Ernest Hemingway, Kenya, 1953
One of my favorite authors is Ernest Hemingway. In my opinion, he was a brilliant writer, but let’s face it…he had some issues. Ok, lots of issues and based on quotes like this, he was aware of it:
“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?”
But he’s not alone…many, many of what we consider the best artists, writers, actors, musicians, have some pretty big issues that lead to drinking, drug abuse and many other self destructive behaviors. But why?
Are people who are drawn to the arts more susceptible to depression and addiction? According to Kay Jamison, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, the answer is yes. She says that writers are 20% more likely to suffer from depressive illnesses.
The good news, (and yes, I realized I’ve presented a total bummer of a topic today) is that the article goes on to state that “when it comes to writing and living, there is a choice. And finally, this writer, given the option, may choose not one or the other, but both: To write . . . and . . . to live.”
That sounds like a better choice. 
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7 users responded in this post
My husband and I sometimes talk about all the entertainers who abuse their bodies through various means. We’re amazed how much talent and money is wasted by these habits. It’s not something that either of us understands.
I find this such an interesting topic as a writer myself.
A month or so back I stumbled upon this speech given by Elizabeth Gilbert about creativity and the whole thought process and how it drives us mad. Her presentation has changed the whole way I think of my writing process and in affect, I think it may just have saved my sanity.
I posted the video on my blog http://www.brittany-o-clarke.blogspot.com
…I’m unconvinced (a cynic by nature), that writers, musicians, etc., as a population have any more, or less, tendencies to imbibe drugs, alcohol, etc., than any different population. When Jamison says writers are . . . “20 times as likely as other people to suffer depressive illnesses,” sorry, I don’t buy it. Guess being in business over thirty years along with teaching statistics at the university level allows me to question the professor’s, ur . . . writer’s, survey methods, sampling, et. al. Her proclamation (from scientific findings, no doubt–ugh!) supports her thesis and her book title. That convenience is no mystery.
On the artsy side there were so many kooky artists out there with BIG issues – Van Gogh, Gauguin, Jackson Pollack just to name a few. It’s interesting though that there were also many authors/artists/musicians who although they had their own personal struggles, they didn’t succomb to their demons in self-distructive ways – Beatrix Potter, Tolkien, Norman Rockwell, Franz Liszt – they seemed to find healing in their art. Very interesting……and makes you wonder!
Thanks for your comments everybody…I was curious to see what everyone’s opinion was. We see many examples of artists/writers who have issues and plenty who don’t, so it’s pretty cool to get your take on it as well.
Hmmm.
I’ve seen plenty of actors/entertainers who don’t seem to have issues: Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, and Will Smith to name a few.
I think most of these rich/famous “artistic” people in the industry would probably have had issues or problems even if they had not become famous, or already had them before the fame.
Many of them aren’t really ‘artists’. They just happen to be famous and work at imitating art. Some of the work these ‘stars’ release can hardly be called ‘acting’.
However, I do believe that REAL artists do tend to be emotionally and mentally sensitive. I think that this is what makes them so aware of music and sound. It makes them imaginative. It makes them able to put emotions into words. It makes them see the world in unique ways and makes the able to put it on canvas.
Perhaps it is this sensitivity that makes so many artists brilliant … and causes some of them the emotional problems. Maybe the world seems more harsh to them.
On the other hand, many artists because of the same sensitive nature see the world in all its wonder and see it for its possibilities.
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