National Bad Poetry Day, part 4: Famous poets who struggled with mental health
Edgar Allen Poe, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath were all famous poets who struggled with mental health issues. Riddled with bipolar disorder, depression and suicidal ideations, these famous poets created poems that were racy and dark, and alluded to their mental instabilities. Was it their mental illnesses that drove them to write their famous poetry? Or did poetry unmask their mental illnesses? Studies have shown that expression through writing can be cathartic for people who are struggling with mental illness.