Ernest Hemingway was an incredible figure of the twentieth century.

He was a
huge contributor to literature and has come to be regarded as a literary genius along with
the accompaniment of some serious psychological setbacks. It was noted that he had a
biological predisposition for mood disorders and alcoholism and also suffered the
characterological fallout of a childhood spent under the care of parents with their own
unpredictable mood swings and disorienting inconsistencies. The result was a deeply
troubled, though resilient offspring (Martin, 2006). As many people studied and worked
to uncover his lifelong struggles with psychological conditions the following were
concluded to have effected him throughout his life: bipolar disorder, alcohol dependence,
traumatic brain injury, and borderline and narcissistic personality traits. I will analyze
Hemingway, his life, and his psychological troubles throughout this work.
In understanding the life and struggles of Hemingway, I find it important to
describe and define each of the following conditions as well as their characteristics. The
first of which, Bipolar disorder, is a mood disorder in which he persons mood swings
from euphoric, manic stages to depression. These periods are characterized by extreme
and uncontrollable clinical mania, in which the person may act incoherent, irrational,
hyperactive, as well as display unhealthy behavior. The periods of depression are
considerably longer than normal periods. Hemingways personality characteristics may
otherwise be acknowledged as personality disorders, which prescribe that people have
personalities completely beyond social norms, although the individual may believe their
behaviors to be completely normal and non-maladaptive. Lastly, in regards to his alcohol
dependence, it can be characterized by the term addiction. Addiction refers to anytime a
person continues to exhibit harmful or obsessive behavior, where in Hemingways case it
involved the consumption of alcohol. (Martin 2006)
After analyzing and understanding Ernest Hemingways psychological disorders
in accordance to the DSM-5, I researched his history and searched for his personal
alignment with the 8 properties of creative individuals, developed by Ludwig. In my
analysis, Hemingway could be characterized by three of Ludwigs 8. The one
characteristic that Hemingway portrayed was the presence of a physical trial early in his
life. Aside from the fact that his family history and genetics made him entirely subject to
develop a mood disorder and many other psychological troubles, Hemingway became a
heavy drinker after the failure of his first marriage and suicide of his father. This two
events represent seriously life altering events and/or experiences. His drinking damaged
his liver, and inevitably led to the occurrence of many drunken accidents. Hemingway
lacerated his scalp and obtained several too many concussions. He was in a serious plane
crash in 1954, where he experienced his 5th and worst brain injury of his life, in which he
fractured his skull and was subject to diplopia, temporary deafness, as well as serious
liver, spleen, and kidney injuries. The repetitive injuries may have served to destabilize
the course of Hemingways mood disorder and predispose to the severe psychotic
episodes he developed later in life, as well as to the possibility of cognitive
decline(Martin, 2006). He was also subject to childhood abuse and traumatic
experiences in World Wars I and II. The second property Hemingway displayed
throughout his life was the capacity for solitude and self-reliance. He lost his father,
maintained a poor relationship with his mother, for whom he blamed for the death of his
father, and destroyed marriages and relationships as the result of his alcoholism. In the
article, the author states his relationships seemed plagued by conflict and
instability(Martin, 2006). He was very narcissistic, competitive, and aggressive within
many if not all of his interpersonal relationships. For all of these reasons he was
definitely more recluse and self- reliance. Lastly, Hemingways works portray a very
personal and distinctive style. He wrote many fictional stories in pertinence to his life
experiences. He wrote in order to re-create exact sensations he underwent and
experienced for the reader and had a very different writing style than many artists of his
time. His writing style influenced the writers to follow him.
Although Ernest Hemingways lifestyle in no way reflects the typical
representation of an intellectual individual, he was recognized for his amazing
contributions to literature, but his work did much more than create his image as an artist.
There is much proof that writing was an outlet for Hemingway. People who analyzed his
work identified his writing as an adaptive defensive strategy for dealing with painful
mood and suicidal impulses (Martin, 2006). It was believed that he told stories to ease
the pain he experienced from them. One example was his story, A Farewell to Arms,
where he fictionalizes but otherwise recreates an experience he had at war. His evidence
in using writing, as an outlet is obvious for his works although twisted, pertain to his life
and his experiences. This defense mechanism was something to help him, but it was not
enough. He refused medical treatment and continued his maladaptive behavior, and
eventually lost his battle to depression and suicide. As for how I feel art contributed to his
experiences with mental illness is primarily positive. I believed art allowed him to extend
his life and protect him from more harm, but I do not feel it fostered or fueled his mental
illnesses and troubles.
The article I used to primarily evaluate Ernest Hemingway and his battle with
psychiatric disorders is titled, Ernest Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy of a Suicide,
and was written by Christopher D. Martin. Within this article I find it important to note
the author openly acknowledges the limitations of the psychological evaluations of
Hemingway. The author writes that in the absence of a clinical evaluation of the
subject one must speculate based on fragments of the subjects writings, other
surviving documents, and biography(Martin, 2006). In studying Ludwigs Biography
research, I was informed about the impact of biographers and their views on mental
illness in artists. Ludwig prescribed that biographers were less likely than psychiatrists to
believe in advance that a person has a mental illness making them less biased than a
psychiatrists notes. He also stated that biographers typically draw information about their
subjects from a variety of sources. Both of these factors played an active role in my
analysis of the article I read and utilized. It is important to realize that the majority of the
biographies recorded Hemingways life with a significant emphasis on his psychiatric
difficulties, mood swings, manic-depressive behavior, and alcohol troubles. There is also
a lot of emphasis placed on his suicidal notes and conversations, which were obviously
dramatic and intensive evidential pieces, used in the analysis and determined severity of
his troubles (Martin, 2006). For these reasons, I do believe in the possibility that some of
the information and results in studying Hemingways mental state could be overstated.
There is also the possibility of selection bias in this event, for the study of his suicide
likely focus on information encouraging and strongly supporting his serious
psychological illnesses.
 References

Martin, C.D. (2006). Ernest Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy of a Suicide.

Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 69(4), 351-361.