Is writing inherently depressing?

[Chessie2]

Ok. This bothers me. I'll come out and address it.

AnnoyingKid... Depression is a very serious, life threatening mental illness. What you are talking about is not depression. What you are talking about is "writing is hard work and I don't like it sometimes." That is not depression. There is no such thing as "depression within reason"... sorry. Just no.

There are people who legitimately struggle with depression as a real mental illness every day. Writing does not "cause" it. Major traumatic events can cause it. PTSD can cause it. Serious brain injury can cause it, or a person simply having a different chemical makeup in their brain can cause it. Writing does not cause it. I don't care how lonely or hard it is.

You are talking about how the world touts "happiness" as the only emotion and how it is not okay to experience other emotions. I get that and I think that is probably true... but as a result of that mindset I see a lot of people who just feel "sad" or "frustrated" or "overwhelmed" telling everyone they are "depressed" like it is some sort of badge of honour. Like it is some sort of contest to be the most depressed because it will make you the most "real".

That is an equally disturbing mindset. Again, feeling real human emotions when doing a task that is hard (like frustration, fear, sadness, anger, resentment, or otherwise) is not depression.

If you actually have real, clinical depression, and you are finding that writing is making it worse. Please stop. Please find another outlet. This is serious.

If you are just experiencing normal human emotions because writing is *gasp* hard. Than fine. We have all been there. Don't call it depression.

As someone who has seen my spouse suffer with major depression over the past year, I couldn't agree with this more.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

This conversation is focused more on depression than it is and n the actual process of writing.

Moving to Chit Chat.

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

AnnoyingKid... Depression is a very serious, life threatening mental illness. What you are talking about is not depression. What you are talking about is "writing is hard work and I don't like it sometimes." That is not depression. There is no such thing as "depression within reason"... sorry. Just no.

I feel the same way you do, Heliotrope, about almost everything you said, but as Mythopoet said, telling someone they don't have depression is not a good thing. I know you didn't come right out and say, AK, you aren't depressed. But the above quote comes close.

I have experienced depression at many levels, except the most rock bottom one where I would have made sure my suicide attempt had no possibility of failure. My depression was diagnosed as being due to a chemical reaction in the brain, as you mentioned. It happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of. And it's pretty damn hard to treat it, because how do you reverse a chemical reaction in the brain? Thank goodness they didn't try electrocuting my brain like they tried with some of the people in the institution I inhabited for a time. When I was in that institution, I saw people with many forms of depression and other mental conditions. I really feel for bipolar people now, and am so grateful I don't have that condition.

Sitting in group therapy sessions, you come to realize how different people are. Depression raises its head for a variety of reasons. And once it sets in on a person, it can be exacerbated by many different situations in a person's life. The difficulty of writing might not be a cause (spoken as though anyone knows what all the causes are) of depression, but it can certainly make it worse for a person struggling with depression. Having one's feelings invalidated by telling them what they are experiencing isn't depression can deepen their depression.

"Depression within reason..." could exist if we aren't discussing clinical depression. Many people use the term depression when talking about feelings of sadness or discouragement. It's easy to say that's not depression, and that's the first thought that came to my mind too. But there might be real depression there. When someone talks about depression and the things that depress them, they aren't necessarily talking about the root cause of their depression. I think it better to tread with caution when discussing the subject with someone who has expressed any feelings of depression, no matter the context. In cases like this, I think it safer to assume the worst, and let the person clarify their feelings through further discussion.

You never know when someone is making a cry for help. Asking for help for depression is not easy for those who have it. I know I tried many ways to ask for help before I got it, and the only way I got it was to try to take my own life.

 

[Heliotrope]

I have to stand by my post.

The OP asked "Is writing inherently depressing."

The answer is no. Depression comes from a lot of things, for a lot of reasons. Sitting down and writing a novel is not of them. It may exasperate the problem, in which case, stop. But it is not inherently depressing.

Telling a great story at the cost of getting depressed within reason is a perfectly fine sacrifice.

No. There is never a good reason to make depression worse. If you are depressed and writing makes it worse. Don't do it. Please. Stop.

Where did it come from that Happiness is the state we should all seek at the cost of everything else and that we should all try to live in a one season world? Commercials and corporations who want to convince us that their product is the key to happiness. Suffering is key to the human condition. It builds character and it's only in contrast with suffering that pleasures have any meaning. I fundamentally disagree that depression is something we have to avoid experiencing like the plague. It's that kind of thinking that has led to the absurd overprescription of anti depressants. I'd rather accept my inner darkness than run away from it all the time with short term, immediate pleasures. I'll be free to choose them when the work is done and I'll appreciate it all the more after having gone through the hard work.

What AK is describing here is not depression. AK is talking about human emotions, yes. But if you are clinically depressed "accepting your inner darkness" is not a wise choice.

When it comes to normal human emotions, by all means, yes! Feel pain, fear, anger, frustration. Yes, this makes you a better human being. Yes, it makes the good moments better. Yes, you come out of if appreciating all the hard work you have done. But this is not how depression works. Depression is not something you just "come out of" and think "Oh, well, glad I went through that. Now I'm a better person."

People struggle for years, or a lifetime. It comes back, over and over again. Most people I know who suffer from depression don't think "Oh, I'm glad I have these feelings. I should be allowed to indulge in them because they make me a better person."

No. Pretty much all the people I know who have depression think "This sucks. Why am I like this? I am struggling with getting through basic aspects of life. I would do anything to feel "normal" emotions."

I don't know if AK has depression or not. Maybe he/she does. It which case, as I said, if writing is making it worse, please stop. Please get some help.

Writing is not inherently depressing, though. And, if AK is suffering from real depression, I don't want to give him/her the idea that it is okay to continue suffering by writing.

