Mental Health and Writers: Down the Rabbit Hole

 


It's no secret that writers have historically struggled with mental health. Actually, can you think of a writer who does not or did not have depression, drug addiction, or at least a general uneasiness about life and how impossible it is to handle with any kind of grace or competence?  

Or maybe I'm just talking about me now. 

So maybe everyone has these challenges. Or maybe every artist does. Or maybe there is something very specific about writers and the world inside our heads. 

I'm just rambling here because that's the kind of mood I'm in, but I've often wondered if irregular brain chemistry drives the urge to write... or could writing somehow contribute to the hiccups in our cerebral areas? 

We know that writing exercises can help improve depression and anxiety. More than one mental health professional (oh yes, there have been many more than one) has suggested to me that writing will help me organize and understand my feelings. And it's true. I have finally learned that when emotions are bubbling like acid and burning me from the inside out, I can ease the urgency with words on paper. 

It has to be words on paper. It can't be words in my head, and it can't be words spoken out loud. Typing is okay, but a notebook is better. 

Why do we write? Is it because we have something to say? Or is it because we are scrambling to find a way of healing ourselves? 




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