Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Are Depressed Artists Somehow More Profound?

raveneye · 04-20-2005, 06:44 AM

Since roachboy offered some personal history, let me do the same.

I don't have any major mental illness (although my wife might dispute that statement . . . ) but I do consider myself to have definite, noticeable schizoid tendencies, and these have been there for as long as I can remember.

I would also consider myself very creative (musically at least), although I have never had any sort of psychological evaluation on that basis. But I have made a decent living for many years performing purely improvisational piano, i.e. sitting down and just playing, for hours at a time.

I agree with roachboy that the idea of "inspiration" doesn't apply much. It doesn't matter what mood I'm in, although I seem to be much more creative around 8-10PM than any other time of day (at least that's my subjective impression, who knows if it's really true). But no matter what my mood, if I have a gig I can pull it out. Where it comes from, I don't know, but it's there no matter the "mood" or the "inspiration".

The main exception to this is that during the weeks after my brother was killed I was far more productive than ever before in my life. The reason is that I had a tremendous need to create something valuable to replace his loss and honor him. So I think loss and grief can create a mental state that is very conducive to creativity.

But if I were to "explain" my personal creativity in general terms, I would say that mood is irrelevant, but that there is definitely a connection between my schizoid-ness and my creativity. To me the two feel like different facets of the same thing; they are both fundamentally important in how I react to and view the world. And they both seem to be always there, nothing can get rid of them.

Whether I would be equally creative without the other thing, or more creative, I don't know. But to me they definitely feel like they are fundamentally, at their base, the same.

04-20-2005, 06:44 AM	#11 (permalink)
raveneye Born Against	Since roachboy offered some personal history, let me do the same. I don't have any major mental illness (although my wife might dispute that statement . . . ) but I do consider myself to have definite, noticeable schizoid tendencies, and these have been there for as long as I can remember. I would also consider myself very creative (musically at least), although I have never had any sort of psychological evaluation on that basis. But I have made a decent living for many years performing purely improvisational piano, i.e. sitting down and just playing, for hours at a time. I agree with roachboy that the idea of "inspiration" doesn't apply much. It doesn't matter what mood I'm in, although I seem to be much more creative around 8-10PM than any other time of day (at least that's my subjective impression, who knows if it's really true). But no matter what my mood, if I have a gig I can pull it out. Where it comes from, I don't know, but it's there no matter the "mood" or the "inspiration". The main exception to this is that during the weeks after my brother was killed I was far more productive than ever before in my life. The reason is that I had a tremendous need to create something valuable to replace his loss and honor him. So I think loss and grief can create a mental state that is very conducive to creativity. But if I were to "explain" my personal creativity in general terms, I would say that mood is irrelevant, but that there is definitely a connection between my schizoid-ness and my creativity. To me the two feel like different facets of the same thing; they are both fundamentally important in how I react to and view the world. And they both seem to be always there, nothing can get rid of them. Whether I would be equally creative without the other thing, or more creative, I don't know. But to me they definitely feel like they are fundamentally, at their base, the same.