Suffering is key to the human condition. It builds character and it's only in contrast with suffering that pleasures have any meaning. I fundamentally disagree that depression is something we have to avoid experiencing like the plague.

Yes. Feeling the range of human emotions is key to the human condition. Yes, it builds character.

But depression is different than that. Depression is more. Depression is not something people "want" to feel. Suggesting that is the case is not okay.

At any rate, this is the last thing I want to be discussing on a writers forum, so I'm out.

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

I feel like Heliotrope didn't listen to a word I said in my last post. That makes me depressed. Or am I just discouraged? Does anyone ******* care?

 

[Devor]

Let's try to keep it calm and not get personal, everyone. Depression is a serious subject, and people who suffer from it deal with it differently. Please try not to make assumptions about what other people might or might not be going through.

 

[valiant12]

I don't think there is a coralation between depresion and writing.
Writing and other activities tend to atract smart people. People with higher iq are more predispose to mental disorders like anxieety disorder.

 

[Xitra_Blud]

What's the alternative? Having a story in one's mind and keeping it locked in there for a lifetime? Is that really any better?

If writing your ideas makes you depressed then, yes, I would say so. While it's true that suffering is a part of the human condition, it is a thing that comes with nature. People in your life will die, sometimes you will fail, you will lose your best friends, your gonna stub you toe on the wall--yes, we deal with pain and sadness in life, however, these are things that already come with living.

What is the sense in actively seeking depression? How does it build character? I am not against reading a piece of work that may be sad or end tragically. Personally, I enjoy tragic works myself, however, the benefit of reading such works opens the mind and challenges views. It's the kind of thing that makes you consider your ideologies or the way you look at humanity. Actively going out and seeking pain in life sounds masochistic. What do you gain from it? How? And again, devoting your life to something that does nothing for you but make you hurt because it "builds character" is a philosophy you will have to explain. You build character by making yourself hurt? I would say an 80 year old man built character through his life, not just because of the horrors he's experienced just from living, but also the joys he experienced as well such as love, success (doesn't have to be big), care, even just getting his first car. In each of these experiences, good or bad, he's learned something. Right? At the end of the day, it's not what you force yourself through, but it's how you deal with what will inevitably come your way.

The way I see it, yes, we should accept that suffering and pain is inevitable as living creatures, however, there is no reason to actively seek it. Sadness is a part of the human experience, but so is happiness.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Something being depressing is not the same as causing clinical depression. Lots of things can be depressing without ever touching on clinical depression.

 

[Feith]

Well, I won't pretend to know anything about depression, but I'd say that writing can certainly be stressful and bittersweet. And there are times where a writer just can't stand their own story any more (been binge-writing, the story isn't going the way they'd hoped, slammed into a giant wall of writer's block, etc). So maybe it can be a bit depressing at times. It's sort of a trick question though, since it depends on the kind of story being written and the person writing it. But generally, I'd categorize "writing" under the "bittersweet" category, not "depressing".

 

[FifthView]

Something being depressing is not the same as causing clinical depression. Lots of things can be depressing without ever touching on clinical depression.

Our clunky language is wonderful.

 

[Peat]

Apologies if this is an unwanted call-back but -

Language, as noted, is crude, and our control of it sometimes even cruder; someone talking about depression but not really seeming to be talking about Depression (change of emphasis deliberate) can sometimes be simple mis-expression rather than mis-identification.

Also, for various reasons, those suffering from Depression can sometimes try to avoid diagnosis, treatment, or admitting how bad the problem is.

As such, I try to tread with the step of a ballet dancing angel around such subjects. That mis-diagnosis can turn a small problem into a bigger one does not help.

 

[FifthView]

Something being depressing is not the same as causing clinical depression. Lots of things can be depressing without ever touching on clinical depression.

The odd thing about this is...my own experience, which is also muddled. I do suffer frequent bouts of depressing events and situations, but I don't know for certain, with any given event or situation, whether there is some underlying issue—capital "D" depression is one possibility—and these occurrences merely trigger a somewhat more conscious awareness of that underlying issue.

In other words, when something is depressing, does it or can it lead to clinical depression—perhaps as a cumulative effect, with many of these events in a shortish time frame or else recurring with regularity over a longer time frame—or do I already suffer from some other negative condition that is triggered by those depressing events?

I suspect that the answer for me personally is more of the latter than the former, although I wonder whether these events might conspire, in cumulative fashion, to turn some lesser negative state into clinical depression, over time, if I'm too often experiencing them without resolution.

I will add that I think there are different sorts of initial-condition negative states that might be triggered by depressing events, beyond true clinical depression: generalized frustration, repression, insecurity, fear, being in a new or odd situation, etc. So sometimes these depressing events or situations are experienced as being "depressing" when they are merely triggering those other preexisting non-Depression negative states.

That said, a callback to the questions raised by our clunky language: the cumulative effect of having unresolved issues constantly triggered might well mean that, sometimes, "depressing" events and situations can actually lead to clinical depression. I.e., they do depress; the verb might be accurate for describing their effect, in some situation.

But a more revealing bit of my personal experience: I have wondered whether I do suffer from clinical depression but merely repress it, avoid resolving it, and generally mask it under the headers of "generalized frustration, repression, insecurity, fear, being in a new or odd situation,"

Nonetheless, the language is interesting, and not everyone's experience will be the same.

 

[gia]

Suffering is key to the human condition

In my world, Love is the key to the human condition.

As far as the emotional state that comes with writing...the fundamental nature of the universe is creating. When I am creating/writing I am experiencing myself as a divine creator. And that is the emotion of joy.

I know people who, instead of lifting in joy when they begin to create, spiral downward into a dark abyss. That is the sign of a wounded past that needs healing before moving forward. Something to write about! Yay!