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?)
Here’s a thought experiment you might find worth pondering:
Assume, for this experiment, that becoming more mentally healthy definitely leads to being less artistic. You still make art, but it isn’t as good or profound as before.
Given that premise, would you forgo happiness for the sake of your art? Would you recommend others do the same? If you could offer Van Gogh advice, would you tell him to avoid help and embrace suffering so that he could produce nice paintings?