|
Author: Douglas Eby Article source: http://psychcentral.com/. Used with author's permission.
"I only know that summer sang in me a little while, that in me sings no more."
That excerpt from one of her sonnets expresses how much poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) probably knew of depression.
Marie Osmond has described her experiences suffering from postpartum depression in her book Behind the Smile: "I'm collapsed in a pile of shoes on my closet floor. I have no memory of what it feels like to be happy. I sit with my knees pulled up to my chest. It's not that I want to be still. I am numb."
That kind of numbness, that sense of endless hopelessness and erosion of spiritual vitality are some of the reasons depression can have such a devastating impact on creative inspiration and expression.
There are reports that as many as a quarter of American women have a history of depression. According to an article on the Allhealth.com website, "The risk of depression among teen girls is high, and this risk lasts into early adulthood." A study of young women living in Los Angeles found that almost half had at least one episode of major depression within five years after high school graduation.
Psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison, herself a person with bipolar disorder or manic depression, notes in her book "Touched with Fire" that the majority of people suffering from mood disorder "do not possess extraordinary imagination, and most accomplished artists do not suffer from recurring mood swings."
She writes, "To assume, then, that such diseases usually promote artistic talent wrongly reinforces simplistic notions of the 'mad genius.' But, it seems that these diseases can sometimes enhance or otherwise contribute to creativity in some people. Biographical studies of earlier generations of artists and writers also show consistently high rates of suicide, depression and manic-depression."
According to the website Famous (Living) People Who Have Experienced Depression, women in the arts who have declared publicly they have had some form of the mood disorder include Sheryl Crow; Ellen DeGeneres; Patty Duke; Connie Francis; Mariette Hartley; Margot Kidder; Kristy McNichol; Kate Millett; Sinead O'Connor; Marie Osmond; Dolly Parton; Bonnie Raitt; Jeannie C. Riley; Roseanne and Lili Taylor.
Development of a mood disorder may start early in life. C. Diane Ealy, Ph.D., in her book "The Woman's Book of Creativity" writes: "Many studies have shown us that a young girl's ideas are frequently discounted by her peers and teachers. In response, she stifles her creativity. The adult who isn't expressing her creativity is falling short of her potential.
"Repressed creativity can express itself in unhealthy relationships, overwhelming stress, severe neurotic or even psychotic behavior, and addictive behaviors such as alcoholism. But perhaps the most insidious and common manifestation of repressed creativity in women is depression."
Marie Osmond also wrote about another aspect, the impact on her esteem and sense of self: "My mother has always been my role model, and I believe my survival in the entertainment business is in large part due to my desire to be a strong woman like my mother. She is my hero.
"I can vividly recall what it felt like to be alone and in a crumpled heap on the closet floor. I remember thinking that my mother would never have fallen apart like that. I was sure no one would understand what I was going through. I could have managed the pain. It was the shame that was destroying me."
Fortunately, depression can be effectively managed for most people, through medication, cognitive behavioral therapy or other approaches.
According to an issue of the Blues Buster newsletter, formerly published by Psychology Today magazine, research studies have shown significant reductions in depression through engaging in aerobic activities such as walking and jogging, and resistance exercise, such as weight training.
In a press release, Rosie O'Donnell has commented about her own experience, "the dark cloud that arrived in my childhood did not leave until I was 37 and started taking medication. My depression slowly faded away. I have been on medication for two years now. I may be on it forever. The pills did not make me a zombie, they did not change the reality of my past, they did not take away my curiosity.
"What the pills did was to allow me to deal with all of those issues when and where I wish. My life is once again manageable. The gray has gone away, I am living in bright Technicolor.''
In her book "Life After Manic Depression" actress Patty Duke also affirms that getting the right diagnosis and treatment allowed recovery of her life and spirit: "The rate of growth in my mind and my heart in the last seven years is beyond measuring."
~ ~ ~ Douglas Eby writes about psychological and social aspects of creative expression and achievement. His site has a wide range of articles, interviews, quotes and other material to inform and inspire: Talent Development Resources
http://talentdevelop.com/
Government is a Franchise System; just not a very good one
Few understand the Franchising Format and even fewer have correlated that to our modern government structure. The United States Government is set up much like a...
