No one is more conscious of the faults of this work than the author. Therefore some self -criticism should be woven into this foreward. There are two possible methodologically pure solutions to this book's theme: a de scriptive catalog of the pictures couched in the language of natural science and accom panied by a clinical and psychopathological description of the patients, or a completely metaphysically based investigation of the process of pictorial composition. According to the latter, these unusual works, explained psychologically, and the exceptional circum stances on which they are based would be integrated as a playful variation of human expression into a total picture of the ego under the concept of an inborn creative urge, behind which we would then only have to discover a universal need for expression as an instinctive foundation. In brief, such an investigation would remain in the realm of phenomenologically observed existential forms, completely independent of psychiatry and aesthetics. The compromise between these two pure solutions must necessarily be piecework and must constantly defend itself against the dangers of fragmentation. We are in danger of being satisfied with pure description, the novelistic expansion of details and questions of principle; pitfalls would be very easy to avoid if we had the use of a clearly outlined method. But the problems of a new, or at least never seriously worked, field defy the methodology of every established subject.

In the fall of 2016, Sarasota Herald-Tribune staff writer Carrie Seidman launched an art/ journalism project, in conjunction with her fellowship from the Carter Center for Mental Health Journalism, aimed at eliminating prejudice against individuals with mental illness. FACEing Mental Illness: The Art of Acceptance invited individuals within the community with a mental health condition of any kind, to create a self-portrait exploring their feelings about their challenges. A series of free workshops were held monthly, where art supplies and professional guidance were available to all. Many participants also chose to share their mental health journeys in depth, through interviews and in videos, and their stories ran weekly in the Herald-Tribune. Hundreds of community members volunteered time or gave generously to help underwrite the costs of the supplies, workshops, transportation and a film documenting the project's progress. Dozens of local business contributed in-kind services, from framing to refreshments. The project culminated with a month-long exhibition of all the project artwork at the Selby Public Library in downtown Sarasota in March 2017. In the following pages, you will find many of the stories and most of the artwork created for the project. It is our hope that community efforts like this one will help change our culture's attitudes about mental illness and promote better mental health for everyone. Portraits by Sarasota Herald-Tribune photojournalists Artwork photography by Wayne Eastep

One of the original attempts to analyze the artistic work of the mentally ill, Prinzhorn's collection of drawings, paintings, and sculptures helps to define an area encompassing psychiatry and art, illness and self-expression. Where other collections are only the products of psychotherapeutic case studies, this heavily illustrated, classic analysis stands in valuable contrast by presenting purely spontaneous and original works.

The mental health system in America is hardly the front-burner issue it should be, despite lip service about reform after each new tragic mass killing. Yet every American should care deeply about fixing a system a presidential commission reported was in “shambles.” By some measures, 20 percent of Americans have some sort of mental health condition, including the most vulnerable among us—veterans, children, the elderly, prisoners, the homeless.With Mental Health, Inc., award-winning investigative journalist Art Levine delivers a Shock Doctrine-style exposé of the failures of our out of control, profit-driven mental health system, with a special emphasis on dangerous residential treatment facilities and the failures of the pharmaceutical industry, including the overdrugging of children with antipsychotics and the disastrous maltreatment of veterans with PTSD by the scandal-wracked VA.Levine provides compelling narrative portraits of victims who needlessly died and some mentally ill people who won unexpected victories in their lives by getting smart, personalized help from “pyschosocial” programs that incorporate safe and appropriate prescribing, along with therapy and social support. He contrasts their stories with corrupt Big Pharma executives and researchers who created fraudulent marketing schemes. Levine also tells the dramatic David vs. Goliath stories of a few brave reformers, including Harvard-trained psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Stefan Kruszewski, who has acted as a whistleblower in several major cases, leading to important federal and state settlements; in addition, the book spotlights pioneering clinicians challenging outmoded, drug-and-sedate practices that leave 90 percent of people with serious mental illness too disabled to work.By taking a comprehensive look at mental health abuses and dangerous, ineffective practices as well as pointing toward solutions for creating a system for effective, proven and compassionate care, Art Levine’s essential Mental Health, Inc. is a call to action for politicians and citizens alike—needed now more than ever.

Collecting ten case histories along with over ninety illustrations, this title focuses on the author's anthropological synthesis of psychoanalysis and art theory.