Depression, Drink, and Dissipation
Depression, Drink, and Dissipation
Dysfunctional Lifestyles and Art as the Ultimate Stimulant
This chapter examines the prevalence of alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, and general mental health symptoms among journalist–literary figures, along with the connections that can be made between addiction and compulsive behaviors and the experiences in journalism that may have helped to foster them. The stereotype of the hard-drinking journalist pervades the work of journalists that both celebrate and condemn the lifestyle of the journalistic personality. Ernest Hemingway's romanticizing of drinking in the 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises provides a tragic counterpoint to the story of his last years—that of a depressed and despairing writer suffering from alcoholic psychosis, trying in vain to rediscover his lost talent, and ultimately committing suicide. This chapter first considers the depression, anxiety, and aberrant behavior found among journalist–literary figures before discussing their excessive drinking, drug abuse, and dysfunctional lives. It also looks at twentieth-century journalists and writers with addictive and psychologically compulsive behaviors, such as Charles Bukowski, Brendan Behan, and Thomas Paine.
Keywords: alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, mental health, journalists, addiction, compulsive behavior, anxiety, aberrant behavior, dysfunctional lives
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