Innovation Management: The Hype Cycle
One area of note in the commercialisation phase is the Hype Cycle. The Hype Cycle is one model that helps measure, monitor, benchmark and predict the reaction t...
How Can I Deal With It All?
Often when we look at all there is to do, it can seem and is overwhelming. But if we chunk it down into smaller tasks the world starts to look a lot brighter.
Flattening Your Stomach in Four Easy Steps
You look at it every day and wish it would just go away; that little pouch below your belly button that keeps staring back at you. You do crunches, sit ups, the...
FSBO: For Sale By Owners Chapter IV [part 1]
The exit to a Pendleton, Oregon truck stop ahead, Red downshifted to left brain and fourth gear. In 222 miles, 3 hours 54 minutes of hard labor, he had given b...
Are Your Affiliate Programs Eating Away Your Money And Time
So many times I have heard this. So many examples I do remember. People have left the internet business after being disappointed with their so called affiliate ...
No Ifs, Ands Or Buts
If we could choose right now, this moment, how we would live, And, Knowing, that the only way we could live the way we choose, is to be who we truly are... W...
Whats So Important About The Consumer Reports Treadmill Best Buy?
Consumer Reports grades on an overall score to determine its Best treadmill and also suggests four treadmill Best Buy models that combine good value with qualit...
An Easy Way To Attain Your Desires
Do you know there is an easy way to create anything you desire in a very short period of time? Most people aren't even aware of the existence of such powerful m...
Credit Card Purgatory - A 7 Step Comprehensive Plan to Get and Stay out of Credit Card Hell
Does this Sound like You? There are 100 shopping Days left until Christmas and your Credit Card Balance is Higher now then it was in the beginning of the year. ...
Ten Reasons Why Most Yellow Page Ads Fail -And Yours Does Not Have to
The ideal Yellow Page ad provides the answers readers want to find. A great ad provides the connection between what buyers expect to learn before buying AND wha...
Local Search Makes Your Business a Big Fish in Your Local Community
The public wants to find information about products or services with the ease and speed they've come to expect from search engines. However, when people are rea...
Attract Your Dream Customer
You can develop specific strategies that will attract your DREAM customers. The key is to absolutely know what sets you apart and to make a DIFFERENCE for your ...
Franchising Democracy and Creating Cohesive World Government
Preliminary thoughts of a World Franchise System-This is how it became and idea.
Hire The Person, Not The Resume
Confronting negative behaviors is an important skill for leaders to develop. But there's a step beyond that for building a high performance team. You hire the ...
Can You Change a Man?
Recently, at a public function where I was the Toastmaster, an elegant lady in her early 30s walked up to me and asked: 'Can a woman change a man?' Instead of g...
Keyword Tracking
Keyword tracking allows a site owner to know what keyword searches are resulting in sales. Search term information can be logged into a database to see which ke...
Fight Spam and Fortify Your Web Site with RSS
RSS is the answer to the Spam epidemic of the past. Spam, any mass distribution of material across the Internet, can cause systems to back up and crash with unw...
Have You Tested Your Plot?
Creative Writing Tips - Our plotting stage is our testing area. Everything in the plot should be tested for its effectiveness before we put in into our stories...
Do You Want Your Own Fully Programmable ERP? - Part 2
In the first article we mentioned the main characteristics that should have a software to be used as a Front-End with some functions of an Enterprise Resources ...
10 Reasons to Put RSS on Your Site!
Cut thru all the RSS/Blogs Hype on the web and find out
why you should have RSS on all your web sites. This relatively
new technology offers some great advanta...
Do Breast Enhancement Pills Really Work?
The question on so many women's mind who are searching for natural breast augmentation alternatives is "do breast enhancement pills really work?" This article ...
Take Back Your Life 3
In parts one and two of this series, titled "Take Back Your Life" and "Take Back Your Life 2"; we discussed the importance of proper cell function and the neces...
Aromatherapy Oils
Aromatherapy is a method of using the aromatic oils which have been distilled from plant sources to engender a feeling of well being both physically and psychol...
|
Print this page