Mental illness and Creativity

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I have had (and seem to be going trough) periods of depression in my life. I also have lifelong issues with anxiety, including a diagnosis of panic disorder. While I see the brighter side of aspergers, I'm not seeing it with my mental health issues. Not that I should, but people often talk about how mental illness and creativity are somehow connected. I am always told to use my depression and anxiety as "inspiration", like creativity is a light switch or something that you can just switch on and off.

As someone who has spent their whole life trying to perfect an artform, I'm still struggling to see what's so inspirational about feeling depressed? Sure - recalling those memories when you're in a more stable mood might inspire great art and for some people they can manage to be creative while feeling so low or agitated. For me, however, I just can't. I can't focus when I'm depressed and I find it really difficult to even think of ideas because it takes to much mental energy. At best, I can do something a little more mindless, like life drawing, which just involves me drawing what I see but even then it's exhausting.

When I'm happy, I seem to be full to the brim with ideas and can fill sketchbooks really fast with fairly decent work. In those brief moments, I feel clear and certain and even when I am a little uncertain, I seem to be better at picking myself up and starting again.

I have been feeling down for quite some time and it has affected my grades. Right now, I feel pretty low and I haven't drawn anything today. I haven't drawn much in the last two weeks, which is worrying to me. My complete lack of creativity, I feel, is directly related to my mood.

So to the people who are somehow able to be creative and depressed at the same time, I want to know just how do you do it? I really have tried and I'm terrified that this illness is going to take something so precious from me.

I don't really get that, either. I suppose maybe musicians can use a blue mood to create really melancholy music, but when I'm feeling depressed, I don't feel like writing fiction and I'm way too cynical at this point in life to write poetry.

And graphic art is the last thing I feel like doing when I'm down. I have a whole set of little pieces I've been meaning to tattoo on the tops of my thighs, just to alleviate the boredom, but I just find I'm too listless and lethargic to bother with it, so it just keeps getting put off from one day to the next, for week after week.

I am mentally ill, yet I cannot say I am all that 'creative' I took a portrait drawing class because my mom and grandpa kept encouraging and encourging it so I gave in and said I would give it a try and yeah I did well and now I know how to draw realistic portraits...but I have not done it since that class I kind of want to try and do a Syd Barret sketch and some other musicians I like. Perhaps I am creative in a non-artistic way though because I always like to think about possibilities like the kind of society I think people would benefit from or better ways to go about things but I am not creative artistically.

Honestly, when I feel down, as a graphic artist, depression can be demotivating, but I find my art to be best when I have an emotion or story behind my art. Once I pick up the pen or pencil when I'm feeling down and I actually start drawing, the demotivation fades, and I just start drawing how I feel, and usually something really great comes out. Some things that could stunt your creativity though is if you feel like you aren't a good artist. Your confidence in your activity greatly increases or reduces your actual ability, and in depression, if you actually feel down on your ABILITY, that can make a huge impact. So just convince yourself your an inspired person regardless of your condition, and soon the creativity will start flowing.
Also like Sweetleaf said, they're creative in areas other then art. Your creativity in a feild really only depends on whether you think your creative in that feild. Oh, and listening to different types of music can help too. What also helps is to see other work, and you'll get bits and peices to put together in your own way. Once you have taste in something, it gets much easier to be creative in that feild.

I feel inspired by depression. I come up with lyrics to punk songs and satirical fiction. Anger is also inspirational for me. I rarely feel happy. Happiness for me is the lack of pain, which is usually the lack of thoughts, so I don't feel particularly inspired when I am happy.

In my experience within my brain, chronic depression and creativity are incompatible with each other.
I've drawn fluently while sad, angry, disgusted, resentful, alienated, confused, ashamed, and/or full of regret,
but when chronically depressed, there is no redemption for me.
In that state I cannot hold a pencil to save my life.

Others seem to find this surprising or doubtful.
They believe in the stereotype of the troubled artist, like Van Gogh or Toulouse-Lautrec,
who supposedly owe their inspiration to their misery - as if depression itself
were an economic commodity that can simply be reallocated and put to good use.
That stereotype may apply for some people, but it does not apply to me.
If I could have conquered my depression as a child, I would now
be a more talented and prolific artist than I am today.

From the hollow emerges a new identity. I think poems, songs and paintings that reflect the hollowness are beautiful.

When I'm depressed I write some seriously melancholic poetry. Depression allows you to express emotions in a very deep way. Yes, they way be miserable emotions but I've noticed in many other with depression that they start using some very descriptive words that only someone in that state of mind could. I was just writing a journal entry when depressed and I could feel some that style coming out.

I guess it depends on whether your art is happy or sad. When I do happy poetry it's too superficial to me. I'm good with deep and dark poetry or even just when writing some fiction. Although anger changes a lot of the tome with my writing.

And yeah, the brilliance from bipolar is from mania. I wrote a sci-fi trilogy over three years. When the episodes stopped or changed to depression I struggled to keep going. To clarify I wasn't manic for three years. It was an on/off kind of thing.

I can't write or draw worth crud; I can compose music, but I haven't done that in years.