Why is it that the creative types are usually the suicidal/depressed ones? Or conversely, why are the suicidal/depressed types usually the most creative ones?
Seems like a happy life = no pain = no creativity = no depth in writing/acting/singing/music? (or substitute no for ‘less’)
Not always a one for one or always, but there seems to be some good degree of correlation between depression and creativity.
Or maybe happy people are simply too busy going out and having fun to stay at home and mope and draw/sing/create/write/etc for hours and hours and hours on end…
16 comments
The link between personality traits and mental illness is such a contentious one. Since defining both personality traits and mental illness is subjective, you could easily expect biological testing to find a link because you already picked out traits and behaviors that are similar to each other. It’s almost like saying this person who cries a lot probably has a tendency to be sad and then looking for a biological connection between crying and sadness. A personality trait that might be considered healthy if expressed in one way is considered an illness if expressed in another.
Most of it appears to be a perceived connection, based on our assumption that anybody who is non-conformist, is emotionally sensitive, or is a deep thinker must have something wrong with them. Like the link between mental illness and suicide, there is too much non-clinical postmortem diagnosing going on.
However, since being different in any way is rejected by society, and deep thinking could lead someone to an existential crisis, I could see where a link might possibly exist. I’m not sure that would lead to a higher rate of depression than that which stems from terrible life circumstances, though.
Interesting subject. Interesting post. 🙂
1. Very interesting thought, but chemical imbalance can = depression
2. Situation can = depression
3. Brain damage can = depression
4. A lot of things can = depression
5. Genetics can = depression
6. I am the most logical person you will ever meet. Yet I suffer from depression. I’ve suffered a suicide attempt. It was very logically planned out. I’ve met a lot of non-creative people in hospitals. Depression doesn’t “choose” a certain type of person to “infect”. But very interesting thought!
At the same time, the thought that creative people might not leave the house which correlates to their depression is saying the same thing that a programmer who types his/her days away at a computer and gets depressed was is correlated. It very well might be, but correlation does not imply causation, and there are too many factors to say anything definitive. However, I like your reversed thinking, but I don’t think you can confine it to just creativity.
depression and creativity doesn’t always go hand in hand, I think just like everyone who “create” isn’t an artist, creativity isn’t something all posses, and thus depression won’t necessarily spark it for all
ever read the tragic story of Tarquin Middleton search for depression at the uncyclopedia?
uncyclopedia. wikia. c o m / wiki / UnBooks:Tarquin_Middleton:_My_Battle_with_Depression (remove spaces)
good stuff at the uncyclopedia, though one probably shouldn’t source credit it for homework/studies
everybody has the ability to be creative, it’s just a question of them wanting to be creative…. I am uncertain if there is an actual correlation between depression and creativity, but I could see a depressed person developing their creativity further due to their depression…. That seems like a possible scenario, as they may want something to do and not have a lot of options. sorry I offered nothing useful to this…. -_-
Hello _darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again.
I’ve always wanted to say that.
Actually “The Sound of Silence” (original S&G version or the awesome Disturbed remake) is a great example. I truly believe that the best works of music, literature, art & cinema are driven by a really dark feeling. I’m not saying the artist has to be depressed, but I definitely think even happy people can be stricken with moments of painful introspection that make them take time off their beach blanket bingo in order to create something exceptional.
Even comedians and outwardly happy people are often creatively driven by the worst internal turmoil.
The word “passion” which defines every great work of creativity, is derived from an ancient Greek word that means “to suffer”.
Great post. It sort of reminds us that we may have 1 thing going for us. Your homework is to write an opera.
Well I don’t have a creative/artistic bone in my body….although in this last period of agonizing depression and suicidal ideation I did write a couple depressing dark poems…shitty poems. It was like a compulsion to write them. I would try to sleep and the words, the lines, would keep repeating in my head or I’d be trying to think of the next line….and I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I got up and wrote the shit down….so maybe there is something to what you are saying about a connection between suicidal /depressed and creativity…I am certainly no Poe though.
Well done 🙂 nobody is good at poetry when they first start. Keep going
Haha unfortunately it only comes forth as a purging apparently when at my lowest…otherwise it’s a dry well and complete writer’s block city. Anything I wrote right now as I am on the sunny side of life would sound like Dr Seuss …..or not even THAT good.
Channel your creative urges when they come… make time to write when you’re in the right mood 🙂
jj- that’s pretty typical. many artists can only do their work when they’re sad/depressed
I disagree.
There are happy artists, tortured bad artists, and tortured good artists.
Tortured good artists get all the attention. I’m not saying that they seek it, it’s just human nature to pay more attention to narratives with drama.
Tortured bad artists are rarely noticed.
The artists that have happy lives and don’t get sucked into drama don’t get book and movie deals.
(That being said, there is a kind of genius in art that is fueled by obsession. People who are obsessive tend to go off the rails more and thus have more dramatic lives.)
My mom was obsessive, tortured, and talented. When she was the only artist I really knew I thought she was the standard. Then I dated a fair number of artists. Some were even fun, happy, and talented. People come in all shapes and sizes and pathologies. People also filter out anything that isn’t novel. People will talk endlessly about Van Gogh and Degas barely rates a paragraph.
Love this conversation.
Part of my job is about encouraging others’ creativity. I believe that everyone is creative, but as adults we get it drummed into us that we have to be serious and sensible. Exciting, ‘good’ creativity requires playfulness, risks, and trying again and again and again and again. So, I help people to feel that it’s ok to look silly and have fun… to make mistakes, and play with ideas, and not judge too soon. Anyway.
The thing I have to add to this discussion is EXPRESSION. Here’s my theory. We feel pain so acutely and so frequently that we are compelled to express it. Pain is experienced by everyone, but not everyone is so preoccupied with it that they have to express it. I have to express my pain through any and every medium I can, to get it out of me. This means I write endlessly and draw, and sometimes even sing and dance (by myself lol!) When other people see/read/experience our ‘artwork’, it resonates with them because everyone feels pain sometimes. We put in words/whatever something that they were not able to (because they didn’t have the burning need to express it).
Does that sound plausible?
Yes, that’s a great explanation. I would express myself in artwork if I could (draw/paint/compose music/etc), but never learned any of that, so instead I scream out my frustration and anger and pain. o_O
Well the point is to let it out, not keep it in… however you need to do that, as long as you aren’t malicious towards another person in doing so, is healthy.
Oh I meant I shout and scream while I’m alone in my apt