REVIEW: BIPOLAR DISORDER AND POETIC GENIUS

Introduction: "We of the craft (poets) are all crazy," remarked the 18th century British romanticist Lord Byron (George Gordon) about himself and his fellow poets. Implied in this statement is the notion that there exists a special kind of relationship between poets and being "crazy". A relationship between psychopathology and the artistic temperament is one of the oldest and most persistent of cultural notions; it is also one of the most contentious and controversial. The purpose of this exposition is to investigate if a correlation between bipolar disorder and poetic genius really does exist. Methods: A literature search was conducted along with a review of Professor Jamison\u27s treatise Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. A detailed case study of Lord Byron was also performed in order to gain a qualitative insight into the psyche of a notorious poet who was alleged to suffer from bipolar disorder. Results: Recent research employing systematic and biographical methodology has given strong support to a much higher rate of mood disorders in artistic populations than could be expected from chance alone. A British study spearheaded by Professor Jamison on living writers and artists revealed many overlapping mood, cognitive, and behavioral changes between hypomania and intense creative states. In the case of Lord Byron, the clinical hallmark of manic-depressive illness is its recurrent, episodic nature, which Byron had in an almost textbook manner. Byron also had a family history remarkable for its suicide in itself more likely to be associated with bipolar disorder than with any other condition. Discussion: Not all writers and artists suffer from major mood disorders. Likewise, most people who have a major mood disorder are not writers or artists. It seems counterintuitive that melancholy could be associated with artistic inspiration and productivity; the milder manic states would seem, at first thought, to be more obviously linked. In the case of Lord Byron, his temperament made him exquisitely responsive to virtually everything in his physical and psychological world; it gave him much of his great capacity for passion and understanding, as well as for suffering thus giving credence to the notion that there exists a correlation between bipolar disorder and poetic genius

‘CRAZINESS’ AND CREATIVITY: PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND POETRY

Not all poets have experienced psychopathology. Conversely, not all those who have experienced psychopathology become poets. The notion, nonetheless, of there being an association between ‘craziness’ and creativity, contentious though it may be, remains a seductive one. Poetry is both beneficial for the person who is composing or reciting it as well as the person who may be reading or listening to it. Poetry Therapy, which falls under the remit of Art Therapy, is increasingly being recognised as an effective form of adjunctive therapy for the treatment of mental health problems. The main aims of this paper are to explore (and to attempt to elucidate) if there is indeed a relationship between the artistic temperament and mental illness and to comment on the rise and recognition of Art Therapy

LESSONS FROM PSYCHIATRY IN THE ARAB WORLD A Lebanese Trainee Psychiatrist’s Qualitative Views on the Provision of Mental Healthcare Services for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon and an Interview with a Consultant Psychiatrist on the Effects of the Arab Spring on the Mental Health of Libyans

In this manuscript, a Lebanese trainee psychiatrist qualitatively analyses and discusses the provision of mental healthcare services for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. There are more than 250,000 Palestinian people sporadically dispersed in the refugee camps in Sidon, Beirut and other major cities in the Levant. Displacement, conflict, trauma, unemployment and poverty are but some of the myriad factors that influence Palestinian refugee mental health. This article traces the historical, political and socioeconomic determinants of health for Palestinians exiled in Lebanon and describes the pivotal role that the non-Govenmental Organisation Medical Aid for Palestinians is playing in helping to alleviate the psychiatric distress of Palestinian sufferers of mental illness. The latter half of the manuscript contains an interview with a consultant psychiatrist about his experiences volunteering in the war-torn lands of Libya post Arab Spring. He expounds on how he feels mental healthcare services in Libya are woefully inadequate and broaches on his perception of how the resilience and the ‘family-centric’ model of the Libyan people has conferred a certain degree of protection towards developing severe psychiatric illness

GLOBAL STRATEGIES TARGETING THE RECRUITMENT CRISIS IN PSYCHIATRY: THE DOCTORS ACADEMY FUTURE EXCELLENCE INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL SUMMER SCHOOL

