Sylvia plath biography wiki

Phenomenon of poets being more susceptible to mental illness

The Sylvia Plath effect is the phenomenon that poets are more susceptible to mental illness than other creative writers.

The term was coined in by psychologist James C. Kaufman, and implications and possibilities for future research are discussed.^[1] The effect is named after author Sylvia Plath, who died by suicide at the age of

Building on the more general research that, from early adolescence through adulthood, women are twice as likely as men to experience depression,^[2] Kaufman's work further demonstrated that female poets were more likely to experience mental illness than any other class of writers.

In addition, female poets were more likely to be mentally ill than other eminent women, such as politicians, actresses, and artists.^[1][3]

Although many studies (e.g., Andreasen, ; Jamison, ; Ludwig, ) have demonstrated that creative writers are prone