Recently, the "No. 600 Gallery" of the Shanghai Mental Health Center reopened after renovation and launched a new exhibition. Dr. Chen Zhimin of the Shanghai Mental Health Center was the curator of the first exhibition of 600 Gallery, where he studied whether famous writers had mental disorders and their impact on their creations, as well as the art of the mentally ill and psychiatric films.
In this issue of Shanghai Lounge, we invite Dr. Chen Zhimin to share his research on the direction of literary and artistic celebrities, and explain to us where the mental stress of celebrities comes from, the connection between mental disorders and art, and how modern people can cope with competition and relieve stress.
On July 1st, Gallery 600, which reopened after renovation, welcomed its first visitors
Study of literary and artistic celebrities who suffer from mental disorders
Q Morning News: Your current main research direction is psychopathological biographies, which should be a research direction related to humanities, right?
Chen Zhimin: This is a research direction that closely intersects psychiatry and humanities, and it is correct to say that this belongs to the category of typical humanities. The study is on those literary and artistic celebrities who have suffered from mental disorders in history, whether they suffer from mental disorders, and how their mental disorders have affected their literary and artistic creation, which may have good and bad effects. Because these literary and artistic celebrities have relatively high literary and artistic achievements, have a relatively rich spiritual world, and have a long overlap between those who suffer from mental disorders and those who have been engaged in literary and artistic creation, they can reflect a richer and deeper interrelationship between mental disorders and literary and artistic creation, and they are also the best research objects to study this topic.
Research requires a full understanding of the life and creative career of celebrities, which is actually time-consuming and requires a high level of artistic vision for the researcher. In fact, it's just a celebrity as a case study, and it's going to go on and on, and I've studied 28 celebrities so far. Although 460,000 words have been written in this area, and a new book is about to be published, I personally feel that such research is not enough. Because the artistic achievements of these celebrities are very high, a single celebrity can be studied for a lifetime.
In 2021, Chen Zhimin shared an operational instruction video for psychopathological biographical research on station B
Q News Morning Post Thoughtful: The theme of the new exhibition of "Gallery 600" is "Love, Food and Life", and some netizens talked about the case of the famous American pop music singer Karen Carpenter, who is said to have died young because of anorexia.
A Chen Zhimin: Karen Carpenter is known to the public outside of her musical achievements in that she was one of the first celebrities to publicly combat anorexia nervosa, and one of the most severe and symptomatic people, dying of heart failure caused by anorexia at the age of 32. Her case played an important role in the gradual public attention of anorexia nervosa.
The common reason that connects the mental disorder of an acting star like Karen who suffers from an eating disorder with the success of acting is the pursuit of perfection. In the low-barrier and highly competitive entertainment industry, those who are diligent, have unlimited pursuit of artistic quality and almost demanding self-requirements have a greater probability of success, and they are also more likely to suffer from eating disorders.
The theme of the new exhibition is "Love, Food and Life"
Q News Morning Post: Recently, Jiaotong University Press published your new book "Psychiatry in Film", and you once put forward a point: "Movies are a good window to understand mental disorders. ”
A Chen Zhimin: For those who are interested in mental health and psychiatry, it is not difficult to notice those special characters on the movie screen - from the stubborn but innocent "Rain Man" in "Rain Man", to the brave and unruly Murphy in "One Flew Over the Asylum", from the math-obsessed and tenacious struggle against illness in "A Beautiful Mind", to the frustrated and wise Max in "Mary and Max". Yes, they are some of the characters who can be diagnosed with a mental disorder.
Psychiatry in Cinema (by Chen Zhimin, published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press)
Q News Morning Post: Last weekend's lecture at the Minhang campus was also a sensitive reading session at the Minhang Library, with guests including director Zhu Feng and teacher Tang Weijie, and you mentioned that Zhou Xuan had been treated at the Shanghai Mental Health Center.
A Chen Zhimin: Zhou Xuan was convalescent in the Shanghai Psychiatric Sanatorium (now the Shanghai Mental Health Center) in the mid-50s of the last century. When Zhou Xuan was hospitalized, the old experts in our hospital paid great attention to it. At that time, he also left a precious photo of historical information, that is, the photo of the old dean Su Zonghua and the director Su Fu talking with Zhou Xuan in the garden.
On the afternoon of June 30, Chen Zhimin and the guests were at the lecture of the Min Reading Club
In 1956, Su Zonghua and Su Fu talked with Zhou Xuan (file photo)
Q News Morning Post Thoughtful: Now there are also celebrities who suffer from depression. Why are movie stars under pressure? How to relieve stress?
A Chen Zhimin: The pressure on celebrities is indeed very high, and the sources of these pressures are also varied. For example, filming requires continuous rotation, and people are very tired. After the movie is released, I am worried that the box office will not be good, it will be criticized by the public, it will be attacked or even slandered by public opinion, and it will be necessary to compete with others for the opportunity to become famous or the exposure of public opinion, etc. is also because some celebrities have a strong desire to be famous, and they put pressure on themselves. It's hard to relieve the pressure, because if you want to go into this Vanity Fair, you will inevitably invite all kinds of disturbances in Vanity Fair. Unless you can get rid of the obsession with fame and fortune in your heart, look at the ups and downs with a normal heart, and concentrate your mind on creating good works of art. Otherwise, there is no way to get rid of these pressures.
