Writer's Block and Depression

Much research and writing goes on about creativity and depression. Creativity is the opposite side of Writer's Block. It's the flip side in the recordings of our writing lives. Depression can also be a two-sided coin: an impediment to our work or a catalyst. If you suffer with depression and feel it is holding you back, consider this list of famous writers thought to have had depression:

• Mark Twain
• Charles Dickens
• William Faulkner
• Mary Shelley
• Isak Dinesen

This is from an appendix in Kay Jamison's Touched With Fire; Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. According to Amazon, "Jamison marshals a tremendous amount of evidence for the proposition that most artistic geniuses were (and are) manic depressives."

The good new is that depression is sometimes only temporary, and it is treatable and manageable when a chronic condition. (And we don't all need to be geniuses or crazy to be creative.) Still, depression can sometime hamper our production. It makes us dull, slothful and fosters the "I don't give a damn about anything" attitude. This can also translate for writers into, "I can't think of anything to write" or simply, "I'm stuck!"

When writers fall prey to a of lack of creativity, it can result from or lead to a depressive cycle of I can't write -- My writing is no good -- I'm no good -- I don't deserve to be a writer -- I can't write. Break out! Whether with self-help methods like affirmations, with counseling or with a course of antidepressant medication (or any combination), taking action can be one of the most powerful antidotes to depression that we have in our survival tool kit.

The truth is that you are fine just as you are. Don't use a permanent solution (like giving up) for a temporary problem.