Depression, Bipolar disorder and mental illnesses in the creativity industry
Ok, so sorry if the title is a bit of a clickbait, but I'd like to discuss the matter a bit between people that might have knowledge on it. Also, for practicality's sake, I'll only be referring to depression in my primary discussion, but you can ask the same questions for other mental disorders.
Over the past years I've discovered that a lot of people that do creative work, either suffer from some kind of depression or mental disorder. Is it due to the fact that depressed individuals use creative work to cope in life, or perhaps that people with depression are just a bit more adept at creative work? How does poor mental health affect your work?
Another question to ask is whether people get depressed more from entering the creativity industry or enter it because they are depressed?
I'm asking these questions, not to single out people with poor mental health, but rather to understand them a bit and maybe, to some extent, understand myself a bit better.
Over the past years I've discovered that a lot of people that do creative work, either suffer from some kind of depression or mental disorder. Is it due to the fact that depressed individuals use creative work to cope in life, or perhaps that people with depression are just a bit more adept at creative work? How does poor mental health affect your work?
Another question to ask is whether people get depressed more from entering the creativity industry or enter it because they are depressed?
I'm asking these questions, not to single out people with poor mental health, but rather to understand them a bit and maybe, to some extent, understand myself a bit better.
Comments
I can only speak with the knowledge of depression (no other mental disorders or whatnot) and even then my knowledge is limited to personal experience and the few things I've read on the subject. But depression has definitely influenced my work heavily, and almost everything I write relates to depression or some other dark subject. This isn't to say that all depressed people write tragedies, in fact I would think that most depressed people probably write/create things that are as far detached from sadness as possible. One of the commonest symptoms of depression after all is a sense of humour, and depressed people often seem like the happiest you'll ever meet, and their work may just reflect that.
I do say these things as someone who is very much not a professional on these matters, but I do find it a fascinating topic that comes straight into my batting range.
The only really valid connection really comes in the case of Bipolar disorder, As it is a sickness of psychological extremes, in layman's terms: when down and depleted the artist is fed a mass of emotions, difficult to express but through art, and through the massive boosts of highs, they will make work with passion near incomparable to the average person. Cases of this are people like Beethoven or Pollock. (both exhibited behaviour that modern psychology would deem textbook Bipolar disorder)
But go a little deeper and some truly insane people had penchants for art as well, Michaelangelo de Caravaggio was literally a psychotic murderer who just so happened to be one of the most naturally talented artists to ever live.
(I speak from a place of Anxeity)
Personally, as much as I think that general emotional trauma works its way into art and creation. I Feel it is arrogant to nail down that there is a significant correlation. Creativity is just as alive in the minds of the sick as the minds of the well and I guarrentee you that like 12% of bankers probably have depression or something (not singling out bankers more speaking about possible statistics that google could not find me by proposing something made up to prove a point.)
As much as there are correlations, there is simply too little evidence to declare anything as fact.
All that can be said is that yes: Artists seem to commonly have some form of Anxeity or Depression. But this specification has about as much to do as them being a specific gender.
The science on the matter is that people with a mental disorder (excluding bi-polar disorder) are no more likely to be working in most creative fields. And there is a small positive effect (of just 8%) of a person who has bi-polar disorder on their chances of working in most creative fields. http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Kyaga-et-al.-2012.pdf
The exception apparently being authors, who are twice as likely to have a mental disorder. I expect since authors do little teamwork the profession is better suited to mental disorders than most (but that is just my conjecture). I expect the same increased likelihood might be true of solitary game developers.
The idea of a "tortured genius" is also a myth (obviously there have been tortured geniuses, but the idea that their disorder resulted in their genius has no well-regarded scientific basis). http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Schlesinger-2009.pdf
It makes a compelling story to tell how a creator overcame the great burden of the weight of her own genius, so we keep repeating these stories far more than the ones where the creator just made awesome shit. The tortured genius meme is therefore very pervasive and appealing, but isn't born out by facts nevertheless.
There is a LOT of interesting science on the relationship between mental disorder and creativity. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/2013/10/03/the-real-link-between-creativity-and-mental-illness/
But the idea that creative professionals commonly have some form of anxiety or depression isn't supported by the evidence.
I've never actually looked this kind of stuff up before, but I have always been skeptical of the whole supposed "tortured genius" thing, although I do think that writers are more... susceptible (if that's even the right word). We just tend to be rather odd and eccentric. I don't know if that would be mental disorder or just that surrounding yourself in stories and languages makes you lose it a bit. I have yet to meet an entirely sane writer so my opinion has yet to be disputed on that front.
But I think that many artists relish in the whole persona of madness. It fits with the whole myth and so I think that many artists put the idea of it forward because being artistically mad is a rather attractive prospect. I can't speak on behalf of all writers (obviously) but I personally I prefer the idea of being a little crazy over being completely boring and sane.
When they are depressed (low), their brains do not make connections, they struggle to keep thoughts together. Obviously they are sad and struggle with motivation.
In both states they can create incredible art. I suppose on one hand it is because they experience many "more" emotions than "normal" people, and they are able to express it better. On the other hand, they are also drawn to emotional experiences, which is why many become alcoholics and other types of addicts.
If anyone is interested or knows someone who is bipolar, I'd recommend reading An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield
Jamison.
Lastly, if you haven't stopped reading yet, studies have found that lithium (yeah yeahy yeah) which they use to treat bipolar increases the grey matter in the parts of the brain that control emotions. newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Lithium-Builds-Gray-Matter-in-Bipolar-7842 It's kind of like they still react to emotion like teenagers and get overwhelmed by the emotions. Remember when you just *had* to write that song for that girl?