John Berryman

john berryman

October 25, 1914
January 7, 1972

Life

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1914 | John Berryman was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

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1926 | When he was 12, his father killed himself.

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1936 | He graduated from Columbia then finished his study at Cambridge University.

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1940 | He published Five Young American Poets, which contained 20 of his poems.

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1942 | He had his first marriage in 1942. He published a volume of poetry - Poems.

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1948 | He published another set called The Dispossessed.

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1955 | Berryman took a position at the University of Minnesota after teaching at Harvard and Princeton.

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1973 | He committed suicided after a lifelong battle with alcholism and depression.

Select Words to Search

Nouns

death

suicide

life

people

heart

Verbs

die

lie

kill

touch

love

Adjectives

bad

good

alone

down

black

Pronouns

I

me

you

we

they

Absolutes

nothing

always

only

all

never

Auxiliary

could

would

should

will

must

Search Results

The Language
of Depression

Is there a language to depression? By examining the writings of three poets who have killed themselves, we might be able to see a connection between someone’s mental state and their language. For example, psychologists and linguists have done studies that show how absolutist words such as “all”, “nothing”, “none” were used more frequently amongst those who were depressed than those who weren’t. They also found that the use of “I”, “me” or “my” is more commonly used in those who are depressed. Frequent use of auxiliary verbs such as “should” or “would” is also an indication of negative thought patterns. This site is intended to be a small test to see if there is a link between the subtle way we use words and emotional well being.

Sources used to determine the filter words:
The Conversation | Crisis Trends | Association for Psychological Science | People With Depression Use Language Differently