'And-I-will-lose-my-mind' - Images of mental illness in the songs of the Beatles

References to the mental distress conventionally associated with an unhappy love affair or tragic life-event are to be found in the lyrics of many son gs in popular music. Implicitly or explicitly, such lyrics remind the liste ner that failure or frustration in personal relationships can have traumati c, even dangerous consequences. We have located our investigation of one we ll-known set of songs-those written and performed by the Beatles-within the context of the clinically observed categories of neurotic and psychotic me ntal disorders recognised by psychologists. In so doing, we hope to systema tically analyse the ways in which various types of mental illness have been depicted in the group's songs, search for patterns in their presentation, and offer explanations for their composition. While such an examination may reveal much about the specific songwriting development of the Beatles, it might also help to illuminate more general contemporary attitudes towards t he nature of mental illnesses.