Writing & Depression

[tolyk]

I didn't read the entire list of replies, just the first few who chose B, but I have to say, that I think anyone can write, and that the study shows nothing and proves nothing..

A study can be done to prove anything that given study wants proven... if the people want it to.. Honestly.. I have known many non-depressed writers that had excellent skill that have not yet become depressed, nor do I think they ever will.. and as for myself, hell, my mood is so varied that I can't honestly say right now that I'm depressed, in fact I'm happier right now than I've been in years and I'm writing better at this moment than I have in a long time. The piece I'm working on at the moment shows more depth, skill and I actually have drive to work on it..

So all in all.. I would have to say that there are as many answers for your original question as there are types of people. Endless possibilities. But thats without getting too philosophical

There is my two bits,
-Tol

 

[KarenAM]

I've spent most of my life on the outside, looking in. I see other peoples' lives and I write them because I can't live them; this is as close as I can get to normalcy.

I wonder if this is a curse that the creative have. We frequently don't fit in. People regard us as strange and with suspicion, and well they should. Because creative people question things, challenge orthodoxy, and the talented ones do so in a way that forces people to face things they'd often rather not.

This is lonely, though. I can put on a face in social situations, but in the typical ones, like parties, I'm never really comfortable.

Do I get depressed? Oh, yeah. Always have. Life is a struggle. But I've learned to accept that. It isn't easy, and sometimes I wonder how I got through the day. Writing keeps me sane. I couldn't survive if I didn't do it.

 

[tolyk]

Hmm.. I think people really throw the word depression around too often.. and the word normal..

"Depression" is a part of "normal" life... Everyone has bad days, has their lows. And everyone has their form of outlet for it, we as writers use our writing as our creative outlet for our focal point, to get away from the madness that is life. But, someone else for example, say a jock.. he could immerse himself into his sports.. (I'm trying to think of other people besides artists that use creativity...) well, musicians.. I have numberous friends that just sit down and play their guitars when they are stressed out.. That is their outlet, and it is a creative one..

Not all creativity is created the same..

Not all depression is rated on the same scale.

Nothing is normal

And nothing is ever as it seems


Sorry, not to point at anyone specific, I just see all too often people discussing the same topics over and over, and if it is such a repetative topic, how can it not be normalacy?

Another two bits from me
-Tol

 

[Guest]

Tolyk, you've made some good, interesting points. I suppose that's why I feel so at home here and rather normal.

Thanks, Perdita

 

[matriarch]

Well, I was suicidal at one point too. The funny thing is though that I never lost my sense of humor. I was able to see how absurd the whole thing was, and how ridiculous it was to even be depressed, but I couldn't do anything about it. You kind of cry for a while, then laugh at yourself, then start crying some more.

For me, my sense of humor is King. More important than sex, more important than truth, more important than religion. There's times when laughing's in bad taste, but there's nothing that should never be laughed at.

--Zoot Q. Mabeuse

*applauding with a soft smile of recognition on my face, and the relief of understanding in my heart.*

Thank you for that.

M

 

[steve w]

I'm not sure that writing makes you depressed, or writers are more prone to depression. It could be that writers are more prepared to open and explore their own feelings than most people, and so if you're having a shitty time, you realise, and analyse, why it's quite so shitty.

Perhaps a key part of writing is that, whatever the scenario you're writing, you're in total control. All the characters, their actions, their words, their emotions, are controlled by you, in your own time. Most stress is caused by a lack of control of a situation. This would mean that either writing provides a good release for difficult times, or the contrast simply exacerbates your own misery.

I've found I can't write anything funny when I'm depressed, but I can write dark and moody any old time I feel like. So perhaps writing simply raises the volume of what you naturally feel.

I also think the outcome of writing can be profoundly depressing. Every word, every page is wrenched from your own brain, heart and emotions. To have them ignored, mocked or treated with casual indifference is indeed depressing. Those who don't write (or don't care about it) usually fail to understand the emotional effort that writing takes, and so tend to trample on the results.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Hmm.. I think people really throw the word depression around too often.. and the word normal..

