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Why are so many artists depressed?


Nearly every single artist I've seen on YouTube or deviantART or Twitter has gone through/is going through depression/anxiety/some other mental illness. Why do you think this is?
"Glauben Sie nicht alles, was Sie im Internet lesen." - Karl Marx
When you're broadening the disorder group as "depression/anxiety/some other mental illness", then you're not going to have a very hard time at all finding plenty of people who fit into that category. It just so happens that you're going to encounter that most commonly with "artists" because those are the types of celebrities that are most likely to present themselves and their personalities along with their work (i.e. there are plenty of famous scientists and such, but it's not like you're going to hear them discuss their personal lives much).

Doing a quick Google search yields loads of results that discredit the notion that there's any major correlation between creative ability and mental stability. Apparently if the mental disorder in question is something like psychosis or bipolar disorder then it can help somewhat in the "mad genius" sense, but that doesn't seem to apply a ton to stuff like depression or anxiety.



Also, I know I might offend a few people by pointing this out, but in the age of YouTube and social media and such where it's kind have become a "popular" thing to be associated with some mental disorder (especially on the sites you listed), I have a pretty good feeling that a small chunk of the people you've seen could be self-diagnosed or aren't as troubled by their issues as they let on. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
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Creative trades can be extremely taxing on someone both emotionally and physically due to the sheer number of stresses involved.

Artists have it worst it seems.

I also wouldn't be surprised if there was a choice number of people who are acting the part of 'depressed/starving artist' because it's become trendy in recent years to be and act that way on the internet and it seems to always get someone positive attention and cause their viewership to skyrocket.
                                                                                                                  
                              
I think there are a number of things that create this impression.

Foremost, always consider whether what you are seeing is representative. Is there anything that makes it more likely that, if an artist is depressed, you will hear about that than it would be if (1) they weren't an artist, or if (2) they weren’t depressed?
(1) is almost surely the case - most non-artistic careers, sort of by definition, are less dependent on the personality of the person doing the job than art is. This is especially the case since art has been sort of subsumed into social media. If you compare artists to, for example, somebody who spends most of their day unloading boxes of Pepsi for Wal-Mart, the latter group probably has similar or maybe higher rates of depression, but is much less likely to post a YouTube video about it, or to somehow unload that information on Wal-Mart customers.

Another element is that a lot of artists you will see online work alone, so when anything puts a stop to their work the whole thing stops, so the people who want to watch their videos just can’t, whereas if the Pepsi person is depressed people can probably still get Pepsi - so the fact that an artist is depressed is something people will care more about. This also goes for anything else that would interrupt an artist’s life. For example, I know that like three YouTubers have moved since I started watching their videos, but not even where they live, which would be completely dumb information to have about a stranger if that stranger weren’t an artist.

I’m honestly not sure about (2), since depression and the like tend to limit people’s output, so even if depressed artists are more likely to talk about their depression than non-depressed artists are to talk about their ... fine-being, maybe they are less likely to actually finish that YouTube video about depression.


Another thing I think is a big element is that people seem to like art about depression and stuff. idk
Speaking from experience, some find creative endeavors as a means to become part of a world different from the one that takes such a toll upon their emotion on a daily basis.

Of course art and other creative endeavors are but a single means of doing this out of countless others (e.i. movies, video games, music, working out, sports, substance use, etc.)
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Originally posted by Katrina

(1) is almost surely the case - most non-artistic careers, sort of by definition, are less dependent on the personality of the person doing the job than art is. This is especially the case since art has been sort of subsumed into social media. If you compare artists to, for example, somebody who spends most of their day unloading boxes of Pepsi for Wal-Mart, the latter group probably has similar or maybe higher rates of depression, but is much less likely to post a YouTube video about it, or to somehow unload that information on Wal-Mart customers.

If I constantly vented to my customers about how much I despise life I'd probably get fired from my job at the dairy lol. I already get in shit if I'm not smiling and greeting everyone.

I try to bottle it all up because most of my friends have told me they don't like me venting, but if you go back there's plenty of it on my twitter, and I usually mention on my days off how much I -despise- myself for being burnt out to actually work on anything. Art isn't an escape for me anymore, it's just another thing to add on to the list of busywork I can't finish.

