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Post by Admin on Jan 7, 2019 16:34:46 GMT -4
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Post by Rachel B on Jan 7, 2019 18:32:38 GMT -4
Kanye West has most definitely changed since he found stardom and since his earliest albums the College Dropout in 2004, Late Registration in 2005, and even Graduation in 2007. He has proven to be very successful, a wonderful music collaborator, and an influencer in culture and in the R and B/Hip Hop scene. However, as of lately, the last 1-2 years, fans, friends, other rappers, have seen erratic behavior, tweets, responses, and even songs that just don’t seem close to normal or like his “old self”. In 2017, Kanye was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. In late 2018 he started to show more and more erratic behavior. In October of 2018 he stated that it was a “misdiagnosis” . He has now admitted to being off his meds. In his random and weird encounter or appointment he had at the White House Oval office with President Trump, his bizarre behavior, pressure speech, flight of ideas, and BPD signs and symptoms became very clearly visible to the world. Originally Kanye was more to himself regarding public health concerns, mental health, his diagnosis, and politics. Four months after him sharing his BPD disorder he started to take back his diagnosis. Possibly he didn’t like it being public anymore and wanted to take it back? Perhaps it was in a manic state when he decided he would reveal his mental health to the world. His songs have changed, his lyrics sometimes quoting his diagnosis or flip flopping on the way he feels, his fans have changed, his politics have changed. Some fans have praised him for being public about his diagnosis, maybe they too suffer from a mental illness and were happy to have the public awareness and support. However, as of late Oct 2018, takes his illness back, states it’s a misdiagnosis, and now is reportedly off his meds. Was he off his mood stabilizers during the production of his latest album Ye ? Was he off his meds during his encounter with Trump at the Oval Office? Being so famous most definitely is stressful. I am sure this does not help his (mis)diagnosis. Either way, it is evident he needs some help and many people are worried about his mental state. www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/12/kanye-west-and-dangers-quitting-psychiatric-medication/578647/ |
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Post by Kritika S on Jan 8, 2019 11:37:31 GMT -4
The article is interesting in that it reiterates opinions of Artists throughout history. When artists are in a period of mania or psychosis, they tend to believe that the work they produce is wonderful. But as discussed, the artists omit to realize the public perception of the work. This explains why West believes his dark-themed work were brilliant and his creative ability are restricted by the medication. Although West has the right to refuse medication as long as he’s not causing harm to others, considering the broad audience he’s able to reach, he should not be verbalizing thoughts of noncompliance and discontinuation of medications. In a society where mental health stigma has only recently reduced, such actions risk promoting noncompliance and refusal of medication to those who especially need it due to the celebrity’s influence.
One thing West is unable to realize is that he has access to resources that the average person does not, which in a sense provides a level of security around him. Therefore if something happens to him, his family can help him through a wider range of treatments which is not accessible to others if healthcare insurance doesn’t cover it, also discussed in the article. Unfortunately, because West is currently not on his medications and likely in a manic phase, he is not able to understand the danger of the situation.
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Post by Aqsa A on Jan 8, 2019 13:27:16 GMT -4
This article highlights an interesting point: the struggles of medication adherence that creative/artistic psychiatric patients face. As mentioned in the article, the mania phase of bipolar disorder accounts for many individuals to feel creatively blunted while on their medication. This is why many individuals prefer to stop taking their medication. However, the content they produce while in their manic phase may not be perceived as creatively brilliant or good content to everyone else. In Kanye’s case, he believes he must be off his medication for the sake of his creativity and that he was misdiagnosed to begin with. His non-adherence to medication has affected his perception of his illness and made him believe he is limited in his abilities while being on it. Studies favor the idea that good creative content is made while patients are on their medication because they run a lower risk for symptoms encompassing their diagnosis, such as depression. Treatment that is made to make an artist’s life survivable is arguably better in the long run for the artist to create better content. Interestingly enough, the article also states that creative people are more likely to have a psychiatric diagnosis, which is why it is essential to properly treat the individuals.
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Post by Ryan Rode on Jan 8, 2019 13:53:24 GMT -4
The article mentions that Kanye is
"promoting one of mental health’s most persistent and dangerous myths: that suffering is necessary for great art." This is an interesting thought and is certainly not a myth that I became aware of during my 4 years in art school. I can, however, understand how this myth may have perpetuated.
There have been famous and influential artists with mental illnesses (Van Gogh, Goya, Edvard Munch, etc) and there is probably a higher proportion of creative people with mental illness than in the general population, but the vast majority of famous artists did not have a mental illness and were not subject to suffering outside the norm of the times in which they lived.
There is definitely more awareness about mental illness in artists however. Perhaps this is due to the fact that people seem to find poetic beauty in the idea of the suffering artist. People are drawn to 'dirty laundry' stories involving famous artists while they may not think to look up dirt on a group of law professionals that practiced in the late 1800s for example. Perhaps this bias has skewed our perception of the true proportion of creative people with mental illness.
