Many individuals only know author Stephen King for his chilling and thrilling tales. When you think of Stephen King, you might think of IT or The Shining, and you wouldn’t be wrong to do so—in fact, he has written at least 82 books, so there might even be a few more that come to mind. (Not to mention all the movies based on his books.)
But, of course, there is much more to Stephen King than his novels, especially since he’s become such an influential figure in the worlds of writing, horror, and pop culture.
Understanding the inner workings of any person's mind takes a lot of information, and in many cases, accumulating all of that information may seem impossible.
But it’s important to remember that even those we admire can, and do, experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
Mental health is an incredibly nuanced topic and one that impacts nearly each and every one of us, so it’s never a bad idea to educate yourself as best you can on its influence. To learn more about mental health, resources like those at Mind Diagnostics are great tools.
Stephen King and Mental Health
It just so happens that King has long been active within the mental health scene—and not for all the right reasons at first!
Stephen King publicly struggled with substance abuse for years, but frequently found himself chalking it up to the lifestyle of the tortured artist. King’s nihilistic view of the world and himself is certainly not unique.
Many writers and artists have historically justified their substance use, harmful coping mechanisms, and unwillingness to address mental health concerns because it theoretically fueled their creative fire.
No one makes good art while they are happy—or at least that was the way of thinking. Unfortunately, many artistic individuals were under the impression that being depressed and unwell was the recipe for greatness.
Although that mindset is falling away as mental healthcare becomes destigmatized, there are still plenty of artists who subscribe to that way of thinking.
Because of his own experiences and in the hopes of changing the minds of others, King has spoken up about the importance of throwing away the tortured artist mentality.
Steven King, On Writing
As mentioned, King was known to justify his substance use disorder as the tendencies of an artist—someone who, by extension, is a troubled genius.
Over time, as the consequences of untreated mental health concerns began to more significantly impact his life, King changed his rhetoric, likening mental health struggles while trying to maintain an artistic career to “trying to write while having explosive diarrhea.”
An important realization seemed to come to the forefront of Stephen King’s mind (and was specifically explored in depth in his memoir, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft): anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses don't make you an inherently better artist. In fact, they tend to hold us back or make us lose our passion over time.
King’s conclusion, according to his own discourse, was essentially the reason he got clean. He claims that while writers may be more prone to mental illness (perhaps due to an increased sensitivity to the world), ultimately, “Who cares? We all look the same with our head in the gutter.”
In his memoir, King also discusses his experiences, his process as an author, and his advice for future writers. In addition, he touches on his bout with substance use disorder and what he has learned since getting clean.
After experiencing an addiction to alcohol and drugs, combined with chronic depression, he decided to eventually openly share details of his struggles for the sake of informing others.
So, with all of these ideas in mind, King recommends that artists don’t subscribe to the concept that abusing substances or forcing yourself to drown in your own mental illnesses makes you a better artist.
This dangerous “troubled artist” phenomenon has taken far too many great artists and made even more completely, utterly miserable.