So it just sits there until it occasionally comes out in an outburst or a night where I cry or what have you. Whatever. Most people don't really know because after years of it you get better at hiding it.

Originally posted by LethalBrownies
I also wouldn't be surprised if there was a choice number of people who are acting the part of 'depressed/starving artist' because it's become trendy in recent years to be and act that way on the internet and it seems to always get someone positive attention and cause their viewership to skyrocket.


I actually despise this style of opinion because the sheer fucking fact someone says "I can't trust anyone when they say they feel bad." is stupid. Even if someone -is- lying to be trendy the sheer number of people doing it must be minuscule compared to those that don't. It's incredibly facetious to put everyone in a box like that.
It probably only seems that way. On the extreme end you get suicidal people and we hear about it when they're very young, but more so when they're famous.

When people are going through mental adversity, some put that raw anguish into an art form, like writing or music. Someone told me that the reason you don't hear from Adele anymore is because she has a happy and stable life now. Positivity, it seems, is a whole other art form.

I'm not very good at composing a whole and complex musical track, but I've had plenty of dark periods in my life where I just feel implored to learn more music theory and write melodies in FL Studio. The reason being is that, while you can listen to songs that somewhat emanate how you feel, you could write your own songs and play your own notes that strike a chord more precisely with how you feel at the time; a song just for you.

I think that even our most descriptive language is not accurate enough to truly invoke a feeling or experience to another person, but music gives us something we can feel, even without lyrics. You can tell a happy or a sad song just by how it sounds; it can sound riveting, mysterious, evocative, just from keys on a piano. You can't get this sort of tone accuracy from a letter or forum post.

We've all felt happiness, but having comfort when we're feeling down I think taps into something deep inside us that makes it more valuable than the good times we share. A guy once crassly put it to me that a shoulder to cry on is a **** to ride on; I get the sentiment, because having good times with people and going to parties is what you do with your going-out mates, but people who stick with you through the bad times are more your true friends, you form a stronger connection with these people.

My point is, I think we become more attached to things when we're feeling low, so sad songs get bought on iTunes and those artists make a lot of money. Maybe it's an underlying desire to be understood, or feel like we're sharing our pain with an artist. It helps some people to be told that what they're feeling is understandable, normal, okay and listening to sad music probably helps normalise it to fans going through their own trials and tribulations.



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So this may be overly specific to my own personal experiences, or at least to other webcomic creators/writers, but it's probably still worth writing up and sharing.

I think a lot of it might have to do with the idea of "imagination versus creation." I spend a lot of time thinking of my fictional characters and worlds, but actually creating a comic is a much slower endeavor, so it can be kind of frustrating wanting to actually get to these ideas but still having so much to get through first. And, of course, when motivation drops and things take a bit longer than I'd like, it's hard not to hold it against myself - even if readers are clearly very patient and understanding.

Then there's also the "concept versus end product" side of things, where we're unsatisfied with an artistic creation when compared to how we originally imagined it. Or revisiting earlier works and feeling almost embarrassed by their quality (especially if it's in an ongoing series, where it's something that will always be a part of it).

...I realize the depression part may not be especially apparent from this. So I guess a lot of it just boils down to wanting to share your ideas with people, having anxiety about not doing good enough or putting enough out there, and it being too easy to attribute your entire presence with your work - so if people criticize it or don't seem as interested by it, it can be hard to not take personally.
Because all cartoons are CGI garbage nowadays and can't find a job.
I don’t think it’s artists who are depressed, it’s those who are depressed who become artists.

The feeling of intense emotion can be illustrated in amazing ways. It’s hard to relate to such emotions as well as one who experiences it, and is therefore not as easy to illustrate

I’m not saying most artists are depressed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if most art by depressed artists are more of the popular pieces for being unique
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Art is used as a way of expression. It's not uncommon to draw, or otherwise create pieces of art to escape depression or some sort of feeling where the artists themselves feel down.

In deviantArt it's commonly known as vent art. It displays the expression you had when you draw something. Some may be more or less subtle than others.

That may be why there may be that kind of impression you may have.

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