writer's deperession

4indianwoman said:

[FONT=&quot]I know this is a personal question, but I find it intriguing. It seems throughout history many writers have been plagued with depression and mental illness. Is it a requirement of a good writer to suffer from mental illness?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I am not ashamed to admit that I suffer from bouts of depression. I also suffer from an anxiety disorder that I receive treatment for. What percent of writers do you believe suffer from mental illness/ depression?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]thanks in advance!

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Hmmm....Is this going to be used on your web site? Then I'd be really depressed.

Seriously, there's depression (clinical or not) in any profession. I think you'd have to be a psychological statistician to be able to answer what percentage, and even then that's subjective. Some people consider themselves depressed when they're merely sad. Heck, my user name is stormie yet I'm the calmest person anyone has ever known.

Just sayin'.

How can you diagnose an illness as complex as depression in a long-dead writer?

There is a long thread about this subject in the AW Roundtable thread

It's certainly not a requirement, though there is some small statistical correlation between creativity and some forms of mental illness, and some smaller research studies also support this. Here's one for example

link.http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/144/10/1288


Some creative people who suffer from mental illness such as anxiety disorder, might be drawn to writing because of the lifestyle, which can allow them to limit and control their interaction with other people. On the other hand, people who might have a tendancy toward depression or anxiety could find it heightened by working in isolation and dealing with rejection,
criticism, deadlines, and financial uncertainty etc. So yes, there does appear to be some connection, but it doesn't seem to have a great deal to do with talent or the ability to write.

It would be more appropriate to say that there may be a higher incidence of mental illness among writers, than you have to suffer from mental illness to be a good one.

Jennifer Weiner writes about the unhappy childhood being a strong indicator of the future writer. Not a requirement...but...just saying.

I don't know what percentage of writers suffer from mental illness/depression, but I think that anybody who is of the type of sensitive disposition that might incline them toward working in any of the arts might be more vulnerable to depression. Yes, I include myself in the numbers.

I think there is!

When I was a child I was highly antisocial...not like I had a choice. Being the only girl with 4 brothers I was not allowed to go anywhere. My childhood stunk and I was really lonely. I started becoming depressed and had thoughts of suicide since I was about 11. My only outlet was my imagination. That and reading. I would COMPLETELY absorb myself into those things until I was there (mentally) more than I was in reality. This fostered my creativity.
Shamefully, even now I am kinda antisocial - I have the ability to plaster on a fake smile and endure a few hours of a party, but I really do prefer to be in my thoughts. I get depressed too...especially when I get those rejection letters in my email!

I think somebody mentioned this already, but there are people who suffer from depression in every job.

I myself do suffer from random bouts of depression that are completely crippling that I always have to pull myself out of. I'm also sort of antisocial, in the sense that my stomach ties itself into crazy knots whenever I have to get in front of people to speak for a speech or whatever. You wouldn't know it by looking at me, though =)

Whether it be music, poetry, prose, or art, all great work is inspired by pain and inner anguish. So, if you're not f&^%$ked up in some fashion, you won't be great. Very simple actually...

Don Allen said:

Whether it be music, poetry, prose, or art, all great work is inspired by pain and inner anguish. So, if you're not f&^%$ked up in some fashion, you won't be great. Very simple actually...

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Hahaha, well said! Very true, too. Happy people are boring.

I'm not antisocial. It's just that everyone else in my life is a bastard and I don't want to have to mix with them.

scarletpeaches said:

I'm not antisocial. It's just that everyone else in my life is a bastard and I don't want to have to mix with them.

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You are anti-social, whenever i try to be nice to you, you ignore me. It dosen't matter that we have never met, never talked, and live an ocean, a few states and an Isle or two apart, I'm hurt - top that for insecurity issues- lol

Manat said:

It's certainly not a requirement, though there is some small statistical correlation between creativity and some forms of mental illness, and some smaller research studies also support this. Here's one for example

link.http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/144/10/1288


Some creative people who suffer from mental illness such as anxiety disorder, might be drawn to writing because of the lifestyle, which can allow them to limit and control their interaction with other people. On the other hand, people who might have a tendancy toward depression or anxiety could find it heightened by working in isolation and dealing with rejection,
criticism, deadlines, and financial uncertainty etc. So yes, there does appear to be some connection, but it doesn't seem to have a great deal to do with talent or the ability to write.

It would be more appropriate to say that there may be a higher incidence of mental illness among writers, than you have to suffer from mental illness to be a good one.

Click to expand...

I did not look at the article, but correlation means only that there is some relationship between the two, not that one causes the other. What is the relationship? What are outside factors that could cause a person to pick up a creative activity? Is the mental illness diagnosed before or after they have shown to be a successful creative mind?

There are a lot of open questions to a correlation study.

I will say that just because you are depressed does not mean you're a good writer. This is one of the first questions stated.

What exactly are you trying to ask?:
What percentage of depressed people are writers?
or
What percentage of depressed people are good writers?
or
What percentage of writers are depressed?

There is a difference with every question.