"Depression" is a part of "normal" life... Everyone has bad days, has their lows.

I'm afraid I have to rather violently disagree with you on this.
Most people who have experienced clinical depression can tell you that it's not the same as a low, nor is it a part of "normal" life, and it can be fatal if it's not treated.

Off the top of my head, I can think of William Styron, who wrote the book "Darkness Visible" about his own fight with depression and his hospitalization. Kurt Vonnegut also makes no secret about being on medication. Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with rocks and walked into some river and drowned herself. Sylvia Plath stuck her head in an oven. Hemingway blew his head off. Fitzgerald drank himself to death, as did Poe and Faulkner. Anne Sexton gassed herself in a garage. Aside from Poe, all these were pretty successful writers. I really don't think they were just having a bad day.

A lot of writers are known to have been depressed, although more were probably bipolar: Tolstoy, Ibsen, Conrad, Dickens, Melville, and no doubt more. It's only recently that it's been acceptable to confess to any sort of mental imbalance.

Probably most of us write just for fun and we don't much care what people think of our stuff, and I'm not saying that writing porn is going to make you kill yourself. But there are others who are really driven to write and who use writing as their primary means of communication with the world. That's kind of an odd thing to do. Do they do it because they're mentally imbalanced? Or does putting so much effort into it actually do womething to you?

---dr.M.

 

[Boxlicker101]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by tolyk
Hmm.. I think people really throw the word depression around too often.. and the word normal..

"Depression" is a part of "normal" life... Everyone has bad days, has their lows.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doctor M answered:

I'm afraid I have to rather violently disagree with you on this.
Most people who have experienced clinical depression can tell you that it's not the same as a low, nor is it a part of "normal" life, and it can be fatal if it's not treated.

Off the top of my head, I can think of William Styron, who wrote the book "Darkness Visible" about his own fight with depression and his hospitalization. Kurt Vonnegut also makes no secret about being on medication. Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with rocks and walked into some river and drowned herself. Sylvia Plath stuck her head in an oven. Hemingway blew his head off. Fitzgerald drank himself to death, as did Poe and Faulkner. Anne Sexton gassed herself in a garage. Aside from Poe, all these were pretty successful writers. I really don't think they were just having a bad day.

A lot of writers are known to have been depressed, although more were probably bipolar: Tolstoy, Ibsen, Conrad, Dickens, Melville, and no doubt more. It's only recently that it's been acceptable to confess to any sort of mental imbalance.

Probably most of us write just for fun and we don't much care what people think of our stuff, and I'm not saying that writing porn is going to make you kill yourself. But there are others who are really driven to write and who use writing as their primary means of communication with the world. That's kind of an odd thing to do. Do they do it because they're mentally imbalanced? Or does putting so much effort into it actually do womething to you?

---dr.M.


I think that tolyk meant that all people have bad days and on those days refer to themselves as "being depressed" or having a depression". He's right, of course, the term is used very freely and depression, meaning being down in the dumps is a common part of life. I think we are all aware of the difference between having a gloomy day and being clinically depressed, although I wish there were some other word to make the distinction.

I think of Poe as being a successful author, probably more so than some of the others you mentioned.

 

[Clare Quilty]

Hmm.. I think people really throw the word depression around too often.. and the word normal...

I think what people are talking about here is inexorably crushing, dysphoric, clinical depression, not the occasional bout with the situational variety. Of course, this could just be the mood disorder talking.

 

[minsue]

Of course, this could just be the mood disorder talking.

Yours talks too? Oh, thank god!

 

[tolyk]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by tolyk
Hmm.. I think people really throw the word depression around too often.. and the word normal..

"Depression" is a part of "normal" life... Everyone has bad days, has their lows.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doctor M answered:

I'm afraid I have to rather violently disagree with you on this.
Most people who have experienced clinical depression can tell you that it's not the same as a low, nor is it a part of "normal" life, and it can be fatal if it's not treated.

