# Proof we're all crazy



## Chilari (Oct 16, 2012)

According to this BBC article, a new study indicates that there is an increased chance that creative people will suffer from a mental illness.



> Creativity is often part of a mental illness, with writers particularly susceptible, according to a study of more than a million people.
> 
> Writers had a higher risk of anxiety and bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, unipolar depression, and substance abuse, the Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute found.



Later it asks whether being more suscepitble to mental disorders make us more likely to be writers, or being writers make us more susceptible to mental illnesses.

The suicide stats do make depressing reading however.

Thought I'd share, since it's interesting.


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## Ankari (Oct 16, 2012)

You, my friend, are a Debbie Downer.


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## Caged Maiden (Oct 16, 2012)

I embrace my crazy... I'd like to think it makes my art better.  Yeppers, I've been through some terrible bouts of depression, and it too ke me years to learn how to ride the waves of mania and depression.  I'm still learning, but some of my best work has come out of those long days where I can't stop thinking.  I stay up till three sewing or drawing... it's time well spent if you ask me.


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## CupofJoe (Oct 16, 2012)

I have a certificate to prove I'm sane... it's framed and on the wall at work...


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## Sparkie (Oct 16, 2012)

I believe it was Jimmy Piersall who once said "I'm crazy and I've got the papers to prove it!"

In my case, the papers are actually computer files containing my stories.


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## Amanita (Oct 16, 2012)

Writers' minds need to be a bit different from what some people consider "the norm" or we wouldn't spend time on something like that. The question is: Is it really necessary to call anything different from the so-called norm pathological? In some cases, where there's a danger of severe harm to one's self or others, it is but I doubt that's true about all the unusual mental states, creative people mind find themselves in.


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## Mindfire (Oct 16, 2012)

That explains so much.


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## Sheilawisz (Oct 16, 2012)

Well, I have suffered depression many times in my life... and also I suffer from some degrees of anxiety disorder, obsessions with many things, a dark fascination with death and some OCD thrown in as well!!

So yeah, I agree that we creative people and especially writers are all kind of crazy =)

The positive side of this can be found in the recent Alice in Wonderland film from 2010: When little Alice asks her father if she has gone mad, he replies that she is totally crazy indeed... but the secret is that _All the Best people Are_.


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## Butterfly (Oct 16, 2012)

I take the view that it's everyone else who's crazy, and I'm the only sane person in the entire world...


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## Weaver (Oct 16, 2012)

When I was 26 years old, I was told that even _reading_ fantasy and sci-fi is a sign of mental illness.

That's okay, though - they have medications to give us that can flatten our cognitive abilities to the point where we'll never have to worry about thinking outside the (very, _very_ small) box again, and then we'll be, if not _happy_ (because we won't feel much of anything), at least not weird and thus an annoyance to the rest of the population.


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## JCFarnham (Oct 16, 2012)

Amanita said:


> Writers' minds need to be a bit different from what some people consider "the norm" or we wouldn't spend time on something like that. The question is: Is it really necessary to call anything different from the so-called norm pathological? In some cases, where there's a danger of severe harm to one's self or others, it is but I doubt that's true about all the unusual mental states, creative people mind find themselves in.



Well professional writers _are_ professional liers. Making stuff up for a living...

Sounds good to me


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 17, 2012)

You don't have to be mad to write - it does make it more fun though


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## brokethepoint (Oct 17, 2012)

Me and all my personalities clearly resent the implication that any of us are crazy.


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## Chime85 (Oct 17, 2012)

I already knew I was crazy. The trick we have as writters is to pen our craziness so people can relate to it.


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## J. S. Elliot (Oct 17, 2012)

Well, I'm not all that surprised about the "writers are crazy" quip, though the fact that _all_ creativity is/would be treated as mental illness would make for a very depressing, bland world if they attacked it in the medical field. I can certainly draw some similarities to what some of you have posted, though, which makes me hope that they don't develop a "cure".


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## Weaver (Oct 17, 2012)

SeleneHime said:


> Well, I'm not all that surprised about the "writers are crazy" quip, though the fact that _all_ creativity is/would be treated as mental illness would make for a very depressing, bland world if they attacked it in the medical field. I can certainly draw some similarities to what some of you have posted, though, which makes me hope that they don't develop a "cure".



