Mental illness among writers

[Olie]

I've listed some of the most common in the poll and it's multi choice. I'm curious what the rate of mental "illness" is on this forum (voting on here is anonymous).

Do you think mental "illness" is an advantage or disadvantage to writing? I'm starting to think it just helps me think differently about everything. The worst of it is lack of motivation though.


Side note:
Based off research some of the most common illness (depression, anxiety) is actually due to over-stimulation of the right prefrontal cortex while the left prefrontal cortex is less active than the average person.

The left is responsible for: positive mood and motivation while the right is responsible for: negative mood and creativity

When you think about it, it kind of explains the negative stereotype of the "lazy musician, not to mention the high rate of disorders amongst famous people.

 

[LyricallyEuthanizing]

i believe every human being is an artist. theres on thing that every individual can do that no other cant. in this case of lyricism everyone here is a lyricist even the ones who emulate waka flaka flame or whoever. in my opinion individualism proves theres no such thing as mental ilnesses. emotional disorders on the other hand are very common amongst most people with an above average sense of creativity.

 

[Olie]

I agree to some extent but obviously at a certain point it becomes a problem and should be dealt with.

 

[LyricallyEuthanizing]

you cant generalize people because no two people are the same. i only say emotional disorders exist because our brain has various chemicals which effect our mood and chemical imbalances are very common. but what may be a problem or disorder to you may be a solution or a gift to others. in my opinion

as long as the artist is doing whats true to them then it shouldnt matter if the art is influenced by a supposed mental illness or not. theres no easy way to make art. again in my opinion lol

 

[DjPolair]

"Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year."

Naturally a lot of writers will suffer from it too. Due to writers being intellectual types it might be even higher. Eminem for example, dude is definitely messed up and he said that he would go crazy without writing, its like therapy, Jay said that too.

I think everyone is a bit touched to varying degrees, that's life, you'd be surprised at what you find if you could look into another persons mind.

 

[ARK Jazz]

ADHD for the win. Keeps ideas popping up in my head, but prevents me from actually sitting down and working with them.

 

[LyricallyEuthanizing]

people are products of their parents and their surroudings. given individualism everyone has a different perception. what some people call disorders may just be people being who they are as an individual. the freedom to think and do for ourselves gives us to power to do and think as we wish. what we do with that power is up to us. some do this and others do that and i believe it was always going to be this way since the begining. the world can be wild but the people in it will always be wilder.

 

[Olie]

You should try writing them down as they pop in your head, do meditation for 30 minutes then try to connect them together. Should give the best of both worlds. Everything i read points to meditation often being better than meds for focus.

 

[bandcoach]

ADHD for the win. Keeps ideas popping up in my head, but prevents me from actually sitting down and working with them.

this is why you should carry a portable voice recorder - record them as they pop and write them out later when you're more chilled.....

 

[MrWonderful]

here are mine, I'm not scared to share :

• Depression
  
• Anxiety
  
• Autism spectrum
  
• Bipolar Disorder
  
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  
• Antisocial personality disorder
  
  
  A good maniac episode is awesome for songwriting, I like to take a dab get real maniac and get to work. I'm like a superhuman.
  

 

[Olie]

I kind of envy manic depressives, all i get is down then further down then FREAK OUT paranoia anxiety everyone get away from me! then down some more.

 

[unknownwonknu]

"Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year."

Naturally a lot of writers will suffer from it too. Due to writers being intellectual types it might be even higher. Eminem for example, dude is definitely messed up and he said that he would go crazy without writing, its like therapy, Jay said that too.

I think everyone is a bit touched to varying degrees, that's life, you'd be surprised at what you find if you could look into another persons mind.

He actually claims OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) on a track on MMLPII with Rhianna.

 

[Olie]

He claims a lot of mental disorders, he's either lying about them all (which would possibly make him a sociopath) or he has OCD.

 

[BlitzComet]

I have one not listed in the options, Dissociative Depersonalization, it has some similarities to schizophrenia. It has to do with stuff like out of body experiences, altering perceptions of reality, strange physical feelings. I used to have out of body experiences and "phantom limb feelings" as a child (I'm not an amputee or anything, like I would feel parts of my body that were completely non-existent e.g. a tail). The way things look will change, like the difference between watching a cartoon then switching to a soap opera in HD. My perception of time is really ****ed up. I'll also have a lot of trouble controlling my thoughts which start to get really violent. I'll feel like things aren't real or that I'm not even real, similar to Descartes' I think therefore I am or Soplipsism, when that kicks in and I can't tell if I'm real it's almost like I have no sense of pain, I've actually severely injured myself during this and didn't feel it or even fully realize what had happened. There's a lot more to it though. Part of why it was so bad and is still pretty bad has to do with severely traumatic experiences as a child.

I also have the typical depression and/or Bipolar disorder, anxiety, paranoia, social phobias, OCD, ADD. If you met me though you might not ever catch on to that first thing, you'd definitely notice the ocd though, and the anxiety.