Weltschmerz (German: [ˈvɛltʃmɛɐ̯ts] ⓘ; literally “world-pain”) is a literary concept describing the feeling experienced by an individual who believes that reality can never satisfy the expectations of the mind,[1][2] resulting in “a mood of weariness or sadness about life arising from the acute awareness of evil and suffering”.
as per Wikipedia.
This thought just crossed my mind. Many artist which are renowned for their art and their depth of it have a story of pain behind it (e.g. Van Gogh, Beethoven, Hemmingway). If they would have used antidepressants (or not suffered physically) would they still have created their artworks they are known for?
(The question came to my mind because I feel sensitive to (at least percieved) injustice and recently it feels the world got worse in that regard. I am thinking about getting therapy (in addition to therapy and an autism diagnosis). Assuming I’d get antideperessants and also assuming I wasn’t too fucking burned out to have at least one creative hobby and also assuming the antidepressants reduce my “Weltschmerz” (and other issues) - would that potentially make me a worse artist as I can’t channel this part of me into my works?)
I think it might change your art, but let me explain why I don’t think it’s that bad: whenever you change your habits, you will notice a difference to your mood and day-to-day headspace.
Antidepressants also change your habits, and thus they change what you think about, when you can be creative, and how you create.
I used to be scared that I would “lose the spark” over time when my habits changed drastically or when I took breaks from my craft, and I still am, but I can tell you in 8 years I’ve always bounced back and I still do some cool things and other people like some of the things I do. It definitely changed, but I know I learn and grow and thus my experiences necessarily change anyway, and so change in inevitable. BUT: for now it hasn’t stopped me - sometimes I just need a little bit of a push.
Honestly just see what it’s like and don’t get scared when your habits and thoughts change. Try to adapt to it and switch up your workflow if it absolutely won’t work. And don’t forget: you can always add restraints to kick-start your process. Best of luck and may your future art be beautiful as well:)
Thank you for this reply.
I guess that is the quiet part of the question out loud, isn’t it?
This gives me some hope for my future. Currently I don’t see a spark for me to lose, so only upwards from here.
I certainly will try as I found a low I did not existed and the trajectory hasn’t been great for years, so something needs to change.
Though what do you mean by this? I seem to have trouble understanding.
Sometimes it’s hard to start a new art project. Creative restraint can be really helpful. Example: starting a song with only live recorded samples, or painting a picture with only 5 colors, or writing something from the perspective of an animal.