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In terms of creativity, I believe depression acts in a similar way as other emotions such as anger, joy. A quick look around the arts reveals a broad range of depicted emotions including depression.
So, I would think that sure, depression can be an "inspiring factor" but not neccessarily the cause of creativity.
EX: A bad break up inspires a spurned lover to write a beautiful angst ridden song. Another person bursting with love wirtes an ode to his lover. An old man coming to terms with the sunset of his life expounds upon the frailty and mortality of the human experience.
Another way to approach the "depression-creativity" binary is comparing it to drugs: If marijuana, cocaine, alcohol didn't exist (or whatever), would the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Hemingway, Van Gogh, Mozart, Hunter S. Thompson be creative and prolific in their crafts? In other words, do the drugs make the art or does the artist? Does the depression make the artist or does the artist?
Personally, I always wondered about the drug thing...
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