They're already _trying_ to find a "cure," at least for some of us.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 17, 2012)

Weaver said:


> They're already _trying_ to find a "cure," at least for some of us.



They call it FOX News.


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## Steerpike (Oct 18, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> They call it FOX News.



Let's not go down that road, please. Contemporary political discussion is verboten. We have people sharing a wide variety of political viewpoints here on MS, and quips about right- or left-wing news organizations are essentially quips about political viewpoint, which never ends well. Let's just get back on the subject of whether and to what extent we're all nuts


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

Steerpike said:


> Let's not go down that road, please. Contemporary political discussion is verboten. We have people sharing a wide variety of political viewpoints here on MS, and quips about right- or left-wing news organizations are essentially quips about political viewpoint, which never ends well. Let's just get back on the subject of whether and to what extent we're all nuts




Sorry, wasn’t trying to make a political distinction. To be honest I wouldn’t even know if they were right or left, just picked it out of the ether.

I realise everyone is unique, just like everyone else.

Also, I am nuts. At least I hope I am.


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## Steerpike (Oct 18, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> Sorry, wasn’t trying to make a political distinction. To be honest I wouldn’t even know if they were right or left, just picked it out of the ether.
> 
> I realise everyone is unique, just like everyone else.
> 
> Also, I am nuts. At least I hope I am.



Ah...no problem. In the U.S. the whole FOX v. MSNBC thing has been the source of more argument than I care to remember  

I agree there is value in being out of the norm. Whether society deems that to be 'nuts' or not, it beats the alternative!


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## Mindfire (Oct 18, 2012)

On second thought, these findings seem a bit suspect. I mean, there are writers out there with absolutely NO creativity who do some very deranged things. For example: He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-Lest-He-Spam-Us.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

I don't even believe in politics, its just a conspiracy made up by the government  Why's everyone afraid of Voldermort? He got his ass kicked by a baby.


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## Mindfire (Oct 18, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> I don't even believe in politics, its just a conspiracy made up by the government  Why's everyone afraid of Voldermort? He got his ass kicked by a baby.



I was actually referring to R-b--t St---k. (We're supposed to avoid using his name because he might show up and spam the forums again.)


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

Mindfire said:


> I was actually referring to R-b--t St---k. (We're supposed to avoid using his name because he might show up and spam the forums again.)



Okay, but seeing how crazy the BBC say I am, I'm going to pretend you said Voldemort.


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## Weaver (Oct 18, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> I realise everyone is unique, just like everyone else.



  Reminds me of a bit from the Monty Python movie _The Life of Brian_:  A crowd of people saying in unison, "Yes, we are all individuals," and one guy speaking alone afterward saying, "I'm not."


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## Steerpike (Oct 18, 2012)

Weaver said:


> Reminds me of a bit from the Monty Python movie _The Life of Brian_:  A crowd of people saying in unison, "Yes, we are all individuals," and one guy speaking alone afterward saying, "I'm not."



Brian was a very naughty boy in the scene leading up to that.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

Weaver said:


> Reminds me of a bit from the Monty Python movie _The Life of Brian_:  A crowd of people saying in unison, "Yes, we are all individuals," and one guy speaking alone afterward saying, "I'm not."



I love stuff like that. There's an author called Robert Rankin, writes some really funny stuff. One of theories in his books surrounds mob mentality. Individually, people are smart. As you you add people the IQ gets smaller until everyone becomes stupid.


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## Weaver (Oct 18, 2012)

According to anthropologists (my twin is one), "insanity" is entirely a cultural thing, and each culture has its own definition of what is or is not "sane."  What most Westerners call multiple personality disorder, for example, may be seen in another culture as the person being occasionally possessed by the spirit of an ancestor - no big deal, just something that happens.


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## Ankari (Oct 18, 2012)

Weaver said:


> According to anthropologists (my twin is one), "insanity" is entirely a cultural thing, and each culture has its own definition of what is or is not "sane."  What most Westerners call *multiple personality disorder, for example, may be seen in another culture as the person being occasionally possessed by the spirit of an ancestor *- no big deal, just something that happens.



