Depression and First Sucide Attempt in 1953

Sylvia Plath’s first medically documented suicide attempt in August 1953 was a pivotal moment in her life, deeply influencing her writing and artistic legacy. At the time, Plath was a gifted young woman who had just completed a prestigious summer internship at Mademoiselle magazine in New York. However, beneath her academic brilliance and literary ambition, she struggled with severe depression, exacerbated by personal disappointments and societal pressures. Upon returning home to Wellesley, Massachusetts, she fell into a deep emotional crisis. Feeling overwhelmed by her failures—particularly being rejected from a Harvard writing seminar—she spiraled into despair. Following ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) for depression, she took an overdose of sleeping pills and hid in the crawl space beneath her home, intending to end her life. After being missing for nearly two days, she was discovered and rushed to the hospital, barely clinging to life. The aftermath of this suicide attempt was both traumatic and transformative, later writing that she "blissfully succumbed to the whirling blackness that I honestly believed was eternal oblivion". Plath underwent electric shock therapy and psychiatric treatment at McLean Hospital, an experience that would later shape her semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar. Though she recovered physically, the psychological wounds lingered, contributing to her lifelong struggle with mental illness. This near-fatal event also marked a shift in her poetry, infusing her work with darker, more introspective themes that explored identity, despair, and the fragility of the human mind. Ultimately, while this attempt was not her last, it became a defining chapter in her journey, forever entwining her personal pain with her artistic expression. #Mooflife #MomentOfLife #SylviaPlath #SuicideAttempt #MentalHealth #LiteraryHistory #Depression