Should i learn to embrace my mental illnesses? ?

Question

I don't want to go into details but I have a few..

Should I learn to embrace them or should I get help?? Yeah, I am depressed and things like that but I heard that can lead to creativity..

Answer 1

You need to accept your mental illnesses and embrace the treatment plan you, your support people, and your doctors come up with.  You can do anything you want with your life, but you need to make your mental well-being a priority and not hope you will suddenly be more creative because you have an illness.

Answer 2

i wish you would go into details ,but yeah deepresion can lead to creativity

Answer 3

Well, first off, the answer is no if you have not sought out psychiatric assistance from a doctor.  Why?  Because you may think you are handling it fine, but your parents, spouse, children may think differently.  Second, Mental Illness is a part of a person, but more than that, you are a daughter, friend, lover, coworkers, and mental illness just doesn't count for much when you value those things.  Mental illness is something to be respected, but only if it is checked by a professional.  Then you can embrace, live and not be confined by it.

Answer 4

Go get evaluated by a professional.  At least know what you are really dealing with before you make that decision.

Answer 5

You might want to see if a doc can "fix" it easily before you decide.  Just so you'll have a fair comparison to judge by.  Lacking that, you have to assess the benefits of whatever your issues are against the detriments they introduce into your life.  For example, you are nice and creative, but totally lack follow-through (this is common, I'm not saying it's you).  Anyway, in that case, would the benefit of thinking pretty thoughts but doing nothing with them outweigh the ability to get a frigging job?  I say, "no".  But that's for you to decide.  Just remember--rich people can be eccentric, but poor people are just nuts.  And nobody likes a nut, although they do like to abuse them.

Answer 6

By "embracing my mental illness" do you mean that you except your condition and realize something is wrong?  This is an important first  step in getting on the road to recovery.  

Or are you trying to justify how you feel by seeking an excuse for not doing something about your problem?

Thinking that mental illness can make you creative is false.  There have been quite of few famous people with mental disorders who have shown creativity and who have used their minds to contribute to humanity. But they did this in spite of their mental illness.

You say that you are depressed.  Is this a feeling that you have had continuously? Or, do you just feel blue  sometimes?  Have you had a mental health professional evaluate and diagnosed you?  Or are you relying upon an opinion of someone close to you, something that you read on the internet, or something that you heard or say on TV?

It is important to be in tune with yourself and to be able to tell a doctor how you feel.

Avoid diagnosis from any other source that a good doctor.  False or misleading diagnosis can lead to some major problems.

Take care of yourself.  

Go with the grace of God.

Answer 7

I personally found to fully "embrace it" after the fact or after I helped myself out of it.  People who have been through a lot of walks of life are full of creatuve ideas and just because I'm happy and not depressed now doesn't mean that the experience I had with depression is lost forever; I am still able to express the emotions I had.

Is it fair to yourself to sacrifice your happiness and well-being just because you're getting some good material out of it?  I swear, I really don't find all the misery in pop culture too exciting; it gets so blase.  True, it seems like a lot of people become popular for their creativity out of darkness (and many, their subsequent deaths), but it really only makes depression more appealing to those who want fame.

I would suggest that you accept the emotions you are having as temporary (as all emotions are).  The reason most people do not come out of depression or mental illness is because they get so beautiful to wallow in misery sometimes.  But that's because facing difficulties and sadness is a part of life.  It is a heck of a lot easier to keep on saying, "Man, life sucks" instead of "Hey, life is just a series of learning experiences and I will grow from every setback."  A lot of sensitive, creative people become depressed some time in their lives.  Take it as a blessing that you are able to feel such deep emotions at all, unlike some people who prefer to make themselves stone.

Do yourself and the rest of the world a favor by healing yourself (with some helpful guidance and understanding from others).  Not only will you live a better life, but through your creativity you can reach out and really touch people who are where you have been and inspire them to find lasting happiness.  

Answer 8

Get some help. I don't know what your illness is but embracing it could lead to self-destruction. Mental illness does not make you creative. Get help and then learn to live with what you have.

Answer 9

I'm not saying to let your mental illness go untreated, definatly seek professional help. My personal experience is that while being depressed, I do tend to write poetry more.  

Answer 10

You can embrace your illness once you have been properly diagnosed and treated and you stay treated.

The myth of loss of creativity with treatment is a myth. Google "famous people with depression or bipolar disorder" and see the sad list of lost and shortened lives. It's a Hollywood lie that artists with an untreated mental illness live fun, happy lives.

Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison wrote a great book on the creativity topic, check amazon for the title. She is a world-famous psychologist with severe bipolar disorder.

I'm bipolar and have had the depressive side since I was about 15, I'm now 52.

I finally sought treatment around the age of 30, a long time to wait, I don't recommend it.

Despite buckets of different meds and decades of therapy, I still experience the disorder, sometimes mildly sometimes horrifically, but I'm better.

I now look at this disorder as a gift, I see things differently, I'm more empathic and it has honed my creativity as a musician and writer. It has made me a better nurse and human.

Sometimes the best gifts come with the weirdest of gift wrapping!

Good Luck, and get treated. Your creativity will suffer not blossom without it.

As once famously said, "You have nothing to fear, but fear itself!"