Creativity and Depression
by Douglas Eby
“I only know that summer sang in me a little while, that in me sings no more.”
That excerpt from one of her sonnets expresses how much poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) probably knew of depression.
Actor Brooke Shields noted in her book “Down Came the Rain : My Journey Through Postpartum Depression” that when PMS made her “introspective or melancholy or when the pressures of life made me gloomy, I knew these feelings wouldn’t last forever. But this was sadness of a shockingly different magnitude. It felt as if it would never go away.”
That sense of endless hopelessness and erosion of spiritual vitality are some of the reasons depression can have such a devastating impact on creative inspiration and expression.
It is a mood disorder that affects both genders, but more women. There are reports that as many as a quarter of American women have a history of depression.
A study of young women living in Los Angeles found that almost half had at least one episode of major depression within five years after high school graduation.
Psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison, herself a person with bipolar disorder or manic depression, notes in her book “Touched with Fire” that the majority of people suffering from mood disorder “do not possess extraordinary imagination, and most accomplished artists do not suffer from recurring mood swings.”
She writes, “To assume, then, that such diseases usually promote artistic talent wrongly reinforces simplistic notions of the ‘mad genius.’ But, it seems that these diseases can sometimes enhance or otherwise contribute to creativity in some people. Biographical studies of earlier generations of artists and writers also show consistently high rates of suicide (example of anomic suicide), depression and manic-depression.”
According to the website Famous (Living) People Who Have Experienced Depression, women in the arts who have declared publicly they have had some form of the mood disorder include Sheryl Crow; Ellen DeGeneres; Patty Duke; Connie Francis; Mariette Hartley; Margot Kidder; Kristy McNichol; Kate Millett; Sinead O’Connor; Marie Osmond; Dolly Parton; Bonnie Raitt; Jeannie C. Riley; Roseanne and Lili Taylor.
Development of a mood disorder may start early in life. C. Diane Ealy, Ph.D., in her book “The Woman’s Book of Creativity” writes: “Many studies have shown us that a young girl’s ideas are frequently discounted by her peers and teachers. In response, she stifles her creativity. The adult who isn’t expressing her creativity is falling short of her potential.
“Repressed creativity can express itself in unhealthy relationships, overwhelming stress, severe neurotic or even psychotic behavior, and addictive behaviors such as alcoholism. But perhaps the most insidious and common manifestation of repressed creativity in women is depression.”
Fortunately, depression can be effectively managed for most people, through medication, cognitive behavioral therapy or other approaches.
According to an issue of the Blues Buster newsletter, formerly published by Psychology Today magazine, research studies have shown significant reductions in depression through engaging in aerobic activities such as walking and jogging, and resistance exercise, such as weight training.
Psychologist and creativity coach Eric Maisel, PhD explains in his book The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person’s Path Through Depression that “Creators have trouble maintaining meaning. Creating is one of the ways they endeavor to maintain meaning. Not creating is depressing.”
