Do you think there is a link between creativity and Bi-Polar Disorder?
Yes
90%
[ 20 ]
No
9%
[ 2 ]
Total Votes : 22
Author
Message
They_made_me_do_it
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Canada
Creativity And Bi-polar Posted: 03-05-07 05:25am
Hello everyone.
My name is Ryan and I'm an 18 year old in
Alberta Canada. I've been connected with
Bi-Polar disorder scince before I was even
in kindergarden when my mother had a
severe episode in which she was
hospitalized for months. She's had two
more full blown episodes scince then and
I'm glad to say that after extensive
therepy, counciling, medication and
support, she now lives a medicated, happy
and balanced life. As for myself, I first
showed signs of being Bi-Polar when I
first hit puberty (Big shock there, eh?) I
was having odd and rapid moodswings
ranging from on top of the world to
hopelessly depressed. Fortunately for
myself, I had a parent that could easilly
identify the situation and was brought
into a psychologist who said I showed
strong points of Bi-Polar II and/or
Cyclothymic Disorder. I was given a drug
to take daily, I forget the name, but it
didn't help the condition at all, then I
was started on Lithium.
At first I liked how I had felt a little
more stabilized and 'normal', but after
aorund a month, I hated it. I could tell
that it was working and that it was
helping my moods, but there was a problem.
See, when I was 14 I first started acting
out, I had been living in a highly
disfunctional familly, and my mother and I
had just moved out, I was struggling with
life when I started thing about acting. I
tried it, and I've been addicted to it
ever since. It became my outlet to how I
was feeling and the moods I was having.
After two or so years, I was started on
Lithium and I began to notice that my love
and passion for acting had dwindled. I was
having trouble getting into the zone for
preformances and I couldn't fully tap into
characters with the depth I used to. I was
still pretty good, but I had a reputation
for being an extremely indepth and
naturally talented actor in my community,
but while I was on Lithium, it all
changed. So I Desided to get off the meds
and within a week I was able to reach my
potential as an actor again. in the last
two years I've studied and prefected my
craft and only untill the last couple of
months while I was working on a new play,
did I realiize that my method of acting
was copmpletely different and more indepth
then most people that I had ever met,
which then brought up a question:
Are People with Bi-Polar Disorder more
prone to Creativity?
I undoubtedly think that yes, yes we are.
I don't know why, but I can say that using
acting, along with writing, drawing and
reading and other creative outlets i'm
able to keep my tendancies under control,
and in the porcess, expand my mind more
quickly and with more understanding then I
could have ever thought.
Now, for those of you who actually read
all of this (Skimming down dosen't count)
I apologize. It's my first post here and I
got a little carried away typing, but I
would like to offer you to respond with
any examples, stories, ideas or comments
on whether or not you agree that we, as
the Bi-Polar people, are more easilly
subject to creativity.
Thank you all
P.S - Keep in mind that Hemmingway
(Writer), Sylvia Plath (Writer),
Tchaikovsky (Musician), F. Scott
Fitzgerald, William Blake, Sara Teasdale
all are said to have had some form of
Bi-Polar Disorder
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leonardygunawan
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 4
My Bipolar and Creativity Posted: 01-31-08 20:15pm
I felt this strange mood swing when im at
17 and recently begin diagnose that i
surely have Bipolar Disorder at the age of
29 , between that spam of time , i create
and design according to my mood , to
express my mood swing via the web.
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Seraph
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 329 Location: , South Africa
Thanks: 7
Thanked:0
No Mozart but... Posted: 02-01-08 08:45am
There might be a point to this.
I have always been musically inclined.
When I was something like 7, I would
listen to my sister practice on the piano.
Then, when she would walk away, I would
sit down and play the piece she had just
played...mistakes and all.
I've never been able to play from
sheet-music but have an uncanny ability to
know instinctively what keys to press so I
generally play by hearing.
