Many of the people who suffer mental health challenges are artists - often very accomplished and well-known.
Actor, screenwriter and singer (in her movie “De-Lovely”) Ashley Judd(a Phi Beta Kappa grad of the University of Kentucky, by the way) entered a treatment program in 2006 for personal issues, including depression and codependency.In her early years she attended as many as 13 schools in 12 years, and became “what she calls a ‘hypervigilant child,’ raising herself under unpredictable circumstances, becoming lonely, depressed, isolated—all feelings she kept under wraps for years.”
Many writers and other artists value the experience of psychoanalysis and other forms of therapy as a way to better access their creative talents.
“The unconscious is our best collaborator.” Director Mike Nichols, referring to making movies, also said “Time is so short – because it is so expensive – that we tend to neglect the place from which the best ideas come, namely that part of ourselves that dreams.”
Emma Stone said she feels "hyperaware that everything could end. That’s always been in my mind, for whatever reason, since I was very small.” She experienced her first panic attack at 8 years old and spent two years in therapy. “I was just kind of immobilized by [anxiety]. I didn’t want to go to my friends’ houses or hang out with anybody, and nobody really understood.”
Improv comedy, starting at age 11, she said, "gave me a sense of purpose. I wanted to make people laugh. Comedy was my sport. It taught me how to roll with the punches.” While filming Spider-Man, she baked to stay calm. “I felt really out of control of my surroundings. I was just baking all the time. It made me feel, if I put these [ingredients] in, I’ll know what the outcome is.” [The Sunday Times (U.K.) via The Week mag. June 28, 2012 theweek.com]
Read more quotes by talented actors about their stage fright and other forms of anxiety, including Edie Falco, Hugh Grant, Alison Pill, Helena Bonham Carter, Colin Firth and others, in the article Celebrities with anxiety and panic attacks. http://anxietyreliefsolutions.com/celebrities-with-anxiety-and-panic-attacks/
Learning how to regulate emotional reactions to trauma and abuse is important for anyone, but essential for sensitive and creative people.
As Shakespeare noted, we are subject to numerous “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and the “heart-ache and thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”
But many people also suffer abuse and traumas that go beyond those “natural shocks.”
Everyone can experience stress and anxiety in various ways, but having a more “finely tuned” nervous system, with greater sensory processing sensitivity, can make highly sensitive people more susceptible to anxiety.
For example, a research study found that people who have an exaggerated “startle” reflex may find it harder to regulate emotional arousal.
By India Bohanna, PhD -- We don’t normally associate creativity with brain disease, but a recent paper published in Brain suggests that maybe we should. ... a surprising new study shows that some people may actually develop artistic talent as a result of their brain disorder, and that in turn, their art can tell us about the nature of their brain disorder.
~~~
One of my related posts: The genius brain: Psychiatrist Darold Treffert on savants and hidden potential
Darold Treffert, MD cites several examples of “acquired savants” – “previously non-disabled persons who after some injury or disease begin to demonstrate some, until then, dormant savant characteristics and capacities. In one case “musical genius appeared at age 3 following meningitis.”
Over the last 12 years, through working with over 130,000 high anxiety sufferers, we have been able to collect data regarding character traits, genetics and environmental factors which has enabled us to characterize the typical profile of a person who has a predisposition to high anxiety conditions.
Our data shows us that anxiety sufferers all share a superior level of creative intellect.
This may not be experienced as academic prowess, moreover as a distinct range of both physical and mental attributes effecting creativity, emotional sensitivity and clarity, eccentricity, creative energy and drive...
Many creative people report feeling incompetent, inadequate and having low self esteem at times. But there are ways to shift those feelings.
“Mustering up enough self-esteem to say, ‘I want to be an actor,’ was a big turning point.” - Julia Roberts
Kate Winslet has admitted that before going off to a movie shoot, she sometimes thinks, “I’m a fraud, and they’re going to fire me… I’m fat; I’m ugly..."
The quality and intensity of fear we call anxiety can both motivate, or disrupt, our capacity for creative expression.
“I don’t want to go to work with my eyes closed. I want to wake up and be scared. I like not knowing what to expect.” Charlize Theron
In a documentary about filmmaking, Theron commented about courage as an actor: “There is no formula that works. There is no guarantee. But as far as making choices on material, I just kind of think, well, it has nothing to do with me, so why not just go for it?
There are many deeply rewarding aspects of being gifted and talented, creative, with exceptional abilities, or being highly sensitive. But there can also be emotional and mental health challenges, including anxiety.
"When we view happiness as a buildup of happy feelings, seeking such happiness actually leaves us empty. Alternatively, happiness seen as full life participation is fulfilling." [From book site.]
To get content containing either thought or leadership enter:
To get content containing both thought and leadership enter:
To get content containing the expression thought leadership enter:
You can enter several keywords and you can refine them whenever you want. Our suggestion engine uses more signals but entering a few keywords here will rapidly give you great content to curate.
Your new post is loading...
