Explore a new side of artists whose work you know by considering their mental health state and the ways it may have shaped their works. Anyone who considers themselves creative, who enjoys looking at art, or who finds comfort in art while living in our high-tech, high-stress era, will be intrigued by the mental-wellness issues that each artist has lived with. --What's behind the idea that "madness" is linked to creativity? --Does having an artistic temperament mean that creative people operate in a mental state different from the "norm"? --And why is art often used as therapy for mental illnesses? The artists discussed in the main chapters and sidebars reflect a wide range of mental health topics, including anxiety and depression, substance abuse, bipolar conditions, body dysmorphia, disordered eating, institutional racism, and PTSD, among others. Includes: Albrecht Durer Vincent van Gogh Michelangelo Buonarotti Francisco Goya --Sidebar: Disability & Illness Edvard Munch --Sidebar: Influence on Contemporary Artists: Tracey Emin Georgia O'Keeffe Joan Miro Alice Neel --Sidebar: Artists and Suicide Mark Rothko Jacob Lawrence Diane Arbus Gustave Doré Frida Kahlo Leonora Carrington --Sidebar: Body Image and Art Yayoi Kusama --Sidebar: Institutional Racism & Trauma Jean-Michel Basquiat --Sidebar: Gender Identity and Dysphoria Richard Dadd Louis Wain Aloise Corbaz Agnes Martin