I think i have something to add since i am an artist and have A.D.D. -though i am sure it's nothing unknown.I have a mild mental illness which lends itself to obsessive introspection and being observant of others emotional states. Because i am easily distracted and have a sometimes poor memory (unless it impacts me emotionally or relates directly to my emotions) i do better with the nonverbal world and well with an image oriented world . Emotional sensitivity, compulsions,anxiety,are driving forces to communicate in the arts. If i did not have A.D.D. (and only a gene variant) i might have entered into a more technical field of communication-Genders may differ concerning strong or weak points-So probably my differing brain anatomy (A.D.D.) which brings about a melancholic mind state(or my be brought on by a gene variant) makes me creative.So it seems to me it's more the mild emotional disfunction (a recent study showed mild depressives where more attuned to others emotions than non depressed people) that facilitates creativity. But A.D.D. might be a necessary ingredient for the visual and audible arts. Is not A.D.D. a distant cousin to the autism? So i am an artist and Peter Kramer is an artist and we share a melancholic emotional state making us artists. But my learning disability put me in the visual arts and Peter without a learning disability put him into the philosophical arts. The artist is like a recipe too much spice (emotional disfunction- depression) and the food taste bad. A.D.D. can go untreated, A.D.D. with depression,never!-my brother and father can attest to that.I was lucky and genetically procured my mothers A.D.D. brain, my brother not so lucky. Now were all fine thanks to Peter D. Kramer- Sincerely, David Petropoulos

Peter, I just want to thank you for challenging me to rethink issues about the relationship between art, creativity, and mental illness. Your blog inspired my most recent blog post on art and "neurodiversity." In the field of art therapy, the relationship between diagnostic categories and art expression has been debated for 50 years; I was educated as a humanistic therapist, so I have a certain bias. On the other hand, people with ADHD, for example, who are given medications to reduce the problematic symptoms often report to me a reduction in their so-called creative impulses and free association. It's all incredibly interesting.

Cathy Malchiodi
The Healing Arts

Depression is a listed mental disorder which includes altered mood; it may occur daily associated with diminished interest or pleasure in most or all of the activities. Depression is considered to be a disorder.

This is a no brainer for us.

We take the treatment for $500.00 Alex !!!

On a serious note,
if a child is taken for treatment to help him or
her cope with a trauma, still theres many, many,
variables that play into this scenario.
All I can share at this point is, when resources are
limited for a child, then yes creativeness works ONLY for a child.
As an adult, its not effective, its chaos.

The treatment, and not just any treatment, but
treatment that involves caring concerned individuals,
help make it possible for healing.
Healing hurts. The pain, ummmm huh, its so dang hard and at times I wondered if I was getting worse. I think thats why so many don't seek treatment, because it does require the person
to do the work. But then healing comes, and you taste something ...some have other ways of describing it, but its something that happens
and it does make it all worth it.

Eric Maisel, PhD, author of The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person's Path Through Depression, believes that "it serves us best to learn how to reduce or eliminate both depression and anxiety from our lives, as I do not hold them as useful in any way." He also thinks creating is a crucial activity in the life of a creator, and not creating typically engenders depression. He has even found that some artists he has counseled as a psychotherapist have experienced dramatic relief of their depression when they learn to make more meaning in their life and creative work. There are a number of articles by Eric Maisel in which he addresses these topics.

well i also have ADD and though i am only 14 i do agree that in a way it helps me creativivly. i found out i had it gr.6 and because i was slow i was bullied since daycare to about gr.7 and obiviously it took it's toll on me emotionally and still does having ADD my memory sucks but oddly enough i can remeber a rude comment someone made 7 years ago but i can't remeber were i put my book 30 seconds ago and i do think it true that it has gotten me closer to my emotional side and creativy side i use music,poetry,and sometimes art to help me deal with my own issues and can easily be hurt by a rude comment or stir but in a way i am glad cause without it i don't think i'd be this creative thanks for reading.

For as long as I could remember I always had some sort of fear towards others, especially of the opposite sex. I started therapy at age 10 and have been in therapy on and off ever since. I was diagnosed with depression at age 20 and hospitalized at age 21. It wasn't until a few years later that I was officially diagnosed as bipolar. I am glad that I found this because the one thing that has got me through my life has been my poetry and stories. I have been writing since middle school and now in my adult life have turned many of my poems into songs. I feel as though my mood swings and my loneliness will never go away, but because I see the world in my own way my inspiration has been great. I don't want to lose that.

I foolishly stopped taking medicine on my own a while back. I am going back into therapy in 2 weeks and am scared to death of what it will do to my mind. The ten or eleven years I was on medicine prior to this short hiatus I felt nothing. The medicine made me not care about anything. I feel like I have my feelings back, but that my life is doomed and out of control. I have been on so many med's in the past. My question is this: What is out there that can help without harm?

You ask the poignant question, "What is out there that can help without harm?" I would HIGHLY recommend a decent nutritionist or dietician working in conjunction with an ND or open-minded conventional MD (both of whom can order the lab tests). Obtain lab results for your thyroid and adrenals, get an Immunologlobulin Panel done, order Heavy Metals testing (blood or hair - make sure they include mercury and lead), get two Antigliadin Antibody tests done (both IgA and IgG), check for Lyme Disease. That's a start - see whether you fall within the "normal" parameters, as most people do not. If your diet is mostly wheat and sugar, that will reflect in your health - mental and physical! I don't know why our present generation of doctors are so eager to whip out their prescription pads. Maybe we should ask Michael Jackson and countless others...