Off topic: Creativity and mental health. Thread poster: Alison Sparks (X)
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Alison Sparks (X) 
Local time: 10:35
French to English
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Maybe this is the wrong forum. If so please would someone be kind enough to put it in the right place.
The BBC web site has the following offering which I find more than a little worrying.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19959565
Does anyone else think that this applies to translators? I always thought that it was a "creative" activity, and on top of it ... See more Maybe this is the wrong forum. If so please would someone be kind enough to put it in the right place.
The BBC web site has the following offering which I find more than a little worrying.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19959565
Does anyone else think that this applies to translators? I always thought that it was a "creative" activity, and on top of it I do write both stories and poems even if they are never published.
Help!!
[Edited at 2012-10-16 18:49 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Other worrying choices | Oct 16, 2012 |
If you are not satisfied with our society's usual reasons for worrying, like e.g. unemployment, poverty, social exclusion, state of war in/with other countries, floods, fires, earthquakes, global epidemics, crime, political corruption/carelessness, social unrest, uncontrolled taxes, religious extremism, etc., the news mentioned looks like an interesting new source of concern. At least one that will sound interesting in dinner parties and could be off the beaten worrying track for most fellow gue... See more If you are not satisfied with our society's usual reasons for worrying, like e.g. unemployment, poverty, social exclusion, state of war in/with other countries, floods, fires, earthquakes, global epidemics, crime, political corruption/carelessness, social unrest, uncontrolled taxes, religious extremism, etc., the news mentioned looks like an interesting new source of concern. At least one that will sound interesting in dinner parties and could be off the beaten worrying track for most fellow guests. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alison Sparks (X)
Local time: 10:35
French to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Is that what being creative is about then? A tendency to worry about any and everything? You certainly mention a number of things which concern me and my entourage. Though frankly just at the moment it's Maslow's hierarchy (level 2) which concerns me the most!!
Sorry, another typo got the accent the other way round on your name, please excuse me, but can't find it on my keyboard.
[Edited at 2012-10-16 18:59 GMT]
I think it's time I went to bed. Brain malf... See more Is that what being creative is about then? A tendency to worry about any and everything? You certainly mention a number of things which concern me and my entourage. Though frankly just at the moment it's Maslow's hierarchy (level 2) which concerns me the most!!
Sorry, another typo got the accent the other way round on your name, please excuse me, but can't find it on my keyboard.
[Edited at 2012-10-16 18:59 GMT]
I think it's time I went to bed. Brain malfunction in all directions. 
[Edited at 2012-10-16 19:01 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not necessarily | Oct 16, 2012 |
Alison Sparks wrote:
Is that what being creative is about then? A tendency to worry about any and everything?
I don't think so. I have met very dull worried people, and very creative people who never worry about anything.
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| Creativity and worries | Oct 16, 2012 |
I'm not trained or interested in psychology/psychiatry, so please forgive me if my comments sound very amateurish or offensive in any way.
The article doesn't surprise me. The way I see it is that creative people have a lot (or different or a variety) of things going on in their minds, and because expression comes as a natural need, they have to find ways to express them. Sometimes they can't, the means aren't good enough - I'm sure the feeling of "something ineffable" is familiar t... See more I'm not trained or interested in psychology/psychiatry, so please forgive me if my comments sound very amateurish or offensive in any way.
The article doesn't surprise me. The way I see it is that creative people have a lot (or different or a variety) of things going on in their minds, and because expression comes as a natural need, they have to find ways to express them. Sometimes they can't, the means aren't good enough - I'm sure the feeling of "something ineffable" is familiar to everybody. So no wonder that creative people are more exposed to mental vulnerabilities.
And no wonder that simplicity has been praised in spirituality. Simple people are more content, and not all simple people are stupid. I know quasi-geniuses who chose to be simple and they are the happy intelligent people I know. As Tomás said, there are very creative people who never worry about anything
Others who chose to explore their own complicated minds have many inner struggles.
What I find worrisome is that some creative people belittle those who aren't (or choose not to express it). That's when creativity becomes a burden, because these people alienate themselves from others.
I think the good or bad outcomes and risks also depend on what people use their creativity for. I found that creativity developed and expressed out of love (for others' benefit, as a sacrifice to divinity) doesn't involve these mental risks, while creativity expressed only for the sake of expression and laurels does create a troubled soul. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | There is no reason to worry | Oct 16, 2012 |
Alison Sparks wrote:
Help!!
[Edited at 2012-10-16 18:49 GMT]
It's a Swedish research.
| | | | | Spirituality and worries | Oct 17, 2012 |
Annamaria Amik wrote:
And no wonder that simplicity has been praised in spirituality.
Indeed. Another recent study I heard of says that believers have better health in general. I reckon that by entrusting all your major issues and situations to a superior being helps spending less time worrying and more time trying to find solutions.
| | | | Usch Pilz
Local time: 10:35
English to German
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| Look at it the other way round? | Oct 17, 2012 |
Maybe it is the other way round!
The article states that creative people are more likely to be mentally troubled. To me that sounds like a questionable approach.
Could it not be the other way round? People who have mental issues seek creativity as a kind of outlet?
