Life in a Parallel Universe

Do you know someone who hallucinates, someone who is stuck with depression or have sleepless nights, someone who has bipolar disorders or panic attacks and is at the same time kickass creative? I wouldn’t recommend this post if you show any of the above traits because I am going to tell you something that no one would have ever told you before. 

This is to those who know one of a kind either as a friend, a relative or maybe to those who live with one. I think you all should know at least one in your lifetime because it’s a hell lot of a ride that one wouldn’t want to miss.

We all have been through thousands of posts and articles that show solidarity to the ones who are going through emotional instability or mental breakdown. It is true that it takes a lot of courage and effort to keep things together and stay calm when your mind is shattered and is not in your control but there is a section of people whom we forget. The ones who live with or are close with these creative ones, undergo traumatic conditions as they are continuously exposed to uneven mood swings and character disorders. Though they might be cool and chill, with all positive vibes before, slowly the negativity will seep in drowning them into depression. Know them? Ever guessed how it feels for them? Let me narrate a few instances from real life where the continuous exposure to these creative humans with mental breakdown affects the psychological health of a person.

You might object saying creativity and mental illness doesn’t go together but wait. Let me explain. This is not a generalization but let me put forth some data to substantiate that unseen connection between creativity and mental health in some.  In a 2015 study, Iceland scientists found that people in creative professions are 25% more likely to have gene variants that increase the risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with deCODE Genetics co-founder Kári Stefánsson saying, "Often, when people are creating something new, they end up straddling between sanity and insanity." So, such people are just born with an “emotional bomb” that is prone to trigger anytime and for some, emotional instability and creativity come as a package. All those ones who go crazy about films, paintings, literature, music, drama and so on show such traits. In 2017, associate professor of psychiatry Gail Saltz stated that the increased production of divergent thoughts in people with mild-to-moderate mental illnesses leads to greater creative capacities. Ah! Yes…if we all saw things similarly, there would be no art.

Artists are just more than human beings who belong to a better place than here. The way they think, the way they form ideologies and the art itself, owes a lot more than what they get from the society. Moreover, they are amazing beings to hang around and be in touch with. But you know when this all turns out to be a mess? 

Let me tell you a story about a young girl who fell head over heels for an artist. For a girl who came straight out of a private school, literature, drama and politics seemed magical enough to win her heart. And yeah, to garnish it, you have some ‘rebel’ flakes and ‘I don’t care’ sauce. This defines him. He walked her through the world of literature; she was pushed to write and was inspired as all that they spoke was about art, literature and his dream of cinema. She was mused and lost in that illusionary world which was far away from the reality. But love is powerful mahn! Powerful enough to push someone do things that they would have never done. But, let’s keep that part apart because that’s a distraction from the story line. 

So yeah, some artists! Things were just so normal and new with ups and downs, fights followed with hues and cries but then slowly it elevated to the next stage. As days passed, his emotional instability and mood swings started to seep into her, carving away her sunshine. Conversations from nowhere turned to be depressing, ending up in arguments and sleepless nights. Her bubble shrank. She soaked her worries in tears to fall asleep and her dark circles had another story. He loved her with all his heart but he didn’t know that it was choking her, harder! She couldn’t take it anymore. So, she decided!

There is another instance of a live-in couple where the guy was again a ‘creative head’. He was so much in love with her that he always wanted her to be with him, which literally stopped her from going out and spending time with others. He became a parasite living on her happiness. It was sucking out her peace of mind which was alien to her by then. It became worse when she started to have panic attacks during sleep which was triggered by his suicidal conversations. The books that he read and the lines that he scribbled on the walls reaffirmed the fear in her. Days passed and she knew it wasn’t going towards a happy ending and before he could do something to himself, she chose to end her life leaving him alone to deal with his emotions.

Then comes the story of a mutually toxic couple where both were into creative professions. They had a very different lifestyle, careless and without any routines. Everyone around, eyed on their relationship which was unique from others. But there was a fuming toxicity within them which the outsiders never saw. He was addicted to drugs and he blamed her for his addiction. She was forced to say ‘no’ to many things that she loved to do just because his emotional state didn’t take it in the right way. Her priorities were never considered. She was also giving it back through her sadistic ways. He was blamed for her lack of ideas for good stories. She began to treat him like shit. They never acknowledged the effort that each one of them took to hold things together when it was shattering apart. She was asked to do things which she didn’t want to and was a trigger for him to blame her. Sometimes he would just go off like that leaving his phone behind to somewhere unknown and return after weeks. It became a tit for tat. It grew worse as days passed and finally they decided to cut that toxicity out and be free on their own.

Many stories...many lives! Such emotional rollercoaster rides aren't easy for a normal human being who is unaware of how to deal people with depression or mood swings. It’s actually not just about knowing how to deal with them; it is about that vibe that they create around someone that affects his/her mental health. If you have experienced it, then you know. The trauma that it leaves back with the spouse/friend lives within them even if the one who have had the breakdown forgets about it.