I suffer from depression, but it hasn't contributed to my writing at all. The stuff I write when depressed is crap.
That's yet another question:
Are you speaking of works produced when a writer is depressed or a writer that suffers from depression who writes when they aren't depressed?

you displayed a question with a variation of meaning and even then, this board does not have the capability to do a study to answer it.

But hypothesizing....
without looking at any evidence at all (which makes it flawed), I would say that a writer diagnosed with depression, who writes while they are going through a depressive episode, is just the same as a writer who has not been diagnosed with depression, who writes when in an unaffected mood.

do some research on google scholar if you are really into the stats and such.

Pila said:

I think somebody mentioned this already, but there are people who suffer from depression in every job.

I myself do suffer from random bouts of depression that are completely crippling that I always have to pull myself out of. I'm also sort of antisocial, in the sense that my stomach ties itself into crazy knots whenever I have to get in front of people to speak for a speech or whatever. You wouldn't know it by looking at me, though =)

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that's not being antisocial, that's just being anxious.

arghhh

I hate sounding like little miss know it all here, but antisocial is not the lack of being social, which would be non-social, it's acting counter to what is accepted in society, e.g., anti-social personality disorder.

mirrorkisses said:

arghhh

I hate sounding like little miss know it all here, but antisocial is not the lack of being social, which would be non-social, it's acting counter to what is accepted in society, e.g., anti-social personality disorder.

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Little miss know it all

That's interesting to know. I've never been to a therapist or a doctor for any of my "problems" so I just call it as I see it.

4indianwoman said:

[FONT=&quot]I know this is a personal question, but I find it intriguing. It seems throughout history many writers have been plagued with depression and mental illness. Is it a requirement of a good writer to suffer from mental illness?
[/FONT]

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Of course it is a requirement!

People who tend towards any type of art that tries to imitate life, also must be good observers of life, and people, and behavior, and events. If you spend a lot of time thinking about things that have happened, how people act, and analyzing events & behavior ... you're going to be really depressed.

Because people act more like animals than we care to admit. From your regular barnyard jackass to the lions who stalk & kill in the streets ... we are fairly savage, with occasional little blips of true humanity towards each other. The more I think about people, & how I see them behave towards each other in real life, the more I want to write about them & the less I want to be subjected to them.

To be my husband, who sees everything as right in the world 98% of the time, whose hopeful optimism and buoyant emotions are as steady as the sun ... and who never gives other people's actions more than a passing observation. "Well, what a jerk he is! Whaddaya say we have pizza for dinner?" Maybe we observant, depressed types attract these optimists, you know, for balance.


wee

4indianwoman said:

[FONT=&quot]I know this is a personal question, but I find it intriguing. It seems throughout history many writers have been plagued with depression and mental illness. Is it a requirement of a good writer to suffer from mental illness?

I am not ashamed to admit that I suffer from bouts of depression. I also suffer from an anxiety disorder that I receive treatment for. What percent of writers do you believe suffer from mental illness/ depression?

thanks in advance!
[/FONT]

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Maybe ones mind opens up to more ideas when they are under stress, or depressed. I'm sure the meds help, too.

I was thinking about my dad yesterday and came up with a book idea. We don't have a close relationship, he's recovering from cancer, and I have unpleasant thoughst.....a story might just come out of it. Who knows.

Pila said:

Little miss know it all

That's interesting to know. I've never been to a therapist or a doctor for any of my "problems" so I just call it as I see it.

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well... Ted Bundy is held as the classic case of Antisocial Personality Disorder... Dahmer was also APD, as was BTK.

I doubt you're apd.

Sorry, I just want people to understand the difference between antisocial and non-social.

Mirror Kisses, Sorry but I don't understand

There are a lot of open questions to a correlation study.


I believe that's what I suggested

I will say that just because you are depressed does not mean you're a good writer. This is one of the first questions stated.

This is also what I said


you displayed a question with a variation of meaning and even then, this board does not have the capability to do a study to answer it.

I didn't display any question. Perhaps you have me confused with the original poster?

do some research on google scholar if you are really into the stats and such.[/quote]

Correlations studies and double blind control studies are two different matters and I didn't say they were the same. The study you didn't look at was a research study that IMHO is too small to be anything more than interesting. As to correlation studies, you only repeat the point I made. Because things are related doesn't mean they're causal.

Over all we seem to be in agreement no?



I don't understand this post

only the very first part of the post was directed toward you... the rest was directed toward the original poster. (i should have clarified that.)
I hope it didn't come off as snide, i was just explaining that the correlation didn't really mean that one caused the other.

No worries. Too much coffee and waiting for my agent to call and posting instead of working because I'm very distracted right now. Didn't mean to snap.
And welcome to the board!

mirrorkisses said:

arghhh

I hate sounding like little miss know it all here, but antisocial is not the lack of being social, which would be non-social, it's acting counter to what is accepted in society, e.g., anti-social personality disorder.

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For those who read the link, also please know that the wording suggests that "sociopath" and "psychopath" are interchangeable terms. They aren't. (speaking as a borderline sociopath with no psychopathic tendencies... )

yeah i have to agree with that, i just didn't want to look like (again!) little miss know it all, so i didn't bother pointing it out.