Off the top of my head, I can think of William Styron, who wrote the book "Darkness Visible" about his own fight with depression and his hospitalization. Kurt Vonnegut also makes no secret about being on medication. Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with rocks and walked into some river and drowned herself. Sylvia Plath stuck her head in an oven. Hemingway blew his head off. Fitzgerald drank himself to death, as did Poe and Faulkner. Anne Sexton gassed herself in a garage. Aside from Poe, all these were pretty successful writers. I really don't think they were just having a bad day.

A lot of writers are known to have been depressed, although more were probably bipolar: Tolstoy, Ibsen, Conrad, Dickens, Melville, and no doubt more. It's only recently that it's been acceptable to confess to any sort of mental imbalance.

Probably most of us write just for fun and we don't much care what people think of our stuff, and I'm not saying that writing porn is going to make you kill yourself. But there are others who are really driven to write and who use writing as their primary means of communication with the world. That's kind of an odd thing to do. Do they do it because they're mentally imbalanced? Or does putting so much effort into it actually do womething to you?

---dr.M.


I think that tolyk meant that all people have bad days and on those days refer to themselves as "being depressed" or having a depression". He's right, of course, the term is used very freely and depression, meaning being down in the dumps is a common part of life. I think we are all aware of the difference between having a gloomy day and being clinically depressed, although I wish there were some other word to make the distinction.

I think of Poe as being a successful author, probably more so than some of the others you mentioned.

As Boxlicker so adaquately stated, yes I was refering to people using the term too losely. People who aren't clinically depressed using the word depressed, rather than saying, man I had a bad day.

If I had meant to talk about clinical depression, my post's subject would've been about clinical depression, such is why I put depression in quotations. I hope this clears up any misinterpretations that might've been made from my original posts.

Dr M. I didn't fully read your reply yet, I'm kind of in a hurry tonight, but I respect your opinions a lot, and will respond to you in full later.

-Tol

 

[tolyk]

Tolyk, you've made some good, interesting points. I suppose that's why I feel so at home here and rather normal.

Thanks, Perdita

Thanks Perdita

 

[tolyk]

I think what people are talking about here is inexorably crushing, dysphoric, clinical depression, not the occasional bout with the situational variety. Of course, this could just be the mood disorder talking.

They very well all might be in this case, but it just happened to be something that has been in my mind for a long time, and reading through this post it came to the forefront in a more coherent, conversational form, so thus the creation of my topic I probably should've created my own thread for it rather than hyjacking Dr Ms thread, which I seem to have done... Sorry about that, not on purpose, still rather new here and just got off on a rant

 

[gothgodess]

Statistics from a 1995 issue of Scientific American state that writers and artists are ten times more likely to suffer from depression than other members of the general population, and may be as much as 18 times more likely to commit suicide.

(This is from It Takes A Certain Type to be a Writer)

So does writing make people depressed, or do depressed people tend to write more?

---Zoot

I think the creative mind is also more sensitive. Creative people tend to spend more time studying life. maybe thats why we get depressed. We see the frailty of life and how unfair it can be.
just a thought.
And there is the saying that genius is often acompanied by madness. ( I'm NOT saying depression is madness). if you look at many of lifes gifted people it was often marred by mental illness. prehaps the part of the brain that deals with creativity is also the part of the brain that controls depression, develop one and you are more subseptable to the other.

 

[Match Made In Heaven]

I'm afraid I have to rather violently disagree with you on this.
Most people who have experienced clinical depression can tell you that it's not the same as a low, nor is it a part of "normal" life, and it can be fatal if it's not treated.

Off the top of my head, I can think of William Styron, who wrote the book "Darkness Visible" about his own fight with depression and his hospitalization. Kurt Vonnegut also makes no secret about being on medication. Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with rocks and walked into some river and drowned herself. Sylvia Plath stuck her head in an oven. Hemingway blew his head off. Fitzgerald drank himself to death, as did Poe and Faulkner. Anne Sexton gassed herself in a garage. Aside from Poe, all these were pretty successful writers. I really don't think they were just having a bad day.

