Mental illnesses are health problems that involve how people thinks, behaves, feels, and intercourse with people. Besides, mental illness does not distinguish; it can affect anyone no matter of their age, gender, race, religion, background or other aspects of cultural identity. While mental illness can befall at any age, three-fourths of all mental illness starts at the age of 24 (American Psychiatric Association, n.d.). There are many types of mental disorder and the common types of mental disorder are obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, depression and sleep disorders. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common, chronic, and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, repeated thoughts (obsessions) and/or behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to do in response to an obsessive thought. It can interfere with all aspects of life, such as work, school, and personal relationships. The common sign of an OCD person is he or she will frequently wash his or her hand. Besides, he or she can't manage his or her thoughts or behaviors, even when those thoughts or behaviors are recognized as extravagant. Next, anxiety disorders carry more than impermanent worry or fear. There are few types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders. Furthermore, another common type of mental illness is depression. It is classified as a mood disorder. It may be described as feelings of sadness, loss, or anger that interfere with a person’s daily activities. Moreover, sleep disorders are conditions that result in changes in the way that you sleep. Symptoms of sleep disorders include feel sleepy during the daytime and have trouble falling asleep at night. Having an irregular sleep and wake cycle is another symptom of a sleep disorder.
Furthermore, there are statistics prove that people that work in the entertainment industry tend to have a higher risk in mental illness. According to a report by Victoria University in Australia, the report identified performing artists, performing arts support workers and broadcast, film and recording media operators. The report reveals that these workers suffer from the effects of uncertain employment, low pay, always shift work and the need to be willing and able to work and under all conditions. The sector's employees have three times the level of sleep disorders than the general population. This causes serious flow-on effects on their relationships with family and friends. Arts workers also experience symptoms of anxiety ten-times higher than the general population, and depression symptoms five-times higher. They have higher rates of suicidal ideation, planning and attempts than the general population, and their use and misuse of drugs and alcohol are significantly greater.
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According to Cal Strode from the Mental Health Foundation, the environment in the entertainment area can affect workers’ mental health and wellbeing, with insecure contracts, low rate of pay and anti-social working hours. In some condition, performing artists are often asked to work without being paid. Therefore, it is hard to maintain a healthy sense of self when a person is not satisfied with their work. According to Malcolm Sinclair, actor and president of Equity, mental illness has become an issue to the workers in the entertainment industry as the workers often suffer from the stress of short-term contracts and irregular work time. An Australia Council report released in 2010 found more than half the country’s artists were making less than $10,000 a year from their creative pursuits, no matter of the time they put in. The hours they sacrificed for their work has put them into a higher risk of getting obesity and cardiovascular disease through to sleep problems and other mental health problems.
For instance, Robin Williams was one of the world's best-loved actors and comedians. Unfortunately, Robin Williams passed away at the age of 63, on August 11, 2014, at his home in Paradise Cay, California. The Chicago-born actor died by hanging himself after being misdiagnosed with Parkinson's and falling into a state of depression. Robin had been suffering from diffuse Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative disorder which causes slowed responses, physical rigidity and sometimes depression. His publicist has said her client was suffering from 'severe depression' before his death. Eventually, he suffered problems with his memory, and with intense paranoia. Another example of people that diagnose in mental illness in the entertainment industry is Choi Jin-ri (Sulli), a former member of the Korean girl band (f)x and an actress. As a South Korean celebrity, Sulli stood out for her individuality. She was special in the boldness with which she shared her life online. She refused to grovel or apologize when she was criticized. Unfortunately, she was found dead at the age of 25 in her home south of Seoul. She previously spoke about her struggles with anxiety, opening about her mental health in her 2018 reality star Jinri Store. According to her sharing, she admitted that she has social phobia and having panic disorder since her childhood time. She debuted with f(x) in 2009, left the girl band on hiatus in July 2014, after struggling with the abuse and malicious comments she received online. She withdrew from the band officially a year later and turned her attention to acting, although She made her solo debut in June this year with her single album ‘Goblin’.
The confused beliefs and purported findings have primarily arisen as both creativity and mental illness involve deviations. Symptoms of mental disorder differ from normal thinking and behavior, while creativity requires special or unique capacities. Nevertheless, there are sharp differences in effects: mental illness symptoms—compulsions, obsessions, delusions, panic attacks, depression, and personality disorders-deviate in stereotyped and frequently banal ways, whereas creativity involves novel and rich results. There are two other studies frequently cited in support of a link between mental illness and creativity. The first was conducted by Kay Redfield Jamison, best-known for her fascinating book ‘An Unquiet Mind’. The research was based on interviews with poets, novelists, biographers and artists. A total of 47 people took part, but there was no control group, so any comparisons can only be made with average rates in a population. She found surprising levels of mental illness. For example, half the poets had sought treatment at one time or another. This sounds like a high number, but as critics have pointed out, it is based on just nine people. Therefore, the samples are not representative as it is taken in a small number of people. Besides, in a review from the Department of Psychiatry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, of 29 studies that evaluated possible associations between creativity and mental illness, 15 found no evidence to link creativity and mental illness, 9 found positive evidence, and 5 had unclear findings. Hence, from this review, there is limited scientific evidence to link creativity and mental illness.
In a nutshell, people who work in the entertainment industry tend to have a higher risk of having a mental illness. However, there are no clear links prove that there is a connection between creativity and mental illness due to the samples taken for the research paper are not representative. Moreover, one of the adversities is that it is not simple to define or measure creativity.
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