illness more manageable? Can spirituality do the same? Just how far can spirituality and creativity take one on the journey to recovery? Is creativity in and of itself healing? The idea that many writers, artists, musicians, etc., suffer from mental illness will be explored. If true, is the reason because creative people are naturally more sensitive, and thus more vulnerable to mental instability? Or is there something else going on, a relationship between the state of mind of the artist and that of an individual in a manic episode? Over the centuries a number of charismatic religious leaders have been accused of suffering from mental disorders. This list includes not only cult leaders such as Marshall Applewhite, founder of Heaven's Gate, and Shoko Asahara, founder of Aum Shinrikyo, but also Martin Luther, who initiated the Protestant Reformation, and George Fox, founder of the Quaker tradition.

In days past, religion was blamed for causing mental illness. Current research leads away from this cause and effect relationship. In Religion, Culture and Mental Health (2007), for example, Kate Loewenthal indicates that there is little evidence that religious factors play a causal role in mental disorders. Religious beliefs, in her view, can help to entrench some symptoms, but these same beliefs can be helpful in relieving others. While Loewenthal focuses on religion in various cultural settings, here the focus is on ways that religion and spirituality can be used in treatment. Can spirituality be a catalyst for recovery from illness? If so, how might this happen? Can creative expression help one live more authentically, and, if so, how is this linked with living a spiritual life? These are some of the questions I will explore throughout the book.