Are artists a depressing lot?

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on December 10th, 2010 at 09:14 AM | 2 comments | | Tweet

I’m always somewhat annoyed, yet resigned, when I run across confirmation that artists, writers, actors, singers and people who work in creative fields generally are more at risk for depression.  At risk, is the operative clause, however—doesn’t mean we have to succumb, or that when we do feel down, we can’t bounce back. 

You can trot out the myriad and famous suicides among our leading artists: Sylvia Plath, Kurt Cobain, David Foster Wallace… but what about all those dentists, accountants and engineers who off themselves?

To be fair, the Health.com article does finger other, non-artist jobs as risky for the blues: teachers, social workers, waiters, nurses, secretaries, salespeople, janitors, and yes, accountants.  All at risk for depression. What the article points out about artists though, is,  “There could be undiagnosed or untreated mood disorders in people who are artistic…. Depression is not uncommon to those who are drawn to work in the arts, and then the lifestyle contributes to it.”  Ah, the lifestyle!  You mean the tendency to have an icy glass of Scotch be-next to one’s perpetually re-nuked mug of coffee?  The angst, the existential dilemmas when one gives oneself over to the infinite undoneness of art?

Luckily, though, we live in the age of resources.  Never before in history has there been such a bevvy of communities, professionals, medicines, and outlets for individuals struggling with depression.  Yes, this is the PSA portion of the post, where I offer suicide hotline numbers (1-800-999-9999) and such. Truly, depression is nothing to laugh away, and even those of us who are blessed with favorable bio-chemistry have, at one time or another, succumbed to a day in bed with the lights off, right?  Imagine a week of that.  A month.  A year.  Imagine that there are folks out there suffering, and you don’t know.  So here’s my plea.  This jolly old month, invite an unlikely guest to your home.  Someone you know is alone, or someone you haven’t connected with in a while.  Someone who has been steering clear of the social realm.  You might just accidentally make a huge difference.

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