Amy M. Young

Originally published at Amy M. Young. Please leave any comments there.

A friend once suggested to me that creative people tend to have a bent towards depression. While I will say that it does seem that way, as any first year psychology student will parrot back to you - correlation is not causation.  I wouldn't say that creativity is caused by depression. In fact, my own experiences say that works against it.  Yes, some of my most crushingly depressed days were ones that saw some of my most creative output, but more often I was entangled in the serious effects of depression - to the point that I couldn't do anything at all (which leads into a wonderful spiral of feeling more depressed because you feel useless/worthless). 

One view that I've found repeatedly is that repressed creativity is at the heart of depressed artists, and while I agree, I would not say that is the totality of it - there are many sides to depression and creativity, and it's not easily painted with a broad brush. To function you are expected to conform to what society says is the norm. Most creative people I have had the pleasure of knowing in my life - don't conform. They're some of the most colourful, intelligent, eclectic thinkers. A lot of them do have issues with depression, and the stories are varied, but one common thread is that the majority have run into issues with doing what is 'expected' of them from a young age.  Few of them fit into the slots that society wants to put them into. They question authority, say things that aren't popular, like things that aren't all the rage. Most of them have been discouraged, disparaged, even prevented from doing what they love by those that, while they may care for them, lack an understanding of what makes them tick.  One of our driving forces in life is to be accepted and cared for, to be loved for who we are. When that is rebuked, it is truly no wonder that depression can set in, stealing away that spark. 

My own experiences, fit that as well. Most of my life I've been bullied, anything creative that I wanted to do found a ready supply of detractors. It has only been in the recent past that I've learned that this stems from within them, not within myself. I'm never going to be a person that, as someone close to me once said, can think their way to happiness, but I can internalise that I do have talent, I am loved, I am cared for, and it's my life to live to make myself happy - not others.