I sometimes try to compose a lil but, I
also find that the meds from time to time
interferes with the creative juices. I
won't stop taking them for the sake of my
music though as it's not my primary source
of income, which would suffer if I were to
stop taking the meds, so I don't pay a lot
of attention to my music any more...not
with the stresses of work and now the
problems with my joints/inflammation.
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puzzld
Supporter
Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Posts: 249 Location: gulf coast =), USA
Thanks: 1
Thanked:1
Posted: 02-01-08 11:47am
yes, it's true. i'm an artist and hate
feeling numb. i recently became medicated
for bp1. and what do ya know... i lost my
job almost 2 weeks ago because i couldn't
perform!!! ugh. i hate this.
my brother is also bp but with psychotic
episodes. he refuses to take meds and has
been living with my father most of his
life, he's 40. he's an amazing artist and
inventor. he won some national contest
when he was in high school. his work hung
in the white house for 2 years. he was
committed at one point in his life for
wanting to kill our mother. they put him
on lithium and released him after 6
months. he had a court order to go to the
clinic once a week and get injections of
lithium. he said he couldn't remember ever
being "crazy" or that he wanted to hurt
our mother. he went several times and got
his dose. but it only lasted for a few
months and he left his apartment (clothes,
furniture, everything) threw his work into
a dumpster and he was nowhere for a while.
he surfaced eventually.
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ktthefreak
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 29 Location: Oklahoma, OKC USA
Posted: 02-05-08 12:34pm
I'm definitely a firm believer that
bipolar's are more creative than the
average person.. just think about the
famous people in history who had the
disorder - beethoven, van gogh, edgar
allen poe, virginia woolf etc.
i also am able to play notes on the piano
just by hearing them and knowing
instinctively which keys to hit.. which
always seemed odd to people yet it's so
simple to me. I've simply seemed to grasp
more things than the average person.. and
really just think outside the box. i've
looked into this in the past, i even read
a book a couple weeks ago titles "manic
depression and creativity". Anyway.. yeah
that's it for now.
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manuftw82
Supporter
Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 364 Location: Vestal/LI, NY USA
Thanks: 7
Thanked:3
Posted: 02-05-08 20:18pm
I'm bipolar and am probably the least
creative person I know. I am also the
exact opposite of detail oriented.
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Seraph
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 329 Location: , South Africa
Thanks: 7
Thanked:0
Posted: 02-06-08 03:10am
I guess it is kinda like saying that
bipolar people has weak knees eh
manuftw82?
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manuftw82
Supporter
Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 364 Location: Vestal/LI, NY USA
Thanks: 7
Thanked:3
Posted: 02-07-08 12:56pm
Seraph
wrote:
I guess it is kinda like
saying that bipolar people has weak knees
eh manuftw82?
lol yea I dont think either one has to do
with each other.
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Go2extremes
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 43
The Creativity Curse Posted: 02-07-08 17:00pm
Without doubt, I was accepted to one of
the top art schools in NYC when I was 15,
an Art Director by the time I was 22. If
you look at the stats of famous people
with BP you will see how many of us fit
that artistic mold. Most of us extreme are
over achievers, due to our mania (and
obsessive, perfectionist nature) it can
take you far in life however... it also
can take you far enough to make you want
to fall off the face of the earth.
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leonardygunawan
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 4
thats PERFECTLY CORRECT Posted: 02-07-08 20:00pm
i feel im not alone now in this world
knowing many people share the same
experince, glad to know all of you
leonardy
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designlady
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 55 Location: , USA
Thanks: 0
Thanked:1
definitely. Posted: 02-07-08 21:57pm
I with you all, too. I'm an artist... the
only artistically-creative person in my
family--and the only one with bipolar
disorder. Coincidence? I think not!
