does depression make you lose your focus / inspiration?

[scumgrinder]

It does that to me, it comes and goes and at times i just can't draw anything or get inspired, i lose interest in sketches i just started and i always end up watching a movie or something.

But there are other times when drawing just keeps my mind off of things.

what do you do when or if this happens to you?

[DavePalumbo]

you mean like clinical depression? Because I think one of the signs of having depression is apathy towards things you used to enjoy. Soldier on is all I can say as far as not wanting to work, just do it anyhow because it has to get done. Sooner or later, everyone's gotta do it, I don't care how much you love painting

[scumgrinder]

depression in general

[centripetal]

im dealing with the same thing.....i used to have alot of fu n drawing but now I am going through the same thing you are talking about.

[Undefeated]

Recently, the motion picture Garden State took the wind out of my emotional sails for about week.

[aesir]

Well, it made me want to kill myself... so yea, I wasn't really interested in doing much of anything at the time :)

[Undefeated]

Garden State?

[oracrest]

i kinda am the opposite, I get down if I feel that I am not being constructive enough....

[darth massacre]

Both ways. If I'm not depressed about work then I use work to get away from it hence I may be more productive in a sense, but not really "into" the groove.

But if I'm upset about work, or the people that I work with. Then yeah I'll be turned off from work. Or at least be turned off from that particular project.

[Blue]

I'm the exact same way. In addition though, i only seem to be motivated when I am having sex regularily. So being single doesn't help since I hate one-nighters. Best art I have ever made, and best stories I have written when I was in a happy, longterm relationship.


As for my method of beating it...I don't have one. I just force it sometimes and work on one piece for a while. Kinda like I am doing now. The WIP I posted in that section (link in my sig) I would normally finish in a few nights, but will probably take me 2-3 times as long since I can't muster up the staying power to sit and do it.

Oddly enough though, when depressed I write my best philosophical work and emerse myself in the most expansive deep thinking. I guess its a trade off.

OH!


I do have a solution. This is something i just tried the other night which worked amazing. Have you ever tried sensory deprivation? I poored a warm bath (not hot), turned off the lights and popped in some ear plugs and layed in the tub for about an hour without moving (so i didnt hear, feel, see and smell anything).
As soon as I got up my creativity was on fire. I wrote some amazing music right then. I still have to compose it all, though. Lots of loose riffs, lyrics and drum beats. It may not have affected my art (yet) but it did get rid of that somber feeling and cleared my head in a way I haven't expierenced before. Thus I was able to think clearly and the creativity hit me like a tidal wave.

Try it. :)

[centripetal]

My fathers best freind does research on thisexact subjest in a lab really close to my home. Your going to want the water to be the closest in can posibly be to your body tempurature, and you only want enough of it to cover your body, yyou want no visual or noise distractios whatsoever. And most importantly is that in your head you must be thinking only in terms of visual objects, you can have no languge or chatter in your mind. I also have found that burning incence oils helps alot to make sure there are no distracting smells.

If you guys try this, and manage to do it correctly, 3 hours will pass in what feels like 20 minutes. And yes afterwards your head will be exploding with imagination because it has a short term were it is in no way distracted by reality. I do this alot and I have imagined some of the craziest concepts, unfortunatly i am not good enough of an artist yet to depict them on paper, so i have hundreds of pages of digrams and doodles and shit, that only makes any sense to me. :dur:

G'nite
-Vince

[Recursive_End]

Actually for me, its the total opposite. As long as i feel something, i want to draw it. So yeah, the only moments i cant draw, its because i dont feel anything, neither pain or love: nothing. Just being completely objective.

[Dan.v.D.]

i get depressive when i look at what i´ve drawn no matter how motivated and focused i was. it´s all ass no matter what.

[Blackhawk]

i get depressive when i look at what i´ve drawn no matter how motivated and focused i was. it´s all ass no matter what.

lol, here here.

[kinnas]

on those rare occasions that I actually do get down I find that drawing helps to soothe the mind. Takes my thoughts away from whatever topic it is that depresses me.
Or when depression comes from dissapointment in my artistic skills, it works like rocketfuel. I just start pouring out studies, selfportraits, life drawings and still lifes. Works either way : )

[staylor]

I guess I'm some sort of a freak, my best art happens when I'm busy and stressed and supposed to be doing other things. Last week I was on vacation, I had a wonderful relaxing time, but I got nothing done except for projects I had already started. However the week before that when I was studying for finals and writing papers long into the night I finished several pictures and nearly filled up my sketchbook. I guess art is my way of relaxing, when I'm already happy I just have no need for it.

[XXXJanitorman]

Depression gives me more focus. If I'm happy, and content, then I have no inspiration, or no strong emotions so I cannot focus. If I'm depressed or angry or anything other negative emotion, then I HAVE to draw. I know it sounds "emo", but its what drives me to make my best artwork.

