Not necessarily, but it probably gives them more material!

 

unless you have to be on anti-depressants or other anti-psychotics, which have the known side-effect of killing creativity.

 

I think those of us who have been through some bad stuff can write more authentically with more insight.

 

I think most people would choose to be well, if they could.

Throughout history, people who were unable to hold down a job yet had a wealthy family would find themselves with ample time to write. The ill + poor probably didn't do so well, which is not so different from today.

 

Hearing voices helps. That's why I studied a second language.

B.

 

I think it makes my books more interesting, but you have to reign it in. I have one or two things in Cure for Sanity that make no sense whatsoever. But I left them in because the whole book is pretty much an exploration of schizophrenia.

 

Not in my experience. Being Unipolar depressive, having an eating disorder, and suffering from an anxiety disorder don't make me a better writer. They make me unhappy, ruin my self-confidence, and are just more things I have to fight through to write at all. I don't feel like being sick gives me special insight. In fact, I think it hampers me because I would love to be able to get out more and experience the world instead of hiding and being stuck in my own head.

 

Well, let me take stock of things for you from my perspective.

Wrote first novel while feeling excellent. Took three months.
Wrote third novel while feeling excellent. Took three weeks.
Currently writing fourth novel while feeling excellent. Is on target to take three weeks.

Wrote second novel while trying to juggle a divorce, a loved one threatening suicide, a loved one being deployed to a war zone, and my own serious depression problems. Took two years.

I don't know whether combating a mental illness even as relatively minor as my anxiety and depression makes me a better writer. But it certainly makes me a much less efficient writer.

 

I think everybody has psychological problems. Some people just hide it better than others. But not everyone is willing to dig them up and use them to make art.

 

unless you have to be on anti-depressants or other anti-psychotics, which have the known side-effect of killing creativity.

In my case anti-depressants actually brought my creativity back because they helped me out of the black hole, gave my some energy, and focus and finally made it possible for me to write again. Writing now helps with keeping the depression at bay. I stop writing, my depression is rearing its ugly head again.

I think writing while dealing depressions can lead to some marvelous literature, but at what costs? When you read about the constant struggle and the pain and suffering (Virginia Woolf or Sylvia Plath come to mind) then no, it's not worth it.

 

re: how can you write about... if you've never experienced ...

how can you write about murder if you've never been a murderer (or been murdered)?

 

lol. You want me to publicly admit that i'm cray cray?

I think writing is cathartic and when things are rough, I write more. Needless to say, the past two years have sucked. Stop trying to count how many books I wrote. I already said cray cray. What more do you want?

 

I've never mined an asteroid, but have no problem writing about it. Or been through sustained space travel (or, really, any space travel). I've never killed someone, been killed, had a baby, molested a child, raised a dragon, or a myriad of other things I've written about. It is perfectly possible to write about things you've never experienced. That's what imagination is for. I pity anyone who lacks the ability to imagine things they themselves haven't done. What a sad way to try to write that would be (and sad way to live, I mean, you'd practically be limiting your own ability to sympathize and empathize with people and experiences that differed from your own, which seems very enclosed and lonely to me).

 

I want a dragon. Ya know, I read that Eragon book waiting for the kid to turn into a dragon. I don't read blurbs, obviously. haha. I read the whole series and Kevin didn't turn into a dragon once!

 

Yeah, I was never in Egypt 3500 years ago, but I'm hacking that just fine according to my readers.

I don't buy the idea that you can't write about X if you've never experienced X.  Of course you can.  Every emotion in any story is basically: anger, fear, devotion, happiness, loss, desperation.  Every person has experienced these, just in varying circumstances, and if you can recall how you felt in Circumstance A you can apply it to Circumstance B for your story.  I do not think that people who struggle with mental illness somehow have the market cornered on feeling intense emotions.  They are usually just less skilled at controlling and/or constructively expressing those emotions (speaking from experience, here.)

 

It doesn't help me be a better writer, but it gives me something to blame it on when I fail besides a lack of talent.

 

I wrote about the pope and I've never been pope.

 

Conflict in life helps writers convey conflict in novels; which we all know drives plot.

'Psychological problems'... as in 'Problems of the mind or clinical dysfunction?'

I would say dysfunction works against the artist in more cases than not, but that doesn't mean they can't be successful. Whether it makes them a better writer or not... *shrugs* I don't know. Maybe if they're writing a psychological focused novel with a first person narrative. But then, we're writers, empathy is often something we're good at (putting ourselves in the heads of others), I don't think you need a clinical psychological disorder to learn the processes of someone with a dysfunction say if you read their diaries, interview them or research the disorder. That might not mean you can 'know' first hand what it's like, but you can sure 'convey' what it appears to be.

As a therapist and writer, that's just my two cents.

 

People with bipolar disorder often get the drive to write books during their manic phases. It's thought that many famous authors and other notable historical figures were bipolar. Edgar Allen Poe, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Jack London, and many more. It may not have *made* them a better writer, but I'm sure it was a factor that made their perspectives unique.

Dostoyevsky had epileptic seizures about which he wrote beautiful descriptions. Any challenge one overcomes crosses over to other domains, I think.

 

I've often wondered if being somewhat crazy or, at the very least, delusional helps people be better writers.

No. Hard work makes people become better writers.

 

No. Hard work makes people become better writers.

+1

Got to admit, a little bit of innate 'talent' thrown in helps too

 

No. Hard work makes people become better writers.

Crazy hard work.

 

Actually, there are studies suggesting creative people's brains function on a level with psychological disorders. While problems themselves might not help people be good writers, creative people do have a tendency towards more psychological problems. (http://www.stanford.edu/group/co-sign/Sussman.pdf) I hope posting the link is all right here.

 

I think it could depend on what the disorder is, how severe it is, and what kind of medication (if any) is used to counter it. To say nothing of the fact that different people respond in varying ways to different meds. For example, I've heard some writers say anti-depressants hurt their creativity, while others of us feel we wouldn't be able to write for long without them, due to the depression sapping our interest in writing and other activities.

We've had discussions here in the past about what sort of link, if any, exists between mental disorders and creativity. Several people posted links to studies supporting both viewpoints but the end result was inconclusive (IMO). Personally, I've noticed a large portion of writers tend to suffer from mental disorders and I used to believe that meant something. Then I realized the only people I hung out with and chatted with on the subject were other writers. So for all I know the numbers of non-creative people suffering depression, anxiety, and/or other problems could be just as high.

 

There is a new 40-year prospective total population study that is definitely worth a look (n > 1 million).

"When the researchers looked specifically at authors, they found that they are overrepresented among people with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety syndrome, and substance abuse problems. Authors were also almost twice as likely to commit suicide as the general population."

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/10/study-writers-are-twice-as-likely-to-commit-suicide/263833/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23063328

But I don't know what this means:

Actually, there are studies suggesting creative people's brains function on a level with psychological disorders.

Could you clarify?

B.