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by Marja Bergen
My mother is amazing. Growing up, she struggled constantly with her physical health. While she was raising my sister and me, she was often so sick that we had to stay with friends or relatives. Yet today, at 93, she crochets afghans and baby blankets from morning to night. She will sell these and donate the proceeds to a care facility. Mom often expresses her surprise at having outlived her nine healthier siblings. I believe her creativity keeps her enthusiastic and alive.
The Bible says that God made us in his image. As Creator, God made us creators as well. Creativity is good for our emotional health, it energizes us and gives us satisfaction in our accomplishments. God wants us to experience the joy that comes from living creatively. When I receive inspiration, I respond. I see this as being obedient to God.
Creativity is especially important for those who struggle with emotional health. This may be why so many people with mental health issues become artists it helps them survive. As a creative person living with bipolar disorder, I've always been interested in the mysterious connection between this disease and creativity.
Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD, long-time psychologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, is a researcher and writer responsible for much of today's understanding about the relationship between creativity and bipolar disorder. In her book, Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, she writes, Recent research strongly suggests that, compared with the general population, writers and artists show a vastly disproportionate rate of manic-depressive or depressive illness; clearly, however, not all (not even most) writers and artists suffer from major mood disorders.*
Strong moods produce the passion so important to making vibrant pieces of art. People who live with unipolar depression and bipolar disorders are particularly prone to these moods. The great ebb and flow of emotions they experience spur them to imaginative pursuits. Art allows them to vent their feelings.
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No one gets much done while they are depressed. Yet depression, while painful, allows for a deep understanding of life. For many, depression provides fodder for creativity, without which many artists would not be inspired. When their mood swings upward again, they have much to work with.
My contrasting moods, the steep highs and deep lows, make me sensitive to others. This is one reason I became a photographer. I can spend an hour at a time focusing my lens on a baby's many expressions. By recording how young children respond to the world around them, I can convey feelings I myself have experienced in life.
I find life to be exciting, rich and colourful in some sense actually because of my bipolar disorder. Yes, I've had emotional pain that at times has been unbearable, and indeed I haven't been well enough for full time employment, but, it's all been worth it. After living with this disorder for over forty years, I can look back on many creative accomplishments and take as a whole, life has been happy.
After God created the world, the plants and animals, and man, the Bible says, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) In those words, I sense the joy he must have felt in his work. And I can, in my own small way, relate. Like my mom, I feel joy in my creative work. I feel I'm being the kind of person God designed me to be.
Creative living is good for our emotional well-being. We don't just survive, we thrive.
 Marja Bergen is the author of Riding the Roller Coaster: Living with Mood Disorders (Northstone, 1999) Her new book, yet to be published is addresses Christians living successfully with bipolar disorder. She is the founder and a facilitator of Living Room, the faith-based Mood Disorders Association of BC support group.
* Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison (Free Press Paperbacks, a Division of Simon & Schuster Inc, 1993) Page 5
July 26/2007
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The best thing I can do is to speak from personal experience. There were times, years ago, that I was very sick, but the man who later became my husband stuck with me, though I don't know whether he fully believed I appreciated him. But he remained steady and I am deeply grateful for this and love him for staying with me through thick and thin - not an easy thing to do.
There were even times when I was paranoid - a psychotic condition that is sometimes part of bipolar disorder. At those times I mistrusted my husband. It must have been a very painful time for him. But he was aware it was my illness doing this to me. After a short time the paranoia passed.
I pray that you will continue to hold out hope for your loved one that things will improve. There are a lot of good medications today and a good life is possible for most people with bipolar disorder, though painful struggles will always be part of it.
I wish you and your loved one well.