Creating in Flow

Susan K. Perry, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, writer, and writing consultant. Among her books are Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity. See full bio

November 29, 2008, Anxiety

Comments on "A Route to Creativity for Depressed Poets"

A Route to Creativity for Depressed Poets

By Susan K. Perry, Ph.D. on November 29, 2008 in Creating in Flow

Do depressed poets risk their creativity by being treated for their miseries? Absolutely not. That's a myth, according to numerous poets and other creative artists, as well as those who treat them. One of the latter, Richard M. Berlin, M.D., a psychiatrist who is also a poet, edited Poets on Prozac: Mental Illness, Treatment and the Creative Process. In our recent e-mail interview, we discussed the odd idea that taking pills may somehow be "cheating." Read More

Classis Poetic Creativity

Submitted by .Poet. on November 30, 2008 - 6:48pm.

Do depressed poets risk their creativity by being treated for their miseries? Absolutely not.

In response to this, have you considered the many types and styles of poetry to be a forum of treatment in itself, when one sits down to write.

http://www.poetspensieve.com/

Types of poetry

Submitted by Susan K. Perry, Ph.D. on November 30, 2008 - 7:00pm.

Interesting thought, "Poet." I suppose it would make an intriguing study to compare types of poetry with types of mental distress and degrees of, say, relief. Not every poet feels exhilarated, or even good, after a session of writing, however. The writing can open a lot of doors into the unconscious, which can have varied results in the "real" world of the poet's daily life.