Rosanne Dingli

Rosanne Dingli

Friday, September 9, 2011

Authors and depression

Self-doubt and unreliable income can wreak damage to susceptible artistic people. Authors and other artists are vulnerable, are exposed to rejection, and rely on a certain level of intellectual success to validate their occupation. Not that this is not true for any other job, but writing seems to be burdened with the public perception that it must succeed: it must include a degree of noteworthiness, if not outright fame and fortune. When expectations are dashed, or achieved only slowly and painfully, it is not only the authors themselves who question the validity of what they do, but those nearest and most intimate with them. Perhaps that is why male authors, who do not always manage to make enough to sustain a family, are traditionally more affected.

Anne Sexton Anne Sexton

Anyone who has ever studied literature or read a biography will not be surprised to learn that authors sometimes suffer from the blues. As a group, those who identify themselves as authors, or make the bulk of their income that way, have more than their fair share of members who suffer from mental illness. Even off the cuff, one can mention famous authors such as Virginia Woolf or Anne Sexton, Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald as some who were notorious for their moods.

Benedicte Page, in her Guardian article last year, wrote that writing was one of the top ten professions 'in which people are most likely to suffer from depression'. She also observed that male authors with the complaint outnumbered female ones. Reasons stated were the isolation, self-examination, introversion and subjecting one's work to scrutiny. Anyone who has ever written anything creative can relate to these aspects.
Artistic people are plagued by an intense inner life that needs an outlet, but they are also artistic because their make-up consists of a fascinating mix of facets, often accompanied by other problems such as gender orientation confusion, family dysfunction, substance abuse and inertia. Experiences, ideas and stories that run deep into a person's psyche are all magnified when it comes to one who writes, because rather than strive to subdue them, ignore them or pretend they do not exist, authors need to dredge, dig and remember. They need to rouse and elicit all that lies in their heads and hearts just to be able to frame what they write on some basis. Even if they write pure fiction, the personal element is never absent.

Gwyneth Lewis
There is a side to writing, however, that comes to the aid of authors. Given the difficulty of what they do, the meagre earnings for those but the most famous, the discomfort that comes from being misunderstood, and their continual lack of guaranteed success, the poet Gwyneth Lewis writes she is amazed "that writers don't suffer more." Many would agree that the notion that an artist or author needs to suffer for their art is nonsense. There is a cathartic side to writing that does heal. There is a definite closure to be felt when one finishes a work that feels productive. Joy is possible, and is available to authors in ways often denied to those without an artistic outlet. The ability to transcend problems, place them in perspective - even get rid of them by giving them to an invented character - lies within the scope of the author. Many writers have analytical perception, and the mental agility, to overcome feelings of depression. Goethe, when he wrote The sorrows of young Werther, exorcised his own suicidal impulses and thoughts, and very likely saved his own life.  (Pöldinger W. 1986) It has been suggested that in their depressive state, authors gather new impressions, which are then released in a fresh and vigorous writing stage, when creativity is unleased, in a kind of 'manic' state.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Perhaps it is useful to regard moods as necessary in the life of a writer: a series of hills and troughs, with their attendant feelings of alternating doubt and determination, melancholia and joy, despair and elation. If one sees there is gathering and collecting of material - of emotion - during the low moods, and great production and creation during the jolly fruitful intervals, one can face anything. Most importantly, one can face that keyboard with courage.



Enhanced by Zemanta

21 comments:

  1. Well said and very true as authors often judge their worth by sales when the truth is the writer should judge the worth of the writing to him/her.
    It is hard to do but important to let the work flow and to let it escape into the real world.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, I have to disagree a little this time with the topic, Rosanne. I know a lot of novelists who are making a living - at various levels from poor to excellent (I fall in the middle there) and that doesn't leave them unhappy.

    I agree it's foolish to expect people to suffer and starve 'for their art', but treating it in a businesslike manner and producing material for which there is a market is a very satisfying way to earn a living.

    That doesn't mean selling your soul, because the market offers a wide range of interest for writers' work. I couldn't write horror/gruesome/violent stuff, so I don't.

    I wonder if the depressed end of writing is more towards literary fiction/poetry, for which the market is less certain. I don't know, I'm just wondering. I've certainly never been as happy in my life as since I was able to write full-time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you have agreed in part - what Ms Page found is that there were different attitudes across the board, and yes, you confirm that... quite happily!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is an interesting angle to come at the topic from. I've been part of several working groups led by the Royal College of Psychiatry that have looked into mental health and debt and the relation between the two - it's a factor that often gets missed when talking about depression in the creative arts. I think I would add the further factor of having to work a day job, which is the reality for most of us, and the effect that has on self-esteem - that we are unable to make a living doing something we enjoy the way other people do.

    I've never bought into the bipolar and creativity thing - my experience of mania episodes is that yes, you get a huge a mount done - but you're so out of control it's almost all drivel. And the plain truth is that most people with bipolar have no creative impulses.

