Description: Is there a connection between the mental illness manic depressive and the notion of creativity? Here is my intake as written for my Abnormal Psychology course.
Being creative is something that is always praised and is something that many people strive to achieve. However there are people who seem to be creative and have it just seem to flow naturally. Creativity isn’t normally something people question or at least not in the sense of associating it with mental illness. Not that creativity should always be associated with a mental illness it is undeniable that many people who do have manic depression are artists in some way or another. In simple terms creatively does not stem from mental illnesses but instead sometimes contributes it. Otherwise if it is assumed “…that such diseases usually promote artistic talent wrongly reinforces simplistic notions of the mad genius” (Jamison). A better statement would be that the emotions generated by mental illnesses could sometimes be converted into an artist form and/or concept.
Yet it seems throughout time people who presumably have suffered from this mental illness have been able to deal through artistic means. It goes without saying that people with mental illnesses, such as manic depression, don’t think the way ‘normal’ people do. The depression these people suffer seems to pull them away from the reality everyone else lives through. That notion is not necessarily a bad thing either because it makes them different and outside the norm. In other words, having this condition helps people bring new sides of themselves to life. Edgar Allan Poe, a man who is believed to have suffered manic depression, can be a prime example of a person who turned his distraught feelings into works of art.
A manic depression illness allows the person to have a variety of emotions on a profound and intense level unlike those people without the illness. Rather people with normal emotions see the world in black and white except for the few that can see a shading of grey. Well a good majority people with manic depression illness can see that grey shading and tap into their creativeness much easier. Because people with mental illness think differently, the intense emotions they express can make them see things in another light. This different sense of thought can help them convey their emotions in music, writing, and etcetera. But it isn’t as simple as that because people with depression are suffering in a sense and therefore may express their thought in morbid musings. The majority of the time Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry for example tends to draw on dark emotions – emotions people consider insane because of the fact they are so intense.
Furthermore, people with manic depression go through many other stages such as elevated self-esteem. Having that sense of high self-esteem enables these people to think further outside the norm and create new dimensions. Their own self image is so embodied that; “…they usually hold tremendous conviction about the correctness and importance of their own ideas” (Jamison). Basically what is seen to people, as a disability is actually a fuel of confidence that causes creative sparks to fly freely. Because of the mania this disorder causes these people are able to think at a fast pace and so their thoughts are rapid. But because they are so rapid, people with this disorder ideally are able to “…transcend it or shape it to their will” when and if they are able to they “…can provide a familiarly with transitions that is probably useful in artistic endeavors” (Jamison).
As a person with a mental disability I do suffer from mild mood disorders and so am able to associate myself with that grey area mentioned early. Mood swings help develop people and their way of thinking. Given the choice, I think a majority of the world would rather have their mood swings than live in a flat sense of being. For certain my life is perfect just the way it is – mood swings and all. In some way or another I have found myself being able to take advantage of my mood swings and turn them productive. My mood swings help motivate me but more importantly allow me to express myself creativity. Through writing, acting, and singing I am able to release the tension I am feeling but also give other people a view of how certain emotions feel like.
Works Citied
- Jamison, Kay R. “Manic Depressive Illness and Creativity.”