ArticleJournal of affective disorders2020
Deep into that darkness peering: A computational analysis of the role of depression in Edgar Allan Poe's life and death.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Natural language processing analysis of the psychosocial stressors of mental health disorders during the pandemic.Npj mental health research · 2023Article
- Linguistic features and psychological states: A machine-learning based approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo help shed light on the peculiar circumstances surrounding the death of the famed macabre and mystery writer, poet, editor, and literary critic, we explored the potential role of depression in the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe via his written language.
methodUsing computerized language analysis, we analyzed works from Poe's corpora of personal letters (N = 309), poems (N = 49), and short stories (N = 63), and investigated whether a pattern of linguistic cues consistent with depression and suicidal cognition were discernible throughout the writer's life, particularly in his final years. Building on past work, language scores were collapsed into a composite depression metric for each text. Data from each work type was subsequently compiled and graphed into a single plot by year, with scores exceeding the 95th percentile (p < 0.05) considered statistically significant and treated as potential depressive episodes.
resultsSignificant, consistent patterns of depression were not found and do not support suicide as a cause of death. However, linguistic evidence was found suggesting the presence of several potential depressive episodes over the course of Poe's life - these episodes were the most pronounced during years of Poe's greatest success, as well as those following the death of his late wife. LIMITATIONS: Given the sampling method, it is not possible to establish direct causality; results should be considered informed but tentative.
conclusionThis investigation demonstrates the utility of language analysis for capturing disruptive/maladaptive emotional responses to life events.
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