Flood Inspired

A very interesting read, thanks to Flood, that discusses creativity and its link to depression. As a writer, a graduate with a psychology major, as well as someone with chronic depression I found this article extremely interesting. What I find interesting is not necessarily the findings, which is that mildly depressed people (the story of my life) are more prone to be creative because the depression causes them to be more sensitive to their surroundings and to other people's feelings. I definitely agree with this because many of my friends and loved ones (won't say who!) that have never dealt with depression are definitely less sensitive to their surroundings and to people than I am. Also, I was a part of a women's depression group in college and found these women to be the most sensitive women I'd ever met and when talking about my group friends versus my college friends that I had met through other avenues, I've kept up with more of my group friends. I have a much deeper bond with them and am more comfortable relating to them about every day life hardships. Often when I'd try to relate to other friends, they wouldn't understand or would respond insensitively.

What I found myself wondering while reading this article (the psychologist in me, damn, I'm never going to escape her, am I?) was with depression, even mild depression, can come a loss of interest in or enjoyment of your favorite activities (such as writing or art perhaps?), feelings of emptiness or hopelessness, feeling stressed, nervous, or overwhelmed, trouble concentrating or making decisions, fatigue or lack of energy and headaches. Now, while these symptoms may be less frequent and less intense with "mild" depression, they are still present and in my opinion can impede with your creation of art. Not necessarily in the creativity factor but just having the energy or mind set to create art at all. I know when I'm going through a bout that I have very little energy and the last thing I feel like doing is writing, and if I do get myself to write I'm excessively hard on myself and end up quitting feeling dejected and like a failure - or is that just a writer thing that has nothing to do with depression?

I don't know an answer to this, just my own experiences and my curiosity. Like I said, the psychologist in me wants to organize a study measuring the actual productivity of mildly depressed people, but of course I'm a Project Coordinator, not a Psychologist and the resources aren't there for me. Sigh.

Also, a wonderful story, also provided by Flood (thanks, you're rockin' my world today!)

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