[vigostar]

I hear masterbation helps.. Well, at least for a little bit...

[Poohgee]

Ahhh depression ... evil invention in my opinion.

I sometimes think that I must have been depressed for the last 9 years or so because 9 years ago my grades went down suddenly & I lost interest in general for things.

I will have to try out the sensory deprivation strategy.

Reminds me in a way of what I do when I have to much to think about - which is go for a long three hour work where Ill meet no people & its the beautiful Scottish highland landscape - I allways take a sketchbook with me on these "trips" - very important.

Just getting rid of all rubbish & negativity in one's head once in a while .

I think the answer often is to have a balanced life - I guess.
Because when I had a job & went out & went to college classes I managed to just have the energy & spirit to sit down for hours and just paint.

At the moment its damn hard again for me to concentrate on anything.

Even came up with silly ideas of Autism & ADHD & of course Depression.

A balanced furfilled life is propably often the answer I guess.

There is light at the end of the tunnel ... as long as we all stick with what we love doing :D

[egerie]

For me it's a vicious circle ; I feel depressed then I do little next to nothing. When I don't do art I get depressed. And the spiral ensues. It's paramount to break the cycle as soon as you notice a tendency to spiral down ! (Getting help is always a good thing)

[Poohgee]

Vigostar : "I hear masterbation helps.. Well, at least for a little bit..."
-> You'll end up productive but blind like Degas :D

If it helps then it can only be a little bit :) - maybe it helps to relax :) :D

[vigostar]

thats why im seeing blurry these days... I guess too much sex is bad too then huh??? damb thats doubley sucks for me!!

[Blahm]

illegal drugs are awsome for depression but open up a whole host of new problems. choose your posion.

[asoir]

I'm too optimistic, it gets me outta depression quick... Sad to see a lot of people are depressed here.

[Poohgee]

All these miserable artists :D

[Steph Laberis]

On the same boat as Egerie. I'm one of the blessed folks born with a uterus and vicious hormone cycles every month, so I deal with this quite often. Lately I've had to force myself to keep working, the whole time my artwork feels uninspired, sloppy and it takes me 4 times as long to create and I get all pissed off and ruminate...

...but I usually realize it was far better that I went and created SOMETHING, rather than feel shitty and have nothing. Usually once my head clears up I can look back at what I did and realize it's not as bad as I had thought.

For the record, I've tried prescription drugs for clinical depression (I was a mess 4 years ago) and I've heard warnings that they sap your creativity, blah blah blah. In may case, not true. Of course, I was on them for a short term (less than a year) and all I noticed were gradual improvments in my attitude and productivity.

[BlackGuy]

that sensory deprivation thing sounds pretty awesome, i'm gonna give that a try. Any suggestions for ear plug substitutes? I can't seem to find anything in my house that'll work.

[S.C. Watson]

what do you do when or if this happens to you?
Well, not having a convienient excuse like a uterus like willow-whisp ( :P ) but still dealing with depression more than I'd like to admit - it depends on how hard I get hit.

If it's just a light, blue funk, I can usually work through it within a couple of days.

If it's something heavier, sometimes I *have* to stop drawing or working because everything comes out wankered - nothing works. Can't draw. Can't paint. And when I do, my five year old's work is better than the crap I churn out.

Oddly, the thing that I've found that often works the best when I get to this point is to stop giving a damn if the work looks good or not. But it takes a little while to get there.

Almost like magic, as soon as I hit this point, things start to improve dramatically because I'm no longer trying *so DAMN hard* to make something that looks halfway decent. I'm allowed to screw up at this point, I'm no longer forcing the work and things flow a bit more smoothly.

Hope that helps.
~Oreg.

[Poohgee]

Oregano thx for that post ... I might force myself to absolutly ignore my sky-high expectations of myself & do lots & lots of <close eyes & just do it> "rubbish" pieces .

[Advocate of Fate]

that sensory deprivation thing sounds pretty awesome, i'm gonna give that a try. Any suggestions for ear plug substitutes? I can't seem to find anything in my house that'll work.
try gum eraser, that stuff is magic.
I, too have been in quite a slump lately. worse, i have to crank out a dozen pieces for portfolio day next week. i have got to try that bath thang...

[CaptainInsano]

the more seriously problem isn't the fact that you're losing focus, but you you're depressed in the first place.

the best thing to do in your case is to hang out with your friends and do things you really like. Have some FUN. The WORST thing you can do is to sulk by yourself and drink or do drugs to cope with it. As someone already mentioned, NOT doing any art can depress you, which causes you to not do any art (the vicious cycle thing).

Go out. Have some fun. Talk to some chicks. Get their phone #'s. And the whole inspiration thing will sort of come back on it's own as an effect. But the main thing here is to cure depression FIRST, then work on your art.

