How Did Vincent Van Gogh's Impact On Mental Health

How Vincent van Gogh’s artwork impacted mental health today

What do people think about when thinking about the famous artist Vincent van Gogh? Most people will typically think of his beautiful artwork, but what made his artwork so beautiful and impactful? Up until today’s point in time, many people didn’t acknowledge Van Gogh’s awful mental health. There is a great deal of evidence that Van Gogh suffered from multiple mental health issues as well as an Alcohol Use Disorder. Since mental health wasn’t talked about as much as it is today, Van Gogh was left feeling confused about everything that he was feeling, even writing in one of his notes “mental or nervous fever or madness, I do not know quite what to say or how to name it” (International

Art therapy is when someone puts their feelings that they cannot explain in words into art instead. Vincent van Gogh has helped many people today because he unknowingly used and heavily influenced a widely used coping mechanism for mental health called art therapy, which helped have a positive impact on people’s mental health today. Before going into exactly how Van Gogh used art therapy as a coping mechanism and helped influence it, it’s very important to talk about what art therapy really is, as well as how it has helped millions of people around the world. Art therapy as defined by the American Art Therapy Association as “...an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.” For many people it’s very hard to

Although he was never officially diagnosed, many professionals think that he probably had Bipolar I Disorder, which is defined by Mayo Clinic as a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). He also had an Alcohol use disorder, “...a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences.” (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). On top of that there is also evidence pointing towards the idea that Van Gogh had Borderline Personality Disorder, “...a mental health disorder that impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others, causing problems functioning in everyday life. It includes self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions and behavior, and a pattern of unstable relationships.” (Mayo Clinic). It was hard for him to put into words and describe to others everything that he was feeling, especially in the 1800’s when he would’ve sounded like a crazy person and been sent to a mental institute, so instead of explaining what he felt in words he explained how he felt through art. Many people can look at Vincent van Gogh’s artwork today and tell what he was feeling. Nearly all of his pieces of art can be used as examples of him using art therapy. In the biography Van Gogh: A life written by Gregory White Smith and