Why are the most beautiful and creative people struggling with depression?

This was my response:

Thank you for posting this curiosity-inducing question. Although I suspect there is no straight answer to it, a couple of hypotheses based on psychological theory were immediately birthed through my prefrontal cortex as I read it.

First of all, it would be interesting to investigate whether the phenomenon you describe is present only in your private circle of acquaintances (and in mine), or if it’s of a more general nature.

From a superficial digging into creativity research, I found some studies to support your observation.

Research teams who study groups of musicians, dancers and actors have found that professional creators typically report higher levels of depression, anxiety, shame, substance abuse and suicidality than the general population.

Why?

Well, we can’t know for sure. And, of course, these findings don’t suggest that all professional artists or creative people are depressed. The research only tells us about group phenomena, it says nothing about the individual person.

However, if we allow ourselves to speculate wildly, I can’t help but wonder:

Is there a mediator? Does childhood trauma act as a link between mental illness and powerful creative expressions?

Bear with me.

Childhood trauma is correlated with both depression and low self-esteem in adults. And in some individuals it can cause extreme sensitivity to stimuli in the environment – especially a heightened attention to other people’s moods.

Children who experience abuse benefit from reading subtle nuances in other people’s body language and emotional states. In an unpredictable environment, it can provide them with vital information and thereby give them slightly more control over their situation.

Perhaps that type of sensitivity allows us to view the world differently as adults? We feel strongly. And we notice subtle nuances of life that may go unnoticed by people who never needed to be hypersensitive to their environment as children?

With these wild speculations firmly attached to my forebrain, I did a little more digging. It resulted in some other thought-provoking findings.

In 2018, a research team studied three groups of professional artists (such as opera singers, dancers, actors, directors, musicians etc):

Group 1) Artists with no traumatic experiences from childhood

Group 2) Artists with some experience of childhood traumas

Group 3) Artists with substantial experience of childhood trauma

The results revealed that professional artists in this study had been exposed to a particular form of childhood trauma significantly more frequently than other populations – emotional abuse.

Emotional abuse occurs when important adults in a child’s life interact inappropriately or inconsistently with the child. They fail to recognise the individuality of the child, and they don’t promote the child’s need to socialise. This increases the risk of depression, shame, anxiety, anger, self-harm, eating disorders and personality disorders in the abused person.

Though it’s clear from this study that far from all artists are traumatised, researchers did find a few important differences between the highly traumatised artists and the other two groups:

1.Increased awareness

Even though all groups experienced equal pleasure, power, flow and purpose from their creative work, the highly traumatised group reported significantly stronger creative experiences.

These experiences included a heightened awareness of inspiration and sense of discovery. They were significantly more absorbed in their creative process and more receptive to the artwork.

In addition, they were more aware of their technical and expressive capabilities.

2. Increased imagination

They were more prone to fantasy – a great benefit when working as a professional artist. For example, high fantasizers demonstrate richer and more complex storytelling. (Unfortunately, this ability can also intensify the experience of anxiety and shame.)

3. Increased emotional intensity

Their emotional experiences were more intense, but coexisted with emotional stability.

4. Increased engagement

They achieved increased spiritual awareness and had a greater sense of contact with a force beyond themselves. They expressed a greater appreciation for the transformational qualities of a creative process, enabling a deeper engagement with the world and with themselves. Creativity was expressed as a powerful force in their lives.

So, it seems as if painful life experiences are connected to more intense and vivid experiences of creativity. At least that was the case for the creators in the above research study.

Perhaps your beautiful and creative friends belong to a similar category of people? The ones who struggled through terrible experiences, but gained a deeper appreciation for the process of creation?

I don’t know. But it sure is interesting to think about.

And in doing so, another hypothesis sprang to life.

Perhaps it’s not only that trauma survivors experience their creativity more intensively, but perhaps deeply painful life experiences can trigger (or rather encourage) creative expression?

Again, bear with me.

Creative practices such as writing or painting can be used in psychotherapy to process psychological pain. So, perhaps it’s not only that traumatised people are more creative, but do they also have more reasons or a stronger drive to create?

If creativity itself is healing, is that why people with depression, anxiety and low self-esteem are drawn to it?

In my process of fact digging, a few more scientific gemstones revealed their sparkling surfaces, catching my curiosity.

It seems that during periods of emotional vulnerability and intense stress, it’s more common for people to gain access to anomalous thoughts, experiences and celestial beliefs. And according to Lasikiewicz (2016), that type of thinking can encourage creative curiosity and expression.

This fascinating connection between traumatology and creativity is the basis for the research-packed book Creativity, Trauma and Resilience by Jaque & Thompson from 2019. According to the authors “The positive interface between creativity and trauma is powerful and vital”.

Trauma can both harm and help our creative processes.

Yes, childhood trauma can damage our creative expression by making us less willing to open up and put ourselves in states of vulnerability. Having been systematically hurt, we avoid any situation that can trigger emotional exposure. At the same time, doing just that – opening ourselves up to creative expression – can help us heal emotional wounds.

Indeed, including creative expression in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has proven effective.

Research focused on visceral flashbacks (a common element in PTSD) reveals that horrifying experiences are processed through symbolic representation. When having a flashback, we experience a traumatic event as if it is happening here and now, even though it’s already gone. It’s as if we carry the traumatic event with us in symbolic form.

And when past traumas haunt us in the present, expressing them in a non-verbal (symbolic) form can alleviate the intense feelings that come with those experiences.

What does this mean?

It means that we can actually regulate painful emotions by painting or writing or dancing our experiences.

Also, sometimes the intensity of our traumatic experiences are captured in our artistic work, for example in a painting or a song. And other people are captivated by the vividness of our creative work.

So, perhaps the people you are referring to belong to that brave tribe? The ones who carry the experience of deeply painful life events and own the courage to internally revisit those experiences, transforming the emotional pain into songs, paintings, books and choreographies?

Perhaps you know those who’ve mastered the art of turning darkness into light.

Hope this helps.

Read more about how to get creative when depressed.