Many people experience mental health challenges, including those who are creative. The idea of the mad artist is supported to some extent by research, and the experiences of mental illness shared by many creative people. What do psychologists and artists say about this complex topic? The caption for a PBS a video (“Connecting strength and […]
mental health and artists
Fiona Apple on Taking a Break
Fiona Apple took six years off from performing before releasing her album “Extraordinary Machine.” She says about taking such a long time away from her creative performances: “I realized that after six years of not doing this kind of stuff, it doesn’t define who I am, and I’ll be just fine without it. It’s not […]
Depression: Helping Creativity or Suppressing?
“I sit down religiously every morning. In the course of a working day of eight hours, I write three sentences, which I erase before leaving the table in despair. The effort I put out should give birth to Masterpieces as big as mountains, and it brings forth a ridiculous mouse now and then.” That is […]
No One Normal Could Have Done This
In a very poignant scene at the end of the movie “The Imitation Game” computer scientist Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) has been undergoing court-mandated hormone therapy to “cure” him of his homosexuality, a treatment that left him very ill but allowed him to continue his work rather than going to prison. One of the most […]
Dealing With Worry and Anxiety To Be More Creative
“Anxiety is the great silencer of the creative person.” Eric Maisel, PhD
One form of anxiety is so-called writer’s block. This photo is Nicolas Cage as screenwriter Charlie Kaufman in the movie “Adaptation” by the real screenwriter Ch…