Chicken or egg? Which one came first?
And IF creativity IS the outlet - then be it. Great! Everyone profits.
(Much better than destructive or self-destructive behaviour.)
Keep writing those poems, t... See more Maybe it is the other way round!
The article states that creative people are more likely to be mentally troubled. To me that sounds like a questionable approach.
Could it not be the other way round? People who have mental issues seek creativity as a kind of outlet?
Chicken or egg? Which one came first?
And IF creativity IS the outlet - then be it. Great! Everyone profits.
(Much better than destructive or self-destructive behaviour.)
Keep writing those poems, taking pictures, spinning your yarn ... ▲ Collapse
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Usch Pilz wrote:
And IF creativity IS the outlet - then be it. Great! Everyone profits.
As long as people use their creativity as a benefit for mankind, and not the opposite...
| | | | | Where are the figures? | Oct 17, 2012 |
Like so many scare stories, you need to remember that ten times zero is still zero, and ten times a very small percentage is still a tiny percentage. So it might never affect you directly anyway....
The percentage of writers who commit suicide is claimed to be twice the percentage of the general population who commit suicide. But mercifully, it is still a small percentage.
OK, what IS the percentage of the general population that is counted as writers?
Ten per cen... See more Like so many scare stories, you need to remember that ten times zero is still zero, and ten times a very small percentage is still a tiny percentage. So it might never affect you directly anyway....
The percentage of writers who commit suicide is claimed to be twice the percentage of the general population who commit suicide. But mercifully, it is still a small percentage.
OK, what IS the percentage of the general population that is counted as writers?
Ten per cent?
With amateurs and school mag scribblers, sixty per cent?
However you look at it, there will not be many who commit suicide, even if the ones who do are famous and receive more publicity than most of us.
But with one in four of the poplation suffering from some kind of mental disorder, that is a lot of people, and inevitably includes a fair number of the creative types too.
I am not trivialising mental illness - I have been too close for comfort myself, and I know several others who have had serious problems. Let's concentrate our concern on them.
Some disorders are treatable or preventable - I have to discipline myself to go out and get some fresh air and especially LIGHT in the winter months from now to February, or I get SAD... but I have managed to avoid it for a good few years now.
I'm left handed and don't drink alcohol, and according to some statistics those two factors reduce my life expectation marginally compared to Mrs. Average. But what does that prove?
Many other creative people may be slightly mad -- all the best people are! (Supposed to be a quote from Alice in Wonderland, but I bet it goes much further back than that.) But it is not always a problem for them or others around them.
If you have a problem, then I hope you find the help you need.
If not, count your blessings and enjoy them! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | But then the article states: | Oct 17, 2012 |
As a group, those in the creative professions were no more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders than other people.
But they were more likely to have a close relative with a disorder, including anorexia and, to some extent, autism, the Journal of Psychiatric Research reports.
So, just keep together in a group and you'll be fine. (Sorry, close relatives... I guess I just can't help being creative.)
And now I guess I'll continue worrying about global warming and decreasing per-word-rates.
| | | | Alison Sparks (X)
Local time: 10:35
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Interesting comments from all.
Actually I enjoy being creative, but there's no doubt that at times I do have phases of instability, and it's during those that I produce my most original creative efforts. Usch may be on to something there.
I'm not sure that such creativity benefits mankind, but it certainly is of benefit to me. Maybe one day I'll get around to publishing something and then we'll see.
... See more Interesting comments from all.
Actually I enjoy being creative, but there's no doubt that at times I do have phases of instability, and it's during those that I produce my most original creative efforts. Usch may be on to something there.
I'm not sure that such creativity benefits mankind, but it certainly is of benefit to me. Maybe one day I'll get around to publishing something and then we'll see.
I know it's a small percentage of people who are serious sufferers and don't consider myself one of them. But when one knows that some of the greatest comics or musicians either spend time in mental institutions or commit suicide, it rather makes one think.
By the way Gennardy, why should the research being Swedish be relevant?
As for spirituality, not my scene. I've seen too many young or exceptionally kind, honest people pass on way before what should have been their normal time that I have very little faith. ▲ Collapse
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| Because it's Nordic, madam | Oct 17, 2012 |
There is a lot of other researches about the Nordic type.
I hardly could imagine a person from the South (on any longitude), who would mate these two properties, creativity and disorder. They seem to be mutually exclusive.
It's another matter that a creative person (i.e., able to create or improve something) lives under heavier pressure from the community/society than the others. This may be one of the reasons that, yes, they are expected to be happy and respectable, but often fail t... See more There is a lot of other researches about the Nordic type.
I hardly could imagine a person from the South (on any longitude), who would mate these two properties, creativity and disorder. They seem to be mutually exclusive.
It's another matter that a creative person (i.e., able to create or improve something) lives under heavier pressure from the community/society than the others. This may be one of the reasons that, yes, they are expected to be happy and respectable, but often fail to meet those expectations.
You may consider your French an inoculation against what's in the subject. (It's a joke)
[Edited at 2012-10-17 23:04 GMT] ah, in the subject, there's written "health", but obviously reads "disorder". The grammar!
[Edited at 2012-10-18 11:36 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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