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designlady
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 55 Location: , USA
Thanks: 0
Thanked:1
Posted: 02-07-08 21:59pm
puzzld
wrote:
my brother is also bp but
with psychotic episodes. he refuses to
take meds and has been living with my
father most of his life, he's 40. he's an
amazing artist and inventor. he won some
national contest when he was in high
school. his work hung in the white house
for 2 years. he was committed at one point
in his life for wanting to kill our
mother. they put him on lithium and
released him after 6 months. he had a
court order to go to the clinic once a
week and get injections of lithium. he
said he couldn't remember ever being
"crazy" or that he wanted to hurt our
mother. he went several times and got his
dose. but it only lasted for a few months
and he left his apartment (clothes,
furniture, everything) threw his work into
a dumpster and he was nowhere for a while.
he surfaced
eventually.
OMG! Is he okay?
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bakin_april
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 210 Location: state of confusion, usa
Posted: 02-08-08 21:16pm
My personal opinion is that almost all
forms of mental illness and creativity go
hand-in-hand. Another observation is that
intellectual genius and mental illness
seem to be pretty closely related. My
mother, who suffers from severe
depression, is a creative writer. She
says: don't even try to write if you're
not depressed!
There isn't enough knowledge about the
functioning of the brain to be able to
point to the key to these issues yet. I
believe many experts won't pay attention
to the subject until a physical location
is found in the brain. As the past has
shown, it will then be no time until they
make alterations at their whim to make the
individuals behave as the experts desire.
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Seraph
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 329 Location: , South Africa
Thanks: 7
Thanked:0
Posted: 02-09-08 03:02am
bakin_april
wrote:
As the past has shown, it
will then be no time until they make
alterations at their whim to make the
individuals behave as the experts
desire.
That raises an interesting point. How
many of these "Mental Disorders" is
labelled as such just because the person
is not acting the way that society wants
them to act...?
Obviously I am referring to "benign"
situations. Something like
serial-killers, even tho it can also be
described as "Not acting like society
wants" is a bit more of a moral
question...
Don't know if this makes sense to any-one
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CarolDiane
Supporter
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2396
Thanks: 111
Thanked:156
I agree Posted: 02-09-08 05:37am
I was diagnosed back in the 80s through
blood test and put on lithium. Had a bad
time with it, so I stoped and kept it a
secret since. Just now coming out of the
closet, I was just put on Lamectal.
I am a freelace Nature photographer and
love it. Had my own small business at one
time "Portaits Of Nature" from home.
So,yes I must agree with you on this one.
Carrie
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snb
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Posts: 1
I agree Posted: 02-17-08 05:30am
As a person dealing with bipolar disorder,
I really do believe that we are more
disposed to creativity, especially that
resulting from the experience of intense
emotions. Perhaps psychological suffering
is even an essential component of
creativity; without such suffering, it
seems an artist would have less to draw
upon for inspiration. Although I am a
student pursuing a career as a scientist,
I have definitely felt a strange intensity
when participating in more artistic
endeavours, especially writing. Science,
however, can also benefit greatly from a
certain amount of creativity. Sometimes,
one makes imaginative leaps and fills in
the pure logic later.
Also, I highly recommend reading the book
Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illnes
and the Artistic Temperament by Kay
Redfield Jamison, which makes and
excellent case for the link between
bipolar disorder and creativity from the
perspective of a person who is both a
doctor and a person with bipolar disorder.
The basic argument here is "not that all
writers and artists are depressed,
suicidal, or manic. It is, rather, that a
greatly disproportionate number of them
are; that the manic-depressive and
artistic temperaments are, in many ways,
overlapping ones; and that the two
temperaments are causally related to one
another."
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CarolDiane
Supporter
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2396
Thanks: 111
Thanked:156
Also Posted: 02-17-08 08:16am
If you go to Neurology Now.com you can
subscribe for free like I did and get a
monthly magazine. Got a lot of our
problems in there and what they are trying
to come up with in the future. Had a good
article this month on "Rebif" for MS
amongst other interesting reads. I think
it is an asset to read up on some of the
research they are doing and the articles
are great!
