Consequences of being a writer?

Question

I have heard that writers who concentrate too much on their works are at higher risks of developing Bipolar disorders than other kinds of artists. Is this true? If it is, how can you diagonise yourself?

Answer 1

Read some books by Thomas Moore like "Dark Nights of the Soul" or "Care of the Soul". I wouldn't recommend reading anything about writing. I'd read books that deal with psychology, especially Jungian or depth psychology. Self-diagnosis is difficult but can be achieved if you're able to be honest. Try to find yourself in the books that you read. Don't sell yourself short, either. Many times you wouldn't think that you're going through anything like a Bipolar disorder, but if you can identify with the symptoms, you have a good starting point to understanding yourself better.

Another good read would be "Solitude" by Anthony Perkins. There's a lot about writers, classical musicians, and other kinds of artists that struggled with psychological problems.

Writing is one of the most difficult forms of art. Things like photography, painting, and even music have solid forms of visible beauty. But the writer must create a beauty that people can see as they read it, hear as they are read to, and identify with. For that to happen, the writer must know his/herself on a deeper level than most people. By knowing yourself intimately, you begin to operate on a wave length that all human beings can sense and identify with.

The deeper you go into yourself, the more you will discover. Some of it is disturbing, some of it is very enlightening. Things like Bipolar disorder or suicidal tendencies dwell beneath the surface of most people, even perfectly healthy, happy individuals. But most people don't ever get to know themselves as deeply as you will. If you begin to poke around in the depths, there's a lot of interesting that will come to the surface.

Answer 2

Here are a few articles that should put the question into a bit of perspective for you:

http://www.seroquel.com/prof_asp/resources/newsletter/nl_01.asp
http://www.patienthealthinternational.com/features/3118.aspx

There is a study from 1987 that indicates a higher prevalence of bipolar disorder than normal among writers, but the sample size is so small (30 writers and 30 non-writers) that the findings are anything but definitive.

For every "crazy writer" story you hear (Pound, Hemmingway, Woolf, etc.), I can think of scores of perfectly sane, reasonable ones. Think T.S. Eliot, who held down a day job as a banker, of all things. Or Wallace Stevens, an insurance executive. Flaubert said that artists should "live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod." He stressed being regular and orderly in your life, so you can go crazy on the page.

My personal research (from long years of friendship with dozens of writers) is that the really good ones tend to be a little eccentric, but not crazy. All but a few of the writers I know are decent, dependable human beings, usually because we can't afford not to be. This is an insanely competitive profession. People with undiagnosed mental illness simply don't last long.

Answer 3

You're almost right.

You have to be slightly crazy to be a decent writer. It isn't the writing that makes you crazy. The writing just facilitates the art. The crazy is always there. If you aren't crazy, write a technical manual or a crappy love story.

Answer 4

Creative writing calls on the unconscious for much of its materials. Have you read any Freud? He discusses many of the tools writers use, like dreams, things you've forgotten, so-called coincidences. Once you open yourself to your own unconscious, you may have thoughts that seem 'crazy' but they are just thoughts. Trust yourself.

Answer 5

The major consequence of being a dedicated writer is poverty. You also tend to prefer solitude, ask a lot of questions when you are around people, and are always daydreaming.

Answer 6

Horse puckey. There are NO studies to support that idea at all.

Answer 7

Maybe I don't know but if you love writing, don't let that stop you!

Answer 8

Maybe...