I love anthropologists.  They can be an endless well of creative inspiration.  That sounds like a great world building component.


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## Weaver (Oct 18, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> I love stuff like that. There's an author called Robert Rankin, writes some really funny stuff. One of theories in his books surrounds mob mentality. Individually, people are smart. As you you add people the IQ gets smaller until everyone becomes stupid.



This is a large part of why I'm a hermit, more or less.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

Ankari said:


> I love anthropologists.  They can be an endless well of creative inspiration.  That sounds like a great world building component.



I thought that - it would make an excellent basis for a spoof of Dark Fantasy.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

Weaver said:


> This is a large part of why I'm a hermit, more or less.



Best way to be - don't need all those silly people getting in your way


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## Steerpike (Oct 18, 2012)

Read Philip K. D i c k's _Clans of the Alphane Moon. _  The moon was a psychiatric institution abandoned by earth. The inhabitants formed their own society, the clans based on psychiatric diagnostic groups. Then Earth decides it wants the moon back.


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## Steerpike (Oct 18, 2012)

Weaver said:


> According to anthropologists (my twin is one), "insanity" is entirely a cultural thing, and each culture has its own definition of what is or is not "sane."  What most Westerners call multiple personality disorder, for example, may be seen in another culture as the person being occasionally possessed by the spirit of an ancestor - no big deal, just something that happens.



Could make for an interesting story, but I don't entirely agree with the premise.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

Steerpike said:


> Read Philip K. D i c k's _Clans of the Alphane Moon. _  The moon was a psychiatric institution abandoned by earth. The inhabitants formed their own society, the clans based on psychiatric diagnostic groups. Then Earth decides it wants the moon back.



Thanks, will check it out.


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## Steerpike (Oct 18, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> Thanks, will check it out.



The guy wrote a lot of interesting books (basis for movies like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, to name a few), and mental illness figures into more of a few of them. The author suffered from mental illness himself.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 18, 2012)

Steerpike said:


> The guy wrote a lot of interesting books (basis for movies like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, to name a few), and mental illness figures into more of a few of them. The author suffered from mental illness himself.



That definitely adds that awe of authority. I think its good when writers are able to draw on their experiences, good and bad. And it is a hell of an accomplishment to turn a negative into a positive.  Will be good research for me too. My current MC suffers from mental illness.


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## Steerpike (Oct 18, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> That definitely adds that awe of authority. I think its good when writers are able to draw on their experiences, good and bad. And it is a hell of an accomplishment to turn a negative into a positive.  Will be good research for me too. My current MC suffers from mental illness.



Yeah. He turned it into a positive to a limited extent, at least. I believe he self-medicated a lot in the 1960s; he definitely had a history of drug use, though I don't know whether dealing with mental illness had anything to do with it. He was once asked by Harlan Ellison to write a story for an anthology while on LSD (which he agreed and went ahead and did; he might have written it on LSD without being asked). In any event, he died relatively young (53) shortly before Blade Runner hit the big screen. The drug use might have contributed to his early demise.

A Scanner Darkly also figures into drug use, I think. As does The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, which is a cool book. A lot of his books deal with reality and a blurring between what is real, or in the mind, or a result of a drug. Anyway, enough of my recommendations. He's worth reading


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## Weaver (Oct 19, 2012)

Since we're talking about books now, I recommend _This Alien Shore_, by C. S. Friedman.

This Alien Shore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Steerpike (Oct 19, 2012)

Read that one years ago, Weaver. I recall liking it. I also like her _Coldfire Trilogy_ quite a bit.


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 19, 2012)

Know of any fantasy works in the same vein?


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## Steerpike (Oct 19, 2012)

WyrdMystic said:


> Know of any fantasy works in the same vein?



The ColdFire Trilogy is essentially fantasy, even though it takes place on an alien world.

Black Sun Rising (The Coldfire Trilogy,Book 1): C.S. Friedman: 9780886775278: Amazon.com: Books


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## Aravelle (Oct 24, 2012)

Well duh. Mental illness is almost a requirement. Luckily I've met my crudentials. xD


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## dangit (Oct 26, 2012)

I don't need the BBC to tell me that I'm insane I already knew _that_:spin:.


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