There is a strong link between mental disorders and art
Q Morning News: You once participated in the establishment and operation of "600 Gallery", which encourages people with mental disorders to express themselves in art, how do you see the relationship between art and mental illness?
Chen Zhimin: There is a close relationship between mental disorders and art, which is what my research direction aims to answer. On the one hand, mental disorders do have certain benefits for literary and artistic creation, such as bringing unique perspectives, rich materials, and abundant creative passion. There are many artists whose outlook on life and lifestyle are maverick, uninhibited, and shocking, which also gives people a certain impression that the more unique and publicized a person's spirit is, the more outstanding life experience can be brought about, and then good creations and great artistic charm can be generated.
The ancients once said: "You must be cautious before you stand up, and you must be debauched for the sake of literature" is also the same truth. On the other hand, artistic creation can also cause damage to mental health and mental disorders. For example, being overly engaged in high-intensity work harms the body, being out of step with the daily life around you because of the value of art being too high-minded, and putting one's mind in a state of sickness in order to be inspired. Therefore, mental disorders are closely related to art, not only because "you write well when you are sick", but also because you are sick because you write well.
Installation view of "Gallery 600".
Understanding these rules can help promote mental health and artistic creation. In the process of supporting patients in the ward to become artists, I paid attention to the spiritual healing effect of artistic creation on the one hand, and on the other hand, I also paid attention to avoid disturbing their mental health caused by creation.
Q Morning News: Some people say that a painter's painting may have a variety of external factors, but the painting of a mentally handicapped person is his whole world, what do you think about this?
Chen Zhimin: That's true. Artistic creation is a complex process, and artists are also subject to pressure and interference from various aspects, for example, to change their artistic style because of criticism, or to cater to popular styles in order to sell their paintings, and this interference actually starts at school. In fact, many artists are unable to fully express their inner spiritual world, and often accept the rules and regulations of existing art schools and art techniques in the process of art training. There is a gap between this kind of artistic expression and the real human heart, and there is even a kind of bondage and distortion of the soul. Here, the creations of people with mental disorders have a unique value. They don't paint to be famous, they don't paint to make money, and they never want to imitate and copy the existing art genres in the past, they are completely free and true to express their feelings and use their creativity.
Dr. Chen Zhimin arranges a work at "Gallery 600".
In the process of accompanying patients to create, I can also feel that some patients really love artistic creation, they devote themselves to creation without distractions, and take the expression of beauty as the purest thing to do, which makes their works have a sincere texture. On the other hand, it is also because their lives are too monotonous, or because of their mental disorders, they have accumulated a lot of unique feelings and thoughts, and they have no better way to express their hearts other than art.
Painting therapy is a very good means of healing
Q News Morning Post Thoughtful: When you were working with the community before, you used to help some patients with mental disorders relieve psychological pressure and improve their mental health through painting art healing.
Chen Zhimin: I have done a little bit of work in the community to help people with mental disorders to create art, but it is still very insufficient, mainly because of my lack of personal energy, and I have not found a suitable community rehabilitation institution for long-term cooperation. However, painting therapy is a very good means to help patients recover, and it is also the most convenient rehabilitation method to operate in rehabilitation institutions, because it has low cost, low requirements for venues, suitable for both individual expression and group interaction, low skill requirements, easy preservation and exhibition of works, and can express the heart more deeply and freely in painting.
In the future, if I have the opportunity, I will be able to open a rehabilitation institution featuring art healing in the community, like the Nanjing artist Guo Haiping, to attract patients and friends who have the desire and talent to create, provide them with material conditions for creation, communication and exhibition, and support them to become artists. On the one hand, it can help patients realize the value of life, and on the other hand, it can become a window to show the face of patients and overcome social stigma through artworks.
Dr. Chen Zhimin inspects the works at Gallery 600
Q News Morning Post Thoughtful: "Volume" is a key word that many people often hang on their lips now, in your opinion, how can modern people deal with competition and relieve pressure?
Chen Zhimin: This is a very interesting topic, and there can be many angles of analysis. volume, to divide ineffective involution and meaningful competition. What everyone really dislikes is ineffective involution, because it will add a lot of ineffective labor, increase the suspicion of colleagues and the sense of worthlessness of work, make people doubt their own value, and the company intentionally or unintentionally induces involution to make people disgusted with it. And meaningful competition can make talented people stand out and make a difference, so that people can work hard and enjoy their work. This requires people to have the courage to rebel and improve the environment of involution, and to find work that makes them feel worthwhile.
Volume is also the general trend of social development, is a side of modern society with fast pace, many opportunities, fierce competition and high productivity, and it is also because of the participation of a group of self-motivated people that the group has become a volume. On the other hand, if it is an environment in which a group is solidified, unenterprising, rigid and sluggish, it is suffocating and desperate for self-motivated people. In fact, those who want to lie flat will not feel that lying flat and a hopeless career is good. So, we also have to see the positive side of the volume. Personally, I think that to deal with the volume, we must first be moderate, and if it is too rolled, we must overcome and protest, and if we can't overcome it, we will leave, and if we can't leave, we will relieve the pressure on ourselves.