The Genre of Mental Illness

Catherine Owen

''Might Mean Something'': The Genre of Mental Illness by Catherine Owen is an interesting essay. Its opening's last sentence is a quote from Anne Sexton and what her psychologist told her once she began to write poetry. ''Don't kill yourself, your poems might mean something to someone else someday.'' I sort of felt engulfed in the page after I read that. I could definitely relate because that is the reason behind why I began writing this blog in the first place, because it might mean something to someone someday.

Owen writes on mental illness as a genre. She explains how it is filtered through language and that mental illness has so many connotations: mad, insane, deranged, etc. But if it were taught somewhere in an accurate way, it could be beneficial, states Professor Amirault, who teaches the Culture of Mental Illness at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He says it's mostly seen as abnormal.

Owen's interpretation on writing mental illness is interesting: ''Writing mental illness can be like trying to describe dreams.  Incomprehensible at times, almost untranslatable, missives projected from a real hazy, dim, full of ragings, rife with supposedly illogical rituals or symbology.'' She then goes on to say that people outside of the nightmare don't understand and go on as if nothing happened. This is incredibly true! No one but the person who had the dream will completely understand. People outside of the nightmare often write people off with labels, while the people suffering through the real-life nightmare fear public burdens and judgement.

The connection between creativity and mental health issues is brought up. Ren Powell says, ''The more severe the mental illness, the greater the creative ability. [Yet], mental illness is not seen as an advantage.  It's not something an established, serious writer puts on her CV." Poetry/prose writing is a way to unleash the noise from within the soul of someone suffering something. It is therapeutic.

Pryal's Four Techniques of ''Mood Memoirs'' is touched on within Owen's essay.  First, the writer apologizes and defends/justifies their project, secondly they explain their moment of awakening to the existence of their illness, thirdly they bash bad doctors, and lastly they make claims to others suffering from mood disorders in hopes of making things normal.

I found these techniques all too relatable! When I first wrote my blog on mental health awareness (rockland92.blogspot.ca), I felt the need to defend and justify it, I explained my moment of awakening and the claim to other sufferers in order to normalize it. I didn't, however, bash doctors.

Finally, Owen says that if mental illness is indeed a genre, it's more of a range of genres through prose (with rational examples) and poetry (more conducive writing).

She ends her essay with this insightful quote from Phillip K Dick:

''The first thing to depart in mental illness is the familiar.  And what takes its place is bad news because not only can you not understand it, you also cannot communicate it to other people. The mad man experiences something, but what it is or where it comes from he does not know.''

Catherine Owen is a poet from Vancouver and her essay is from the 4th edition of Poetry is Dead 2013.
Poetry is Dead website : http://poetryisdead.ca/
Catherine Owen website: http://www.catherineowen.org/#!

Poetry/music video tribute to her deceased husband: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Q6IRWZ6RY