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Comment by ak39 | Hacker News Reader

I do not intend to downplay the anxiety and the emotional pain of the experience either you or the the OP had. I empathise completely. I myself have gone and continue to go through such "crises" regularly. I feel just as much.

My point was: it's ironic that the author talks about the lack of interest in the aesthetic of "life" and the general disinterest in the veritable cornucopia of little toy horse plays around us when he/she did EXACTLY that by writing a lovely, beautiful and well-crafted blog. (I am not being sarcastic.)

Doesn't anyone see the beauty and irony in that? Does clinical depression create such works of art? If so, we should celebrate it as a gift!

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You seem earnest, so I am going to try not to be frustrated, but depression is not a gift that results in creative genius. People who manage to struggle through it and create art are doing it despite their disease and not because of it. The romanticism that is attached to the suffering artist is incredibly frustrating and, I think, dangerous. It leads people to believe that it is okay or worthwhile or noble to let this illness rule over you. We don't celebrate cancer or dementia or schizophrenia as "gifts". Sometimes people suffering from those illnesses are able to create beautiful works, but we don't romanticize their diseases because of it. Why would/should we do that with depression?

I agree with you, but just as a counterpoint, Dostoevsky valued his seizures because of the insight filled "halo" state that he would enter into before they came.

I agree with almost everything you said, except for this:

> People who manage to struggle through it and create art are doing it despite their disease and not because of it.

While depression can hurt creativity––bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia can actually help it[1].

The discussion has mainly been around depression, but I think the "suffering artist" label can apply to a range of disorders.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity_and_mental_illness

The author of the blog went silent for the past two years because of the depression, and now she got back to drawing because she feels (at least temporarily) better.

Did you read her backlog? You know, before she was clinically depressed?

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