Extreme case of writers block related to severe depression?
I’ve had an extremely severe case of writer’s block for over a year. I mean, I cannot write fiction at all. It is driving me crazy because I have an overwhelming urge to write that I cannot control and just need to write all together.
I’ve had a severe case of depression for a little over a year now. I am not being treated for this because treatment is beyound my power.
Could my depression be causing my writers block?
What do you suggest I do?
- Isa .
Tags: Extreme Case, Severe Depression, Urge, Writer S Block, Writer's Block
October 15th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
All writers are depressed to some extent or other. You are depressed because your creativity doesn’t have an outlet.
If you can’t write fiction then write non-fiction! (Hopefully I don’t have to explain what that is.)
PS: I think writers block is just a myth. Stories can’t be finished because the plots weren’t well laid out at the start.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:53 am
I know exactly where you’re coming from on this. I have been **undiagnosed** depressed for about 16 months now (my bff is a therapist) and i’m an uber fiction writer. Writing was and IS the only way i could make myself feel better. So, I began to write down what i felt and what was happening (cheezy i know but bear with me). I began to carry around a specific compsition book that i used only for this reason. In class, i would write down how i felt and what was going on around me. I swear, most of it was “I hate this, im bored bored bored bored hate this teacher, hate my life ect…
But i also started to change things up. First it was something simple, like what the person was wearing, how they had their hair, what theire name was. And over the course of time, i’d start addign in things that wernt actually happening. like: And then the fly ate her head and became principal. Just weird things like that.
And as time went on, my writing began getting more and more fiction-ey. I’ll be honest, its not as good as it was before i was “depressed”. But its a start, right?
Hope this helps you as much as it did me!
October 20th, 2008 at 12:10 am
I don’t know exactly what to tell you, because I have the opposite problem (I can ONLY right when depressed), but I can assure that anything mentally wrong with you can ultimately effect your whole life–particularly with your writing, which is coming from your brain.
So, to work this out, you need to go back and edit your post. Delete “I am not being treated for this because treatment is beyond my power.” ERR–wrong. You suspect depression is the underlying problem of your writer’s block. Well, your overwhelming degree of hopelessness is a. stemmed from your clinical depression, and b. getting you to not to what you need to do to write, which makes you happy. The number one proven way to get people out of a depressive rut is the combination of talk therapy and medication. Something is wrong with you, and if you broke your arm, you’d go in to get it casted. You need to fix your brain, it isn’t working right for you right now, these things are like little casts to help you out before sending you on your own.
Not doing anything is just going to make things worse and you’ll never have the same writing power as before. If you feel like treatment is ‘beyond your power’, take the necessary steps to make it in your power. Exercise once a day, and I’m not talking marathon style, even a walk around the block will do you good. Take Vitamin B and Magnesium supplements, we don’t naturally get enough of these daily and they can cause depressive states. Pick up something else you enjoy besides writing. I’m a writer, and when I suck, I pick up charcoal and draw something sub-par, but I enjoy it. These things can help you get the power to get back to doing what you love, which will in turn make you much happier. Good luck.