One of my very favorite blogs is Betsy Lerner's.
On my daily fave blog recon today I saw this post, in which Betsy expounds on an article which rates writing (and they lump entertainer and artist in there as well) as one of the ten most depression-inducing jobs.
My husband's profession (teacher) made the cut, as did my daughter's (social work). Egad, thank God for pharmies.
Here's what the article in Health.com says about our ilk, specifically:
These jobs can bring irregular paychecks, uncertain hours, and isolation.But that was before Twitter took the "i" out of isolation, yeah? Y'all have anything to add?
Creative people may also have higher rates of mood disorders; about 9% reported an episode of major depression in the previous year.
In men, it’s the job category most likely to be associated with an episode of major depression (nearly 7% in full-time workers).
“One thing I see a lot in entertainers and artists is bipolar illness,” says Legge. “There could be undiagnosed or untreated mood disorders in people who are artistic…. Depression is not uncommon to those who are drawn to work in the arts, and then the lifestyle contributes to it.”
suzy, your empress chronicles are like lindt chocolates for me. i'm so glad i found them; they are my newest morning reading addition.
ReplyDeletebetsy's blog is one of my favorites too!
How nice to here, AmyG! Here's what our lovely empress has to say today:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/SuchASisi
Art is probably a better rescription than pharmaceuticals most of the time and despite the life style. It's unfortunate that doing art in a capitalist society makes we artists careerists, because it's the careerism that makes us insecure.
ReplyDeleteAnd we've countered that with the old "starving artist" elitism thing. I don't think that really works.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to speak out for the middle ground. Being paid fairly for providing entertainment, art, well-thought out rants, and other forms of humanity's connective tissue would chip away at the insecurity thing--instead, we have superstars or penniless poets. And that's what should change (and seems to be, actually).
I didn't say we shouldn't get paid in a capitalist society. we MUST get paid. But, having to get paid makes us crazy. We don't get paid unless we're fuck'n famous.
ReplyDelete