depression is not a “gift of the Muse”

a parvum opus penned by Queen of Everything, on March 9th, 2010

over the past week or so i’ve seen some articles discussing depression’s “up sides”. let me be clear that i do not believe that there are any up sides to depression. to be sure, many many creative individuals (artists, comedians, musicians, presidents, etc) have suffered from depression and have also been creative. but that doesnt make it a gift. depression is suffering. here is the link to an article from the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/magazine/28depression-t.html?pagewanted=7 which asks why mental illness is linked to creativity. they argue that those who are depressed are generally focused in some way and persistent (mainly thinking about negative thoughts, i might add) and it is this single mindedness that is helpful with creativity. thus making depression a gift of the Muse. this, of course, is crap, because depression is suffering, its a burden. people with depression often stop bathing, eating, or caring for their families. none of these are positive things. there is no romanticized side effect of depression. its ugly and incapacitating.

here’s an argument agains depression’s upside by Therese Borchard at Beliefnet: http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2010/03/depressions-upside-lets-rethin.html makes you realize that while depression makes us who we are, in some cases, the idea that depression has an upside is a destructive belief. i couldnt agree more.

this morning as i laid in the bed willing myself to get out of it i asked myself if introverts were really depressed? do extroverts get depressed? i wonder if i was depressed long before all the crappy things happened to me? i have always thought of myself as an introvert but never depressed. i agree that my coping mechanisms arent good, however, i also didnt have any support. but i wonder if introverts are wired to become depressed under the “right” circimstances?