[poise]

You know whats crazy, I only thought women had this problem. Man! you know women and men aren't so different. Everybody seems to have there issues in some way.
Like Centripetal, and Oregano have shared what workes for them, it seems like since everyone one here is individually having probs the solution is to find what works for them.

Oregano what you do has worked for me in the past. Most of the time when I don't care so much about my work I get all happy about it, and sometimes it come out as one of my best pieces.

Lately I have been wanting to be more productive, I'm sick right now so my motivation has been thrown in the trash with the rest of my snotty tissues. I hate this feeling so maybe I will try the bath thing.

One thing for the ladies... Birthcontrol can really cause emotions to go wacky, and even if it is slight and you think it might just be that time of your life, just try to go off of it for a while and see what happens, but don't get pregnant in the process, use condoms! I was on birthcontrol for a while and then as I got older my hormones changed and the BC I was useing for years was starting to effect me. I didn't realize I was bitchy and sad to a rediculous degree untill I got off them, I just knew something was wrong, and I thought, mmm maybe it will be better if I'm not on BC and wow! it worked! But again be safe, and don't get pregnant unless you want to of course, :)

Sorry Guys! if anything, you learned something to tell your girlfriends or your future girlfriends,haha!! try to stay possitive everyone!:)

One more thing, music really helps me get into a mood to be creative and expressive. I listen to Tool when I want to be angry and dark, haha, and so on.

[Steph Laberis]

Poise: I have heard from lots of women that the pill causes depression, anxiety and much badness. However, most of my emotional extremes started *after* I quit using the pill (I was on it since I was 13 for really stupid medical reasons... I worry for my health now). I'm very much against hormone control now because that stuff changes your body permanently and can lead to breast cancer.

The good thing about it though, is that since I know it's a hormonal thing and it's a regular thing, I can sort of plan for it, such as take on a little less work or tell myself as the wave of anxiety/depression hits me that "this is just a chemical thing. You didn't start to suck all of a sudden". Still, it's tough, because the things that depress me in real life seem 4,000 times worse and more urgent during those days.

Sorry to make the guys squeamish. ;)

[Tetsuo]

I haven't been employed for almost 6 months now....so I have had a long time to think about things and get plenty depressed about stuff. I still work part time at another job in the evenings. The best advice for me was to keep working and research your spirit. Meditate, read books on dealing with your shadow and accepting it, and for guys especially cry and let your emotions out more. I know right now that I am 600 times better than when I first started to get depressed and keep my attitude up as much as i can. Music helps a great deal too. I have this one song that no matter how depressed I am thinking that I will never succeed or too scared to, I play this song and it feels like I am marching into a town full of cheering people.

-TeT-

everyone goes through it no matter who you are, you just have to keep getting back on the horse and riding no matter how much your ass hurts haha.

[vigostar]

Poise- Holy shit... Do i have storied about girls taking birth control.. Guys Beware that shit can be terribly EVIL... Terribly Evil.... makes them Bi-Polar.. crazy shit.... use a rubber.. its worth it!!!

[hayeske]

I can't empathize with you. I graduated, moved to a town where the closest person I know lives 5 hours away and couldn't find a job. I struggled with crappy jobs for 10 months (3 jobs) and finally found one. I thought that my problems would subside, but this job sucks too. Since moving here, most things that I used to enjoy, I don't enjoy anymore. I have a lack of motivation to the max and it's slowly killing me. All I know is that it's temporary and I've decided that I'm moving back home by next summer. I have a commitment to my current job and I'm not going to break it. Make yourself goals and try your best to strive for them. As much as I hate where I am, I know it's not forever and I can see an end in the near future. Whether I'm doing graphic design (my degree) or working for my grandpa laying carpet (back home), I'd much rather be happy at home doing something I may not like than being somewhere I hate doing something that doesn't make me happy like I thought it would.

Hope this may help.

[brokk]

When I get depressed and can't do anything like drawing, I've realized most of the time its a symptom of something present in my life that needs to be resolved. A lot of times I don't even know what it is.
Talking to people, friends especially, can aliviate you and also give you some fresh insight into your persona > they can tell you things about yourself you weren't really seeing or not aware.

Other than that, if the root of the problem isn't that "problematic", I mean if its a mood thing, I like to go out walking somewhere, like the park or the beach.

Climate is also a pretty big factor in moods, I'm usually pretty inactive during clouded afternoons, but I get more active if I see sunlight. I also preffer mornings over any other time of the day, even though I hate getting up really early.

Music is something that really aliviates me as well. I don't like listening to cheerfull songs if I'm depressed, I go for the more melancholic stuff. Some soft classical, celtic music but the mellow kind (I love the more energetic kind too, but not when I'm depressed), blues. When I get enough tranquile stuff I'll switch over to something like Nightwish or Die Toten Hosen for a while, and then switch back to the mellow stuff and vice-versa, and end with Bob Marley : P