I’ve written a lot about the real issues and the emotional life of artists. I’ve tackled creativity and depression in books like The Van Gogh’s Blues and Rethinking Depression, creativity and anxiety in books like Mastering Creative Anxiety and Performance Anxiety, and addiction in books like Creative Recovery.
I’ve also been interested in flaws in the mental health paradigm: that is, in flaws in the ways we “diagnose and treat mental disorders.” You may also find this subject really interesting, as the ways that you speak to yourself about what’s bothering you (“I have depression,” “I have OCD,” “I have ADHD,” etc.) is a function of that paradigm.
If you happen to be interested in these issues, I recommend my new book The Future of Mental Health: Deconstructing the Mental Disorder Paradigm. It appears December 31, 2015 from Transaction Publishers and an audiobook (ten hours of listening) is available now.
If you’d like to preorder a print or kindle copy, visit here:
If you’d like to order the audiobook version, visit here:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Science-Technology/The-Future-of-Mental-Health-Audiobook/B018F2V210/
You may have never given any thought to the underlying assumptions behind our current mental health diagnostic system and yet what that system argues constitutes a “mental disorder” actually profoundly affects you, especially if you are taking pharmaceuticals for a “mental disorder.” You may want to educate yourself a little bit about our current system: The Future of Mental Health will help you do that.
“Clinical Depression” = BRAIN FLU, feels like a BAD hangover.