Do you think Depression increases one Creativity? Is it linked to genius writer

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   StephanPoeposted 9 years ago

   Do  you think Depression increases one Creativity? Is it linked to genius writers?
   
   Following my most recent hub I had to come here and ask you guys this. After all we are all writers.
   Virginia Woolf, David Foster Wallance, many are the names, many are the faces. I think Depression is deeply bound to creativity and while one is condemned to a life of mental misery one is also gifted with the hability to craft and shape worlds, people and situations within the imaginarium.
   
   What is your opinion? Do you personally know any case?
   
   

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   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   I'm an artist, and I never really understood depression until about two years ago, when I was diagnosed with cancer. I went through a very intense period with doctors and hospitals and surgery, and then it was over. I fell into a very deep depression, that lasted about six months.
   
   In those six months, I produced no art. Nothing. I had no desire to create. It was only when I came out on the other side that I could finally get back to work.
   
   I have several artist friends who struggle with depression as a life-long illness. When I was struggling, I talked to them about what I was experiencing. In their darkest times, they also find themselves unable to create.
   
   I would say, based on my experiences, that depression is not bound to creativity. It's the enemy of creativity. It's easy to name a handful of artists who have struggled with depression, and whose work seems to come from that dark place, but the reality is that the creative process doesn't occur in that place.

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      StephanPoeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for sharing. It's an interesting point of view. I believe greatest art comes from a depressive mind, the thing is, it only happens if art is the only purpose you have to hang on to. The only thing you have in life. Like van Gogh and many other

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      lisavollrathposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I believe that's perpetuating an inaccurate stereotype. For every tortured, depressed artist, there are plenty who are mentally healthy, and create.

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   Kylyssaposted 9 years ago

   I think that some people try to turn the misery into their lives into art no matter where that misery comes from. It's part of my coping strategy.
   
   I try to turn my misery into something useful or into art when I can because it is cathartic. To combat emotional pain leftover from a brutal period of homelessness, I write tips for overcoming it and surviving it. I also write poetry about it and scenes from it, like they're scenes in a play. Most of those scenes and most of that poetry won't be read by anyone until after I die.
   
   I do, however, draw on that terror and pain when writing fictional characters in scenes of extremity, especially recalling the starkly contrasting triviality of some of my thoughts during instances of violence that could easily have resulted in death. You can see some of it in my serialized novel on HubPages but it will be more clear in the uncut version that will be available on Amazon later this year.
   
   When the flashbacks to the violence that impregnated my mind with PTSD and nourished it are too vividly in the present, I paint, sculpt, design, or draw. The vividness flows onto the canvas, page, or sculpting media and out of my conscious mind. I fall into the moment with the pigments, the textures, and the feel of the media and out of the Hell of memory. I can sometimes even turn those residues of horror into something funny or pretty without more than a slight trace of darkness in it, keeping only the intensity of feeling rather than the dank stench of it.
   
   Anyway, I think the production of art is a healthy coping strategy for people with mental and emotional illnesses. It's not enough on its own to produce a high quality of life sometimes but it reduces the pressure of unwanted, unloved thoughts by using that pressure to power the emotional engines of creativity. Once that feeling of creative flow kicks in, the source of it evaporates for a time.

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      StephanPoeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly what I think!! You have said it all man. Never stop producing art. Never. Great awnser.

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   KMSplumeauposted 9 years ago

   Absolutely. Some of the best works of art, music, and literature stem from a place where the artist or author was experiencing a very strong emotion, and used their preferred medium as an outlet. In many works, you can really feel the artists struggle as they try to work through their feelings and express themselves.

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      StephanPoeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      And do you think Depression can be a tool for any other besides art? Such as science?

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      KMSplumeauposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely. I think a person's mental and emotional state can affect any or every area of their life, particularly in terms of their creativity. Whatever outlet they chose to use could show evidence of a contented mentality, disturbance or depression

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   brutishspoonposted 9 years ago

   I find i am at my most creative when my bipolar disorder is at the top or bottom of its cycle. When I'm at my lowest my writing reflects this and can be very morbid and when I'm on top of the world I can come up with some great happy stuff.

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      StephanPoeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      So you are one of the examples

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      brutishspoonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      For me it started from writing my feelings down which is one of the best therapies for depression. Some people will be better suited to pick up a pencil or paint brush and yes in answer to your other question a scientist could use this state of mind.

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   brutishspoonposted 9 years ago

   It is beleived that some of the greatest minds in history suffered from some form of mental instability. But can a bout of depression spur you to be creative or can it stop creativity in its tracks? read more

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