Prof_Pretorius wrote:
I intend this thread to be a bit of a bridge between those of us who have found healing, and those who are despairing. Recently a person posted a thread wherein he said there was just too much negativity on this Website. That got me to thinking about what gets posted here. When I look through the Forum section here, it breaks my heart to see so much pain. Quite a lot of this pain is part and parcel of being 'different' and the ostracism that goes with that.
Some of us here are "Elder ASpies' and have the life experience to share how we've learned to cope. How we have learned to appreciate our innate 'difference' and even embrace it, rather than be ashamed of it. How to cope with the stresses that being ASpie put upon us.
I've been posting here for over a year, and I've seen so many posts from people on the verge of suicide. I've been that depressed when I was younger, and I understand how far you can slip into despair.
I want this to be one thread where people can look for a bit of help, and understanding.
Artists & Mental Depression
( From:
http://www.ehow.com/about_6160437_artis ... ssion.html )
Possible Causes
According to Jim Carrey, depression feels like a constant low level of despair. Several factors facilitate this state of mind, but for the creative individual, aspects of her work may play a key role in its development. Many artists demonstrate a ruminating personality and hypersensitivity to their surroundings. Health educator Amy Scholten, MPH, suggests that these characteristics, as well as intense psychological pain, "can add depth and meaning to creative work." Immersion in environments which do not support creative tendencies and the social challenges gifted people face throughout their lifetimes may also contribute to mental depression, as such experiences may decrease self-esteem while increasing self-doubt and feelings of inferiority. In addition, most creative endeavors require isolation and solitude. Without a social support network, the artist can succumb to bouts of depression.
Suicide
Many artists throughout history have caved under depression's power. Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Cobain, Rembrandt Bugatti and others have ended their lives, leaving behind memorials of their genius. However, not all artists who suffer from mental depression take that drastic step. Methods of coping exist to help an artist through depressive bouts so that he may live to see the effects of his work in the world.
Coping Through Work
Artists may cope with depression through their work. ScienceNews reporter Bruce Bower observes that "fields that tolerate ambiguity and flexibility in creative expression...more readily accept practitioners with mental disorders and allow them to wrestle with their inner demons in their art." In doing so, the artist prevents herself from walling out the world and shutting down creatively.
Creative motivator Eric Maisel emphasizes the importance of a meaningful existence when it comes to creative individuals' mental depression. By creating a "life plan"--a single sentence that summarizes one's lifelong desire--and choosing to pursue work that the sufferer finds worthy, the artist may find the meaning in his existence that was hidden within depression.
Therapeutic Choices
Artists may also use methods similar to those a less right-brained thinker may utilize. Many take mood-altering prescription drugs while others, such as Christina Ricci and Lorraine Bracco, engage in professional counseling. Still others opt to follow Jim Carrey's example and eliminate all alcohol and drugs from their lifestyles.
Notable Sufferers
In addition to those already mentioned, these influential artists, actors, musicians and writers have suffered through mental depression:
Lord Byron
Sheryl Crow
Charles Dickens
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Charles Ives
Billy Joel
Alicia Keys
Michelangelo
Claude Monet
Alanis Morissette
Georgia O'Keefe
Pablo Picasso
Robert Schumann
Peter Tchaikovsky
Leo Tolstoy
Mark Twain
Vincent Van Gogh
Tennessee Williams
( - from ehow)