    I've written a couple of pieces that may be of interest - on three close friends and artists for whom mental illness has intersected their work in diferent ways
    http://agnieszkasshoes.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-must-be-mad-to-do-this-writing-living.html

    and one about self-doubt
    http://yearzerowriters.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/dealing-with-the-dark-places/

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think you are correct. Many writers look for validation for their writing, and often hold financial success of their work as the bar of validation. For those who don't meet this self-imposed bar, periodic depression is often a result. The important thing that such writers need to know is that given the number of outstanding writers there are who experience little financial benefit out of their work (such as most poets) using money as a bar of validation is kinda pointless. Excellent writing writing Rosanne

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dan - I'll read those articles you indicated - this is a topic that could be treated at length. I tend to agree that bipolar people seem to be less artistic - but not all of them. Yes, it is defeating to have to earn a living another way.

    Dewey - true, many studies need something mathematical to draw lines with. Self-satisfaction is hard to measure scientifically. If it were easy, perhaps many more writers would measure up and be happy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for a beautiful post that reminds me actually to reach back into areas I have shrouded in my own personalized tomb of forgiveness. Writing through my difficult years led me to a very varnished personality that sparkled into a business success rather than the one I longed for--the writing success. Now past my prime I can bravely, though gently unearth the emotional person inside who knows the difference!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for saying so, Desert Rocks. I am so glad I elicited a favourable response from you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The reverse is also true in that sometimes writing is and can be an outlet for those who are depressed, which is why it is often recommended for those who have undergone trauma.I have a writerly friend who has often worked with such groups with good results.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aside from anecdotal and observational evidence, academic research shows a pretty clear link between creativity and depression. Google it or, for the masochists, go to the original journals (zzzzzz....). But, with new medications and cognitive approaches, depression can be managed quite nicely in most cases. However, I wonder if the creativity then suffers...

    ReplyDelete
  11. This came from Margaret Sutherland:

    I found the blog well written, as usual. There is no doubt that any writer has to be sensitive to how other people feel. Without that, how can one invent characters? Of course so many other professions are like that: nursing, counselling, even the friendly grocer or kindly neighbour can put on their empathetic hat and supply insight.

    The trouble with entering into the feelings of others means one cannot be hardhearted or indifferent to the troubles of the world. Being aware of these things like poverty, illness, loss and failure does cast a bluesy shadow on days sometimes. Add to that the undefined duties of writing as compared say to clearing a blocked drain or laying bricks. We can feel down when we do not meet our goals of output, or when we read over yesterday's work and shudder, or when we simply seem to dry up and have nothing to say.

    However, I feel serious depression, as opposed to up and down moods we all feel, is genetic, chemical and a true medical problem. Any writers who have in fact suffered this way and even suicided are at the mercy of a mental illness, just as other professionals and workers are. Virginia Woolfe killed herself because she had suffered previously from episodes of depression and madness, and she could not face going through it again when she felt the symptoms return.

    I don't think writers are especially prone to depression, though writing may focus one's downhearted feelings, especially if the theme is about unhappy things. Nor do I think everything written must be 'happy'. Life is not like that and injustices cannot be fixed if they are not brought to the light.

    While women find it hard to fit their writing in to their multiple family calls, relatives and committments, as we all know, I think we are lucky in keeping our feet on the floor and our minds busy with others' needs. It keeps us sane and happy. I know a few non-writers who have gone through medical depressions, and it seems to be a horrible experience. Maybe writers can just explain it better, or write about it as a natural way of dealing with it.

    Margaret

    ReplyDelete
  12. Brilliant piece, Rosanne. I do, wonder though...and have for some time, if there is anything such as 'pure fiction'. Then I get depressed and stop thinking about it. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well put Rosanne. Eric Maisel has written extensively on this topic (The Van Gogh Blues), and concludes that those with an artistic temperament (not just writers but all artists) have a strong meaning making drive. When it's neglected, or when we feel we aren't fulfilling that drive (we're often a lot more critical of ourselves than our critics are), it can lead to disfunction. I believe you sum this up in your statement "authors need to dredge, dig and remember."

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dan - I could rely on a smile from you! No - pure fiction is only a figment, I tend to think you are right there. We need to borrow from experience, which sometimes is all too real.

    Maggie - I shall read Maisel if only to confirm my views on making meaning. Self-criticism I feel is higher in artists than in the great populace that enjoys their work.

    Thank you for the visits, everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for this. One aspect of writing that frustrates me is how little most people understand what we do. They either assume that "I'm a writer" means nothing, that you dabble on your own as a hobbyist rather than working at writing as a business (or that writing is so easy anyone could do it, especially when it comes to children's books), or else that you must be rich if you've had a couple of books published.

    This is why I think it's important to find a community of writers. I avoid talking writing with anyone else, but I love sharing trials and successes with people who "get it."

    ReplyDelete
  17. You're more than welcome, Rosanne. I'm glad I made you smile. I owe you a bunch of them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi, Rosanne, really loved this post. In particular, the point you make about the way one feels about oneself if neglecting the drive to write, is a valid one.

    Very comforting and consoling. Good to know I'm not alone! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Roseanne,

    Excellent post! You've nailed the feelings well. I can relate to both the depression and the healing process. It is cathargic to write because if writers didn't have writing, what would we do? At least we know we are not alone and that so many others, even famous, have suffered with us. Take care!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you Lena. I am depressed at the moment about lack of time. I do too many things at once, and take on too much work for my own good. 8={

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yeah, writing as liberating and wonderful as it is, makes me depressed. I never really thought of it like that until I read this. Or maybe I write BECAUSE I'm depressed. I don't know. But they are definately interrelated. Good to know we're all in this together!

    ReplyDelete