Eksplorimi i lidhjes mes depresionit maniakal dhe kreativitetit

artistik

Tw kuptuarit e lidhjes mes depresionit maniakal dhe krijimtarisw artistike

wshtw gjw shumw fascinante : ajo i pwrket tipit tw "gjeniut tw çmwndur"
dhe studimet e sotme mw shumw i pwrkasin shqyrtimit tw pwrparwsive se
sa mangwsive tw vet kwsaj gjendjeje.

Psikologja klinike Kay Redfield Jamison, nw studimin e saj tw vitit 1955 tw

quajtur "Touched With Fire" e spjegon se si procesi kreativ zhvillohet te
artistwt, qofshin ata piktorw, poetw apo kompozitorw tw cilwt janw tw
prekur nga kjo swmundje.

Kapitulli i katwrtw i kwtij teksti mjaft tw thuktw, i cili tani po e pwrjeton njw
rilindje pwrmes filmit me emwr tw njejtw tw regjisorit Paul Dalio, e detajon
lidhjen mes fantaziasw dhe temperamentit. Kwtu mund tw vwrehet se
artistwt maniako-depresivw kanw qenw nw kulmin e disponimit gjatw
periudhws mw tw lartw tw kreativitetit dhe se "inspirimi" zhytet nw
irracionalen.

Hypomania (the milder manic state) is a “state of grace” for creativity, as it

is marked by ability to make connections between opposites and rapid, fluid
and divergent thoughts, with divergent thoughts being the hallmark of
creative individuals. In fact, hypomanic traits contribute to higher scores on
tests assessing creativity.

Fluency of thought also consists of word and sound fluency and the ability
to produce words containing specific letters or combinations of letters. You
can clearly see how this trait is important both in music and poetry.
Individuals experiencing manic or hypomanic episodes also exhibit
combinatory thinking. Percepts, ideas or images are merged in an
incongruous fashion, which results in an extravagant and elaborate
combinations.

So where does inspiration fit in? Jamison postulates that inspiration is a pre-
logical thought with elements of bisociative thinking, and the creative act
per se is a regression to primitive levels of cognitive capability, “a regress to
the underground” that is carried out without “losing touch with the
surface.” So, you can see how being able to form divergent thought fits in
the picture.

Think of those mythological and literary figures such as poets visited by

Muses, Druids, Soothsayers or the norse god Odin. A frenzied state was
essential in the creation of poetry and/or music (the two disciplines were
not as distinct as they are nowadays).

All these observations lead us to the “chicken or the egg” question: what
comes first, high creativity or high moods?

One cannot, however, forget about the depressive component of the illness.
Since what distinguishes a creative mind from a non-creative mind is the
ability to draw connections between the opposites, Jamison stresses the
importance of the coexistence between mania and depression. Melancholy
cools the ardor of mania and helps put thoughts in order. After all, there
have been many instances in which artists highlight the “Night Journey” in
their creative expression. It’s that part of the process/journey during which,
Jamison explains, “the artist-hero suffers overwhelming experiences, or a
spiritual crisis, that convulses the deepest foundations of his being”” In
other words, “the suffered is the learned.”

Romantic composers thrived on intense and opposite mood states as

expressed by music. Here are some examples that are mentioned in
Jamison’s work.

Hector Berlioz
In his Memoirs French composer Hector Berlioz described his depressive
states as the most “terrible of all the evils of existence.”

“It is difficult to put into words what I suffered—the longing that seemed to
be tearing my heart out by the roots, the dreadful sense of being alone in
an empty universe, the agonies that thrilled through me as if the blood
were running ice-cold in my veins, the disgust with living, the impossibility
of dying. Shakespeare himself never described this torture; but he counts it,
in Hamlet, among the terrible of all the evils of existence.”

Torn between agitated and apathetic depression, he found solace in mental

occupations such as music.

“I find constant employment necessary, and therefore take care to be

constantly employ’d. Manual occupations do not engage the mind
sufficiently, as I know by experience, having tried many. But Composition,
especially of verse, absorbs it wholly.”

Les Nuits d’été mirrors Berlioz’s states: it starts with a villanella but it
contains more somber songs such as Sur les lagunes.

Robert Schumann

Schumann battled with the illness all his life and eventually attempted to
commit suicide. He was subsequently confined to an asylum until his death.

“I was little more than a statue, neither cold nor warm; by dint of forced
work life returned gradually. But I am still so timid and fearful that I cannot
sleep alone…. Do you believe that I have not the courage to travel alone …
for fear something might befall me? Violent rushes of blood, unspeakable
fear, breathlessness, momentary unconsciousness, alternate quickly.”

His Davidsbündlertänze, a work for piano, illustrates the contrasting side of

his temperament through abrupt shifts in tempo. “Joy and Sorrow are
inseparable all through life,” he wrote.

Hugo Wolf
This late Romantic composer described his mania as having blood becoming
“changed into streams of fire”. He died from tertiary syphilis, but his moods
were unstable even before the onset of the malady. He detailed the
contrast between his subjective, arid reality and a serene outside world out
of his reach.

“These eternal blue skies, lasting for weeks, this continuous sprouting and
budding in nature, these coaxing breezes impregnated with spring sunlight
and fragrance of flowers … make me frantic. Everywhere this bewildering
urge for life, fruitfulness, creation—and only I, although like the humblest
grass of the fields one of God’s creatures, may not take part in this festival
of resurrection, at any rate not except as a spectator with grief and envy.”