Depression. How do they handle it?

[Zannen00]

Depression. We all get it at one point or another. Its a part of life, of being human.

I've been getting emotionally depressed this past few weeks, stuff happens etc. etc.
And I DO notice that it also affects my drawing speed/quality.

Now, as a simple hobbyist I can simply put off my drawing until I feel better, but what about to those
freelance/professional artist that has to make pages and pages of art/comic within those tight deadlines?
Whether they like it or not, they have to produce that art no matter what.

How do THEY handle it? How do YOU handle it?

Would love to get you guys opinion on this.
Thanks for reading!
(Yes my mind wanders about when I'm depressed, sometimes on the most trivial of things.)

[phen]

Though I am still far from calling myself a professional artist, dealing with depression while trying to get illustration commissions done and personal projects off the ground is extremely difficult. But things must get done! Usually pulling away from social media really helps. The internet, while awesome for freelancing and making connections, does awful things to you when you're not in a solid state of mind. I find that if I just force myself to work through without spending lengthy amounts of time on twitter/tumblr/etc., I can get the work I need to get done, done.

But even still, it can and will put a complete stop to one's production cycle. It's terrible! The best way to fight that is to try to find someone to talk to in person if you can. A phone call is also good! Get a close friend, sibling, relative on the phone and check up with them. When you have tons of work and depression hanging on you, a friendly voice does wonders!

[mappypaint]

I'm kind of the opposite because whenever I feel depressed it's art stuff that makes me happy. I'm in my own special world whenever i'm spraying paint, fabricating something, or drawing pages for my comics. Tight deadlines on painting projects do stress me sometimes, but making comic pages relieves me of that stress build ups.

Mappy's weird huh, Zan.XD But if you are feeling depressed then feel free to talk to me. You know where to reach me. ^u^

[shaylafarley5]

I'm not a pro, but I want to turn my hobby into a career. I had a deep depression a few months ago. It got me down alot as I saw my friend go on without me once I got drop from A school. Drawing was the last thing on my mind and I sleep all the time for a week that left me feeling really sick. I never been depressed like that before and it scared me. So one day I just got up went down to the lake and looked at the waves rollin in. Walked around and feed some birds. When I got to my barracks I watched a lot of Disney movies like Mulan, Hercules etc. Which put spirit back into me. Now when I'm depressed I just work out, keeps your spirits up when you look in the mirror lol.

[shazzbaa]

My experience is that as far as normal bouts of "feeling depressed" go, I have to have this attitude of my work being separate from my emotional state. I remember going through really rough times while I was doing a humour comic, and I just knew that every other night I had to be able to sit down for 5 hours and be funny; that's my job. Crafting a good and honest joke was something that was important to me whether I felt like laughing or not!

I do wanna say, just so that it's been said, I definitely think it's possible to feel depressed without going through Clinical Depression, but I've watched friends deal with the mess-with-your-head chronic Depression that makes it hard to care, hard to connect, and hard to make yourself do the things you need to do for months at a time --- and I really see it as a different beast, where a can-do attitude and the knowledge that "welp, it's gotta get done" can't help nearly as much as medication and therapy can.

I had one friend in freelance who had bad anxiety that kept her from working for the entire day when it got bad, and she realised, if it was getting in the way that much, she couldn't just work around it -- she needed to talk to someone who could help her learn how to handle it. Now, her anxiety does still get in the way, but it rarely knocks her out completely like it used to.

TL;DR, in my experience, if it's temporary and you can push through it, you do that. If it lasts a long time or can't really be pushed through, then you treat it the same way you would if a physical injury were preventing you from working -- you get a medical professional to look at it and see if they can do anything to help.

[demthorshie]

As a professional freelance artist myself, I guess i'm qualified to answer this one. The answer to that one is, sometimes I can't handle it.

I'm used to dealing with somewhere around 20 and sometimes 30+ different clients per month. When depression hits (and I am very prone to depression I might add) it can very much effect my work schedule a lot especially if the commissions are stressful ones with tight deadlines. 95% of the time,, I find myself biting the bullet and getting the work done any way, because hey, i'll be even more depressed if I can't pay the bills in the future.

I do recall a time where I completely stopped accepting commissions for a solid 2 weeks after my cat died, it was a very depressing time for me primarily because her death was very sudden.

[ratique]

In the end it is like every other job. You go to work every day and do it, because you have to earn money. Until you hit your breaking point and have to take time off and see a doctor to hopefully help you out of it quickly. (Since you gotta go back to earn more of that money.)

It can affect the quality of your work, and while that is the same for every job, for an artist it is very visible when something is not going well.

[ucee43bbb999847b]

I would like to say some words about traditional medicine items at first.
Studies have attempted to track the benefits of herbs for treating depression. Here are several herbs that may help lift your mood when you experience mild to moderate depression.
St. John’s Wort, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Saffron, S-adenosylmethionine, Folate, Zinc,

Although some herbs and supplements show promise in treating depression, they aren’t a consistent or reliable substitute for treatments when you experience severe depression. You should work with your doctor, find a treatment plan that fits for you and choose here sales coupons http://www.rx-discountcoupons.com/. Depression can be a serious disease.

[Stellamari]

When I was hit with depression a few years ago (ranges from mild to moderate, nothing severe), meditation helps me in dealing with my day to day activities. Nowadays I rarely have it but daily meditation have been an integral part of my life that I am still practicing it.

[Jewe11s]

I have gotten seasonal depression annually for the past few years. Every time winter rolls around, wham. This year was particularly bad.

For me it helps to firstly accept that this is how you are feeling, secondly, trust that it won't last forever, and thirdly treat yourself. For me it can be as simple as getting out of my comfort zone and making a change in my life to keep things new and engaging.

Clean your room and donate old clothes and things. Unfollow blogs/sites/comics that routinely produce negative or stressful content. Cut ties with people in your life who actively do things that make you feel bad about yourself. Call up an old friend and catch up. Make yourself a warm bubble bath, light some candles, play some peaceful music and read your favourite book. Go hiking.

For me, when depression hits, I hit back. When your feelings are making you want to crawl up into your closet and mope: charge out your front door and live fuller, harder, better. Breathe. You're alive and you are in control. You have to constantly be climbing out of that hole like the light at the top is worth reaching. You can do it. It is possible.

[keii4ii]

We all get it at one point or another.

I disagree. Some people seem to go through their entire life without ever being affected by depression. They get depressed from time to time, yes, but not necessarily suffer from depression. Just like what @shazzbaa said:

I definitely think it's possible to feel depressed without going through Clinical Depression

I know this for sure. How? I spent the first 30+ years of my life free from actual (clinical) depression. I've gotten very sad, very down plenty of times during those years. But those weren't depression. Clinical depression (coupled with clinical anxiety) hit me this past August, and it's nothing like what I'd known before.

[jessicasurline]

I guess I can be called a professional comic artist now but art on a deadline while depressed or just sad is a very challenging task. Depending on the situation or the cause of emotional distress, I have a variety of methods to pick myself up or just bull head my way through my work. Sometimes it's as easy as just getting something to eat to keep the blood sugar balanced but in harder cases, like hormones, I have to be very aware of my mind states. Being able to identify an erratic thought that is just destructive and illogical with no real basis is my greatest weapon. Finding those thoughts and reflecting on why I jumped to that conclusion helps me find the real source of my problem so I can deal with it instead of bandaging a symptom. Most of my doubts creep up when I feel I am inadequate or setting my expectations of myself too high. Times like those I either have to take a break and completely distract myself so I can chill out or turn off the internet and music so I can focus.