The relationship between creativity and depression

Is it true that the most creative people have a tendency to suffer more emotional pain?

On more than one occasion we have heard that there is a close link between creativity (and even genius) and psychopathology. Many great exponents of different arts such as painting, literature or poetry have been known to manifest symptoms of different psychiatric disorders.

When we talk about arts such as painting or sculpture, we usually refer to the suffering of manic or psychotic outbreaks, in which there is a break with reality (this break being the one that facilitates the creation of something new). But depression has also been associated with creativity and great works. and great works. That is why in this article we are going to talk about the relationship between creativity and depression, a relationship that is not usually talked about as often as with other pathologies.

What is depression?

Before going directly to talk about the relationship between creativity and depression, it may be useful to make a brief review of the concepts we are talking about.

Major depression is understood to be a mental disorder or psychopathology characterized by the psychopathology characterized by the presence of a sad mood and/or anhedonia. or difficulty in feeling pleasure or satisfaction for most of the time for at least two weeks, together with other symptoms such as sleep disturbances (there may be insomnia and nocturnal awakenings or hypersomnia) and appetite (generally causing a loss of appetite), mental slowing or bradypsychia, psychomotor agitation or retardation, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness and possible thoughts of death and suicide (although not all of these symptoms are necessary).

It is a disorder that generates a high level of distress, in which cognitive biases occur that in turn lead to the existence of a cognitive triad; negative and hopeless thoughts about the self, the world and the future and in which there is high negative affectivity and low positive affectivity and energy. It has serious effects on the way of seeing the world, and usually generates a great limitation in different vital areas.

The person is usually focused on his or her depressive thoughts, loses the desire and motivation to act, loses the ability to concentrate, and tends to isolate (although initially the environment becomes protective and pays more attention to the subject, in the long run there is usually a fatigue of the situation and a progressive withdrawal).

What about creativity?

With regard to creativity, this is understood as the capacity to elaborate new ways and options to do things, to generate new strategies to reach an objective.generating new strategies to reach a goal. It requires different skills, such as memory and capacity for divergent thinking. Especially, it requires imagination to make a link between reality and the elements to be created. At the artistic level, one of the most recognized and considered pure forms of creativity, it also requires introspection and self-awareness, as well as a great sensitivity to capture emotions. It is also usually related to intuition.

Art has also often been related to suffering. It makes the subject reflect and deepen what he is, how he feels and how he feels the world. Authors such as Freud relate the artist's creativity with pathologies and infantile traumas, being a way to open oneself to the world.It is a way of opening oneself to conflicts and to the desires and fantasies present in the unconscious.

The relationship between creativity and depression

The link between depression and creativity is not something recent: since ancient times, Aristotle proposed that philosophers, poets and artists tend to have a melancholic character.

This idea has evolved and persisted throughout history, and it has been found that some great thinkers, philosophers, inventors and artists had depressed subjects with mood disorders (including bipolar disorder). (including bipolar disorder as well). Dickens, Tennessee Williams or Hemingway are, among many others, examples of this. And not only in the world of art, but also in science (Marie Curie being an example of this).

But this relationship is not based only on supposition or on concrete examples: multiple scientific studies have been carried out to assess this relationship. The data from a large number of these studies, analyzed in the meta-analysis conducted by Taylor from which this article is based, show that there is indeed a relationship between the two concepts.

Two views of this relationship

The truth is that if we analyze the symptomatology present in a large part of depressions (lack of desire, anhedonia, psychic and motor slowing...), the relationship between depression and creativity (which implies a certain level of mental activation and the fact of creating) may seem strange and counter-intuitive. But, at the same time, we have to think that it also implies a focus on what one is doing. implies a focus on what one thinks and feels (even if these thoughts are negative), which (even if those thoughts are negative), as well as focusing on the details of what disturbs us. Also, it is common for creative works to be done at a time of recovery or return to normal functioning after going through an episode.

However, the existence of this relationship has a double reading: it is possible that the person with depression sees his or her creativity enhanced, or that creative people tend to suffer from depression.

The truth is that the data do not largely support the first option. People with major depression showed in different trials to have greater creativity in aspects such as painting (curiously, artistic creativity is the most associated with this type of disorder). However, the differences were relatively modest and in many cases were not considered statistically significant.

With regard to the second of the options, namely the fact that creative people tend to have a higher level of depressionThe results are much clearer and more evident: they reflect that there is a moderate to high relationship between depression and creativity (although the relationship seems to be stronger with bipolar disorder). People with higher levels of sensitivity, including artistic sensitivity which is often associated with creativity, are prone to depression. They tend to feel emotions more intensely and to focus more on details, and are generally more affected by events and thoughts.

However, this relationship occurs with major depressive disorders, in which depressive episodes appear and are eventually overcome (although they may recur in the future). Disorders such as dysthymia, in which there is no depressive episode per se that is eventually overcome, are not related to greater creativity. One possible reason for this is the fact that suffering from a mood disorder is not associated with greater creativity. facilitates introspection and focusing on how we feel and interpret the world, something that other people do not often consider to the same extent.something that other people do not usually consider to the same extent. And these reflections can be captured in different types of works, such as literature, poetry or painting, awakening creativity.

The Sylvia Plath effect

This link between mental illness and creativity, especially in the field of poetry. It has been found, in the study of different authors throughout history, that on average people who devote themselves to poetry (and especially women) tend to die younger, often as a result of suicide.. In fact, the percentage of suicides went from 1% to 17%. This was baptized by Dr. James Kauffman as the Sylvia Plath effect or Plath effect.

The name in question comes from a famous poetess, who suffered from depression (although today it is speculated that she may have suffered from bipolar disorder), who ended up committing suicide at the age of thirty after several attempts throughout her life and in whose works can often be seen reflections linked to death.

Bibliographical references:

• Taylor, C.L. (2017). Creativity and Mood Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 12 (6): 1040-1076. New York.
• Kaufman, J.C. (2001). The Sylvia Plath Effect: Mental Illness in Eminent Creative Writers. J Creative Behaviour, 35:37-50.