Do you suffer from sadness, gloom, and frequent “blues”? Those of us in this boat may be gifted with traits that improve creativity and result in successful art and innovation.
I have worked with depression through my childhood and most of my adult life. In my later years, it eased up. I work with a therapist to make sure I stay above water. She’s mentioned that at this point, a better word for my less than sunny times is melancholia.
Depression seems to run in my family. Whether it’s genetic or resulting from childhood trauma, not sure. Probably both. In my 30s, I attended a National Alliance on Mental Illness meeting on depression. The presenter spoke of depression as a massively debilitating curse, leaving people unable to work and participate fully in life. And for some people who don’t respond to treatment, this is true. But I know of many people like me who have had successful careers, raised great kids, and enjoy rich and fulfilling creative lives who also walk that journey with depression. Sheryl Crow and Mike Wallace are two famous people who have been open about their journey with depression.
While it’s not fun to have that biochemical gremlin messing around with my brain chemistry, I have come to believe that there is a gift that comes with this particular struggle. By accepting those dips and retreating when I can, sitting with what is, and accepting myself, I think I am a more compassionate person because I know how overwhelming life can be. I understand what it’s like to be unable to do what I want on bad days. I know the value of asking for help and then accepting help. And there is something about melancholy that plays a positive role in creativity (if you are lucky and don’t struggle with this affliction – you don’t need to try and develop darkness! You be you.)
There are not just a few people who live highly creative lives who work with depression and melancholy.
“Joe Forgas, a social psychologist, investigated the link between negative moods and creativity. Although people tend to disparage sadness and similar moods, … a little melancholy sharpens the spotlight of attention, allowing us to become more observant and persistent. (of course, feeling sad also makes us less likely to have moments of insight)” He found that “the negative mood acts like a mild dose of amphetamine.’’ Melancholia tends to deepen experience and memory. Forgas found that “states of sadness also correlate with better writing samples; subjects compose sentences that are clearer and more compelling. “ When asked to create a collage, sadness improved research subject’s “focus and made them more likely to persist with the creative challenge. As a result, they kept on rearranging, he felt, playing with the colorful designs.”[1]
“Nancy Andreasen, a neuroscientist at the University of Iowa: found that 80 percent of the writers met the formal diagnostic criteria for depression. These successful artists were crazy – they were just exceedingly sad. … famous writers were eight times as likely as people in the general population to suffer from major depressive illness.” She believes that depression results in a “cognitive style” that can help people persist and pay careful attention to the work. “ In milder forms, the disorder benefits many artists due to the perseverance it makes possible. “Unfortunately, this type of thinking is often inseparable from the suffering,” Andreasen says. “ if you’re at the cutting edge, you’re going to bleed.”
“The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.” — Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life)
If you are suffering from depression and persistent sadness or have fleeting thoughts of suicide, it’s essential to see a mental health professional for a diagnosis and treatment plan. Then follow it and keep checking in. I’ve learned to accept dark times, persistent sadness, and melancholy as part of my life and appreciate their gifts. And when I’m in those dark moods, I make space to really be in them and ask those dark places what they have to tell me. I’ve had a lot of losses in my life and am currently saving kipper snack tins for a large wall piece. Each tin will hold a tiny memorial to a specific loss. Sadness and beauty often walk hand in hand.
Photo by Gabriel Matula on Unsplash
[1] (Lehrer 2012) pgs 76-78
