Writers Are Twenty Times More Likely To Suffer From Depression

Over At Bloggin In Black, the latest post is about writers and depression:

According to the NYT:

"Kay Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and the author of “Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament,” said writers were 10 to 20 times as likely as other people to suffer manic-depressive or depressive illnesses, which lead to suicide more often than any other mental disorders do.”

Monica continues:

"The symptoms of depression are lasting sadness, feelings of doom and inferiority, but they also might be more subtle. Isolation, no longer able to concentrate or write. Inability or difficulty doing other things that were once routine. A change in sleeping or eating habits. Hopelessness.”

According to Shelia Goss, many authors suffer from depression, but feel too embarassed or ashamed to talk about it, and thus they have no way of knowing that they aren’t alone.

I know at least one author who constantly suffers from self-doubt and depression, and she’s a great writer. I wonder how prevalent this really is.