Background: The World Health Organization has identified a chronic shortage of psychiatrists worldwide whereas the demand for mental health services is on the rise. Indeed mental health problems are projected to be a leading cause of morbidity by 2020 according to the Global Burden of Disease study. Bhugra et al, under the auspices of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the World Psychiatry Association, spearheaded an international study across 22 countries and identified myriad factors that can influence career choices at pre-medical school, medical school and postgraduate levels. The enthusiasm and passion of mental health educators and the quality of psychiatry placements were identified as factors that can attract medical and students and graduates to a career in psychiatry. The Future Excellence International Medical Summer School (FEIMSS) is a 5-day event for medical students held yearly in Manchester, UK. FEIMSS is the largest event of its kind in the world; the 2013 cohort was comprised of 244 students from 40 countries representing 80 universities. Aims: To improve the image of psychiatrists and the perception of psychiatry in general with 2 brief contact-based lectures from a consultant and an early-career psychiatrist. The lectures incorporated references to the humanities (literature, poetry, history, film, drama and art). Methods: A mixed-methods study was conducted. Paper evaluation forms were hand-distributed to participants who attended the psychiatry talks. Items to constructs relevant to the talks were on a Likert-type scale. Participants were given the choice of anonymity. There was space for free-text comments which were subjected to thematic analyses. Results: 25/25 of the participants responded (response rate 100%). The heterogeneous sample was comprised of participants representing 11 countries from Japan to Kosovo. The written feedback was exceptionally positive. For the, \u27The psychiatry talks were interesting\u27 and, \u27Attending FEIMMS improved my understanding and respect for other cultures\u27 constructs, 23/25 (92%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed. Discussion: Notwithstanding the limitations of our evaluation - which to our knowledge is the first of its kind on such an ethnically eclectic sample - our results suggest that a brief contact-based intervention incorporating the humanities may positively influence the perceptions of psychiatry and psychiatrists that medical students from diverse cultural backgrounds have. We contend that FEIMSS provides a platform to recruit medical students into psychiatry from all over the world and enables them to develop cultural competency

LIFESTYLE FACTORS AND MENTAL HEALTH

A number of lifestyle factors have been recognised to play an important role in positively modifying medical and psychiatric diseases and their associated morbidity and mortality. These include, eating healthy food, greater physical activity, cessation of smoking, avoidance of alcohol and illicit substances. Additional lifestyle factors for healthy living include, safe and peaceful environment, optimal sleep, de-stressing and enjoyable activities, social connections/support and healthy mental activities. Physicians from the ancient times, through the middle ages to the early 20th century have recommended adoption of healthy lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise to manage medical and psychiatric disorders without really understanding their scientific basis. In this short paper, we discuss the important role lifestyle factors play in morbidity and mortality related to many important and common medical and psychiatric diseases. We explore how and if positively modifying lifestyle factors can help to improve and or prevent medical and psychiatric disorders with particular emphasis on food, diet and exercise

PART I: MUSLIMS, SOCIAL INCLUSION AND THE WEST. EXPLORING CHALLENGES FACED BY STIGMATIZED GROUPS

The rise of radicalisation, the ‘demonization’ of Muslims in the media and the immigration crisis in Europe have all contributed and colluded to heightened levels of Islamophobia in the West. The stigmatisation of Muslims can and has resulted in negative outcomes in this group such as elevated levels of psychological distress and an increase in hate crime and terrorist attacks perpetrated against Muslims from members of the far right. There are 1.6 billion Muslims on the planet and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Now, more than ever it seems, is a critical time to learn about what the true message of Islam is and who the blessed prophet Muhammad peace be upon him (PBUH) was from reliable and authentic sources. This paper aims to challenge the stigma attached to Muslims through the following means: 1. It contains information to educate people about Islam, debunk myths and challenge negative stereotypes; 2. It utilizes the power of ‘story-telling’ to engage readers and to equip them with facts and the necessary skills to combat Islamophobia. Part I includes a brief introduction of Islam and concludes with a concise description and evaluation of an anti-Islamophobia programme that was piloted in Cambridge University (UK) and delivered as a Keynote Address at the Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies International Symposium of Clinical Neuroscience in Orlando, (USA). Our hope is that through this initiative we can create a critical mass and inspire and empower people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike to stand in solidarity and collectively challenge extremism in any of its many forms. Our hypothesis is that this will result in better outcomes such as reductions in radicalization and Islamophobia