A State of Creative Depression

I found the chapter on creativity and disease very interesting, particularly the section on depression. I read before that many artists suffering from depression said their creativity is fueled and fostered by emotion and angst, by isolation and solitude. The emotions and angst that may be present in the artist’s mind can help shape the work. These emotions can be conveyed creatively, allowing for the term "self-expression" to come up. When suffering from depression, many artists feel they have the opportunity to lose themselves in the work being created, thus allowing their mind to feel some relief from the strains of depression. When this happens, the artist is able to accomplish what many others struggle with focusing almost exclusively on the work without distraction.

I have felt that way before. While, for me, creativity can be enhanced by my state of depression, sometimes the depression reaches such a level where other artists can lose motivation and become apathetic. However, for myself and other artists suffering from depression, there is a driving force bordering on obsessive compulsion that makes us do all we can to complete the work. For us, being creative may be the only thing that keeps us going. Certainly depression is not essential to bring forth creativity, however, the combination of the two is quite prevalent.