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Depression and Creativity site
When I was a child I was always trying to act as grown up as possible. I stifled a lot of my exuberance and creativity to fit in with my family and friends, and to be a good student. My parents’ friends called me ‘Little Old Cathy.’ Is all that innate playfulness and creativity lost [...]
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The National Institute of Mental Health site says “26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year… 57.7 million people.” And that doesn’t include many other people who suffer from untreated or undiagnosed anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges. [...]
As I discovered over the years in my own interactions with the mental health system, when someone with a creative personality is seen through the eyes of those who have a different temperament, such as scientists and doctors, the result can be mislabeling and misdiagnosis. People who are uncomfortable with extreme states are often, unfortunately, [...]
Some authors, including Kay Redfield Jamison, think there is more to depression than negativity. How can sadness be of any possible benefit? In the following article, Timothy T.C. So discusses the positive side of sadness. The emphasis of positive psychology on building the best things in life and making people’s lives fulfilling does not imply [...]
In her post “to my surprise…” on her site Temporary Reality, “neighbor” writes about the experience of growing up gifted that many of us can relate to. Here is an excerpt [published here by permission]: When I was little I was labelled Gifted. God, it sounds so bad to just up and say that. I’m [...]
Alexander McQueen was praised by many for his fashion design talents. He took his life by hanging a little over a week ago. The title of a recent Daily Mail [UK] article by Jane Fryer was “A life in fashion: Alexander McQueen was the hooligan of the catwalk who loved to shock – but nothing [...]
Anne Tyler Lord writes: “Some may think that depression is too ‘depressing’ of a topic for Valentine’s Day. But I think it is the best because it is one of the holidays where many people experience depression, right up there with Christmas and New Year’s Eve. “And, what better way to care for your heart [...]
![Excessive Internet Use Is Linked to Depression [or not]](http://www.addictioninfo.org/content_images/internet3.jpg)
ScienceDaily People who spend a lot of time browsing the Internet are more likely to show depressive symptoms, according to the first large-scale study of its kind in the West by University of Leeds psychologists. Researchers found striking evidence that some users have developed a compulsive internet habit, whereby they replace real-life social interaction with [...]
The film Poppy Shakespeare, based on Clare Allen’s novel, takes us down a cinematic rabbit hole into north London’s fictional Dorothy Fish day hospital where the clearly ‘sane’ Poppy, played by Naomi Harris, has been mysteriously committed to a compulsory day-program for the mentally ill. In a psychiatric Catch 22, she must prove herself insane [...]
“When you’re in the midst of depression, that’s the scariest thing — it seems that you’re going to feel like that forever. The pain created by depression kills almost 1 million people a year. It almost killed me, and it did kill my aunt. “If I can give just one person hope that there’s an [...]
Do you ever feel depressed, anxious, obsessed, compulsive, too sensitive – or just out of it? Does that mean you’re really crazy? What does ‘crazy’ mean anymore, with so many categories of mental disorder? What does ‘normal’ even mean? Peter D. Kramer, clinical professor of psychiatry at Brown University, notes “Diagnostic labels are proliferating, and [...]
Here is a sampling from the article “Perfectionism and Depression: What to Do When Being a Perfectionist Drags You Down,” by Sedona Training Associates staff and Hale Dwoskin: Do you ever think the following self-limiting beliefs? * It’s not OK to make a mistake * People will not like me if I’m not perfect * [...]
The film Mystical Brain reveals the exploratory work of a team from the University of Montreal who seek to understand the states of grace experienced by mystics and those who meditate. Filmmaker Isabelle Raynauld offers up scientific research, which proposes that mystical ecstasy is a transformative experience and could to contribute to people’s psychic and [...]
In her article, 9 Holiday Depression Busters, Theresa Borchard shows how to keep stress levels low and depression and anxiety at bay over the holidays. Her 9 tips run from the serious “Avoid Toxic People,” and “Make Your Own Traditions,” to the seemingly frivolous, but ingenious, “Travel With Polyester, Not Linen.” Here’s a sample: #9: [...]
From article: Help Anxiety, No SAD Times this Winter!, by Jen Crippen. Now that the clocks have been turned back the days feel very short. Darkness will fall earlier everyday until December 21st, then the days start getting longer. This time of year many of us (including myself) start to feel the winter blues. The [...]
Being exceptional is by definition to be out of the ordinary, not normal in some notable ways, and according to some common standards of behavior or values. Processing information much faster, for example, or being able to generate many more creative and unusual ideas than most people, or being highly sensitive. Looking in a direction [...]
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Site author: Douglas Eby, M.A./Psychology, is a writer and researcher on the psychology of creative expression and personal growth, especially for high ability adults. He is publisher of the Talent Development Resources series of sites.
