Being a writer and having a mental disorder? Anyone??

[spidermiss2426]

I hope this is the right spot for that, and I am sorry if you all have discussed this before.

ANYWAY... I have three mental disorders (borderline, dysthemia, and Social Anxiety) and I love writing, and I am thinking right now of all the great writers who had a ment. disorder. There were quite a few of them.

Anyway, I find that writing helps me to stay "sane," if you will, like a form of therapy. Anyone else out there who can relate?? Any thoughts on mental illness and writing??

[oceanflower]

I don't know if it's a scientific fact, but it does seem that very many of the most talented and creative writers, of music or literature, suffer ar have suffered from mental illness. Depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD seem to be common among many creative people. And certainly, as you have mentioned, writing can be very therapeutic.

[Moonlight]

A lot of disorders, such as Social Anxiety, usually make people less willing to express themselves verbally and publically, and since everyone needs to express themselves, they write.

[eflo]

Definitely. Not only have a lot of famous writers in the past had bipolar disorder and ADHD like oceanflower said, but I definitely remember going through depression and soon after the effects of an antidepressent starting kicking in, I remember not having as many 'creative' thoughts to write down.

Depression or not, Bipolar or not, ADHD or not, just keep writing!

:D :D

[Eponine]

I often wonder if there is a connection. When I don't write, I live in torment. It's an addiction, for me. My journal is my stories. My life my hopes, my dreams, my regreats and my fears, my triumphs and my mistakes... It's all there, in black and white. But shh. No one know that they are really reading my soul.

The best kept secrets are kept where everyone can see them.

[NaderiaBonita]

I can't write good stuff if I'm just happy. lol. Everything worthwhile comes from passion, struggle, and confusion. To be happy, while wonderful, is slightly boring.

[eflo]

The best kept secrets are kept where everyone can see them.

I totally agree!!

Even if you have a Christmas present for someone, and you leave it on the coffee table, where they'll see it everyday, it somehow won't register.

But why is that?!!

[StormSpirit]

yes it is weird, that when your happy you are not able to put what you are experiencing in words. But ahh the suffering soul...cant stop writting.

Maybe its because when your happy you dont have time to write and you living in the moment were as the suffering ... you have nothing else but the suffering...

where art thou, my muse....

[lanie]

Hi! I know how you fell but everybody has thier own problem alist you know how to cope to your problem. Just keep on! everything will be all right. I'm a teacher. everyone of us is a unique individual. I know you have a talent keep up the good work.

:lol: lanie

[KandicePlain]

I totally agree with you.
See, I have a ton of mental disorders,
I've been diagnosed as having:
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Bi-polar disorder, Social Anxiety- severe
and a mild case of schizophrenia.

I cope with my disorders by writing about them, and how they have affected me,
and so on.

<3 Kandice

[Eponine]

Hi! I know how you fell but everybody has thier own problem alist you know how to cope to your problem. Just keep on! everything will be all right. I'm a teacher. everyone of us is a unique individual. I know you have a talent keep up the good work.

:lol: lanie

heehee. Sorry, but you sound like a teacher.

[creme_ala_creme78]

i wish i could write as a form of therapy, i tend to exercise and eat fruit as relief from reality....writing compounds the need for therapy, at least to me, reading helps with my insomnia

[Jezebel]

Each time I've gotten a diagnosis (borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive traits) the therapist has felt the need to give me a list of all the famous people with the disorder who have accomplished great things. I think that there is a link but I find a lot of times the link is overemphasized and people with a given disorder suddenly think that they have all of this creative genius that they should share with the world when really they don't. Mental illness doesn't mean you're suddenly Van Gogh. (I know this isn't what people here have been saying, I'm not arguing with anyone here I'm just venting about my own personal experinces).
Anyway, more on topic, I found for myself that wheN i was younger I had a lot of creative stuff but I seem to have entered a creative rutt...for about four or five years now. Writing about my pain just doesnt seem to cut it anymore, I get disgusted with myself it all just sounds so whiny. I agree with creme_ala_creme on the exercising thing though lately I've taken the "rant, rave, and hide from the world by sleeping all day" route.....

[blp]

Maybe it's not that having a mental disorder makes you a writer, but being a writer who isn't writing makes you mentally disordered/unhappy. This would imply that it's not necessarily necessary to write about one's problems. It might be enough just to write.

People who really do need to write about their problems in order to cope might do better in therapy. I'm not saying that to be rude. I go to psychoanalysis myself, partly in order not to overburden my artistic output with my life.

[Jezebel]

I think that therapy is extremely helpful but I think that writing, whether it be about your problems or about anything in general is a healthy coping mechanism. Therapy alone isn't going to be enough, you need outside coping skills and for some people that is writing.

[majime_na_yuki]

I myself have been diagnosed with depression and social anxiety disorder -I'm not sure that I have any genius of any brand, although I'd like to think so. ;) But seriously, I believe that there is a connection between mental illness and brilliance. When the mind is afflicted with suffering, more valuable thoughts and ideas come out of it; adversity is always more conducive to progress. That is my take on it. When I am mildy depressed, I write the work which I despise the least; when I am deeply depressed, I can't bring myself to write. There is a median place which I have to be in: tolerable suffering, in which I can endure things other than my mental anguish.

[Jezebel]

hm well guess it is gone, well someone asked about famous writers with schizophrenia. My response to them was that Socrates is now believed to be schizophrenic.

[Scheherazade]

Writing can be a useful device to cope with one's mental disorders... but I don't think mental/psychological disorders are prerequisites for being a good writer... There are many very good writers who don't have such problems... Having said that, probably all of us have such problems at different severity levels, affecting us differently...

[blp]

hm well guess it is gone, well someone asked about famous writers with schizophrenia. My response to them was that Socrates is now believed to be schizophrenic.

Wow. On what basis? Perhaps he thought he might merely be the invention of one of his students. (the last part is a joke, but I do really want to know)

Another aspect of all this that came up in a PM is that the act of creation could be so difficult that it drives you nuts. Staring at a blank page/canvas could be seen as analagous to the common schizo delusion of having to rebuild the world from nothing.

[Jezebel]

He claimed to hear voices.