A lot of writers are known to have been depressed, although more were probably bipolar: Tolstoy, Ibsen, Conrad, Dickens, Melville, and no doubt more. It's only recently that it's been acceptable to confess to any sort of mental imbalance.

Probably most of us write just for fun and we don't much care what people think of our stuff, and I'm not saying that writing porn is going to make you kill yourself. But there are others who are really driven to write and who use writing as their primary means of communication with the world. That's kind of an odd thing to do. Do they do it because they're mentally imbalanced? Or does putting so much effort into it actually do womething to you?

---dr.M.

Unfortunatly, people who don't know Depression, frequently don't know the difference between "oh, Im so depressed!" and "I am so Depressed." using the term in every day speach, because you bought the pants *before* they went on sale is really an overexageration that somehow then seems to undermine the actual meaning of the word.

When I find myself dealing with Depression, and try to reach out for help (as well as facing my situation honestly, rather than trying to hide it) and I say, "I'm depressed," I am more often than not greated with a very dishartening reply of "why, what's wrong?"

Maybe, I should say, "I am experiencing a chemical imballance that is manifesting itself as a serious mood disorder, commonly refered to as Clinical Depression."

Hmm, do you think that would get the point accross?

 

[Match Made In Heaven]

As Boxlicker so adaquately stated, yes I was refering to people using the term too losely. People who aren't clinically depressed using the word depressed, rather than saying, man I had a bad day.


-Tol

In general life, yes people use the word to liberally. However, I think here, most of the people who have spoken of being depressed have been talking about real depression (weather you want to call it clinical or whatever) a deep and abiding situational depression is also a serious and difficult place to be.

I don't think that most of the writers here over-use the word. Although some who suggest that the depressed just 'get over it' might be misinterpreting the situation. Not everybody realizes that depression isn't a 'mood' but a 'mood disorder' (a world of difference!) It can cause a lot of misinterpretation.

Your right, people should say, I feel low, or sad or I had a bad day. That would be much better.

 

[Dingus Guy]

My Depression

Over the last few months I have had a horrible time dealing with a very deep depression. I feel 100% better now for a multiple of reasons:

1- I am taken an anti-depressant
2- I am seeing a psychiatrist
3- I got support around me, and I would like to say that the people who have been close to me on Literotica have been especially supportive. To them I owe a great deal of thanks!
4- Weight loss

A big part of my depression -this is not the 1st time I have suffered from it - is my weight and financial problems. I gained 95 pounds from Sept. to April, when I went from the best shape of my life to the worst. I have been struggling my whole life with this problem. It hurt the most after keeping it off for 4 years, in just a few months it was all back. The finances were made worse but the weight gain and I spiraled down with it all. I have just lost 20 pounds and back on a low carb diet has given me renewed strength.

It takes help, but sometimes it's got to you who makes the first move to get that help. I just got my first story accepted in months today for The Nude Day Contest, and its just another step to getting myself back to feeling great again. This story also inspires me to write more, which is what I want to do as soon as I get back home from vacation next Monday.

Baby Steps are still steps no matter how small they might be.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Depression has done nothing but frustrate, blunt, retard, diminish, abate, degrade and co-opt my powers in every field of endeavor "creative" and otherwise.

 

[rosco rathbone]

more were probably bipolar:

That's a whole different story. Sometimes it seems obvious to me that youd have to be manic to attempt something like Moby Dick . The downswing being the price to pay.

 

[Guest]

That's a whole different story. Sometimes it seems obvious to me that youd have to be manic to attempt something like Moby Dick . The downswing being the price to pay.

Roscoe, a more interesting manic-D was Lord Byron. Here are a couple interesting quotes:

“To withdraw myself from myself has ever been my sole, my entire, my sincere motive in scribbling at all.”

"The great object of life is Sensation: to feel that we exist—even though in pain.”

Good to see you, Perdita