Artistic Creativity and Mental Health
VIEW EVENT DETAILSFriday, 12th January, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
It has long been established that artistic qualities and emotional expression go hand-in-hand, leading to tropes like the ‘mad genius.’ Plato said, in as early as the fourth century, that creative expression comes not from logic or intellect, but from divine inspiration from the Muses. Because creative output resists quantification, it can also resist definition – but art like writing and music are also now sub-disciplines in psychology, used to heal and cope with mental distress in unusual, effective ways, a fitting extension to the work of one of the founding psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, Hermann Rorschach, who instituted the use of creative, abstract expression, through the Rorschach Test, to allow patients to express parts of their personality that verbal language could not reach. Psychoanalyst Theodor Reik wrote in 1953 that “melodies which run through your mind… may give the analyst a clue about the secret life of emotions that every one of us lives.”
Experts in mental health and psychiatry continue to turn to expression to understand both how it can fuel mental well-being, and its link to mental health and illness. What is creativity? How do we define, measure and understand it? What is its relationship to mental health and mental illness? Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Dr. David Goldbloom, will deliver a lecture exploring these questions from a historical and scientific lens. Dr. Goldbloom is a renowned psychiatrist, and has been bestowed the state honour of being Officer of the Order of Canada. He is also a music enthusiast, and sits on the board of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Using a clinical and creative approach, Dr. Goldbloom will merge the ideas of creativity and mental health, offering new insights into these seemingly disparate disciplines.
Our series on mental health is now in its third season. This capsule of discussions will focus on mental health and social fabrics, and how our social realities in India shape our sense of self; our identity; and our mental well-being. In the past, we have looked at addiction, disorders, the impact of the pandemic on specific populations, art and creativity – you can learn more here. This series is supported by the Raika Godrej Family Trust.
Attendance is free, and is by registration. Please note: Asia Society members will receive priority.
SPEAKER
Dr. David Goldbloom was born in Montreal and raised in Quebec and Nova Scotia. He completed an honours degree, majoring in Government, at Harvard University and then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where he obtained an M.A. in Physiological Sciences. He trained in medicine and psychiatry at McGill University and is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Goldbloom's activities have been recognized and awarded by his peers and students. He has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters and has provided talks and lectures to student, professional and public audiences. He is the editor of two textbooks in psychiatry and co-author with Dr. Pier Bryden of the best-selling book “How Can I Help? A Week in My Life as a Psychiatrist” (2016), now also available in French and Mandarin. His latest book is “We Can Do Better: Urgent Innovations to Improve Mental Health Access and Care” (2021). He was the founding Physician-in-Chief at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and subsequently Senior Medical Advisor there until his retirement from clinical practice in 2022. He served as Vice-Chair and then Chair of the Board of the Mental Health Commission of Canada from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Boards of the Graham Boeckh Foundation and The Daymark Foundation. In addition to his professional activities, Dr. Goldbloom is a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a past Chair of the Board of Governors of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
This event is in collaboration with:
Event Details
Auditorium, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai