My Mental Illness Is Not My Muse—But It Shapes the Stories I Tell
Is mental illness a creative superpower—or simply a reality many writers live with? The “tortured artist” myth might sound poetic, but it’s more harmful than helpful. I live with paranoid schizophrenia, and while it shapes my stories, it doesn’t define them. And no, I don’t create because I suffer—I create despite it. In my last article, I explored what it's like to write through brain fog as someone living with mental illness. This time, I want to dig deeper—not into the pain itself, but how living with paranoid schizophrenia has influenced the way I create stories, characters, and emotional truth. Breaking the “Tortured Artist” Myth For years, I believed that pain was necessary for powerful writing. High school me thought suffering was a rite of passage for poets and storytellers. But the truth is: romanticizing pain is dangerous. It leads people to believe they have to stay broken to stay creative. Worse, it can make them afraid to heal, fearing recovery will take away the...