Regardless, the dangers of this myth are clear in the article. Highly influential people talking about getting off their psychiatric medications like it's the best thing that ever happened to their creative process can't be good. People do listen to Kanye and they look up to him. His stance is likely to influence others to get off their meds in the hope of better creativity. Patient education is needed to increase awareness of this issue and explain that with the right medications, their creative process is actually less likely to be blunted by recurrent depressive episodes, manic episodes, psychotic decompensations, panic attacks, etc.
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Post by Mercy on Jan 8, 2019 15:54:48 GMT -4
Illusory correlation was something I found interesting in the article. It is how we can convince our mind to connect situations or believe there is a connection where in fact none exists. This affirms the mind is an important part of patient’s health. It also supports George Patton’s quote “If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do… the body is never tired if the mind is not tired.” He has been able to completely deny the fact that he was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and that this could be his mind playing a trick on him. He has also failed to notice that his new normal might in fact be abnormal. The fact that he is not compliant with his medication could explain his involvement in politics which was not the case in the past.
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Post by C. Brown on Jan 8, 2019 20:56:12 GMT -4
This article has brought up a very interesting consideration about individuals who are innately creative and artistic but suffer from psychiatric conditions. The concern by these individuals, also expressed by Kanye West is that these medications stifle their creativity. Without medication, many of these individuals are not able to function effectively in society. Compliance is encouraged in order to help them treat their disorder without many of the troubling symptoms they may experience. At the same time, I do believe that the claims of creative suppression are valid. I believe in these cases physicians need to be attentive to the effect the medications are having and to the way the patient may describe how they are feeling on them. It may become necessary to titrate medications on an individual basis.
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Post by Devinne D. on Jan 8, 2019 21:41:27 GMT -4
Mood stabilizers and antidepressants probably do alter one's perception and therefore, one's creative process. But as a modern society in a developed country, mental health and wellness has finally been brought to the forefront and has started to become prioritized over art. If you read the responses on Kanye’s tweet regarding his quitting medication, the vast majority of his followers do not support his decision as it is a danger to his health to not be on his prescribed medications. It is difficult to determine whether or not Kanye truly did discontinue his medications or if this is just a publicity stunt since our only sources of information are tabloid articles and his Twitter account. I think the stress of being a celebrity is enough to send most people to a therapist, so it is hard to imagine how one could function “normally” if they were to live like Kanye. Even if Kanye is no longer medicated, he is most likely surrounded by many supportive individuals who can quickly access mental health services should he need them in the future.
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Post by Ibrahim Ali on Jan 8, 2019 22:46:19 GMT -4
This article was very interesting and involves quite a bit of medical ethics. As health professionals, our duty is to act in the best interest of patients and to safely promote health, so I agree that patients should adhere to their appropriately prescribed therapies. However, assuming the patient is low risk for physical harm to themselves or others, we must also respect the decision patients make regarding their treatment. Since continuing treatment is ultimately the patient’s decision, I believe that health professionals should emphasize patient education and strive to create a cooperative and trustful relationship with their patients to best manage them. I have a hard time believing that Kanye’s bipolar was “misdiagnosed”, but the fact he thinks that suggests he doesn’t trust his provider and might not entirely understand his illness and its management. Kanye could probably benefit after some education, but overall, I think situations like this should be managed on a case by case basis.
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Post by Farnaz on Jan 9, 2019 11:17:39 GMT -4
The belief that psychoticopic medications somehow take something “human” away from the patient ties into the general cynicism about the field of psychiatry itself. This negative view of the field stems from the suspicions that psychiatry is not really effective. It is one thing to believe that our physical body can be understood, but there has always been a resistant to the idea that our psyche is also an understandable entity, that our behaviors can be predictable. Kanye West, is publicly denouncing the value of treatment for him. as a public figure, on one hand that can be detrimental as it could discourage others from seeking treatment- essentially glorifying not being treated, but on the other hand, by having a very public unstable display, it could become an accessible anecdote what could go wrong if one is not treated.
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Post by Jody Barnhardt on Jan 9, 2019 13:05:28 GMT -4
This article highlights the struggles of psychiatric medicine compliance among artistic populations. Using Kanye West’s recent tweets about his Bipolar Diagnosis, the author points out that many artists believe the cannot be creative while on mood stabilizers or antipsychotics. I thought two points mentioned were particularly interesting. The author, Esme Wang, points out that her schizoaffective disorder may have originally inspired her creativity, but that her disorder also has hindered her ability to express her creativity. I also find it particularly interesting that he likened the artists’ belief that they are more creative when they are manic to people having deep conversations when stoned. It particularly highlights the lack of self-awareness that mental illness can bring to a person and how much of their work may not actually be done from a manic state.
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