I noticed that the threads that get the most attention are the creativity threads. Do you think that people with sz are more tuned into creativity, or is it just that anywhere artistic threads get more attention and if anything you have no creativity?
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I’m certainly not. I have all the creative and artistic ability of a tea spoon
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But what I’ve seen you guys are super talented
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I scored average on intelligence tests…but I’m off the charts on any creative test I’ve ever taken.
I believe Sz can make you more creative, as we see everything in a different light with this affliction when we’re psychotic.
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Not sure. But they do say that mental illness and creativity are not mutually exclusive, so there’s that.
One thing’s for sure though: we do have a talented bunch on the forum 
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I have always been drawn to creative pursuits personally. In education I always have stuck to subjects like photography and art. It’s a great reward when you have made something.
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Creating something from your brain and seeing it realized…a painting…a poem…a song…a book…can bring enormous satisfaction.
That sense of accomplishment that comes from seeing your work through to the end.
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I think hyper-creative people are more susceptible to mental illness…so perhaps the creativity comes first…the nutty affliction comes second.
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In a recent report based on a 40-year study of roughly 1.2 million Swedish people, Kyaga et al. (2013) found that those in scientific and artistic occupations were not more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders, with the exception of bipolar disorders. So full-blown mental illness did not increase the probability of entering a creative profession (even the exception, bipolar disorder, showed only a small effect of 8%).
What was striking, however, was that the siblings of patients with autism and the first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia were significantly overrepresented in creative professions. Could it be that the relatives inherited a watered-down version of the mental illness conducive to creativity while avoiding the aspects that are debilitating?
Research shows that psychologically healthy biological relatives of people with schizophrenia have unusually creative jobs and hobbies and tend to show higher levels of schizotypal personality traits compared to the general population (Karlsson, 1970; Kinney et al., 2001). Schizotypy consists of a constellation of personality traits that are evident to some degree in everyone.
Schizotypal traits can be broken down into two types. “Positive” schizotypy includes unusual perceptual experiences, thin mental boundaries between self and other, impulsive nonconformity, and magical beliefs. “Negative” schizotypal traits include cognitive disorganization and physical and social anhedonia (difficulty experiencing pleasure from social interactions and activities that are enjoyable for most people). Nettle (2006) found that people with schizotypy typically resemble schizophrenia patients much more along the positive schizotypal dimensions (such as unusual experiences) compared to the negative schizotypal dimensions (such as lack of affect and volition).
This has important implications for creativity. Batey and Furnham (2008) found that the unusual experiences and impulsive nonconformity dimensions of schizotypy, but not the cognitive disorganization dimension, were significantly related to self-ratings of creativity, a creative personality (measured by a checklist of adjectives such as “confident,” “individualistic,” “insightful,” “wide interests,” “original,” “reflective,” “resourceful,” “unconventional,” and “sexy”), and everyday creative achievement among thirty-four activities (“written a short story,” “produced your own website,” “composed a piece of music,” and so forth).
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I’d come across this paper before and certainly in my case it holds true. I’ve practically stopped writing since I went from schizotypal to full-blown sz.
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Nietszche once said, “One must have chaos in one’s soul to give birth to a dancing star.” There are different kinds of creativity - music, writing, painting. Popular acclaim is not the sole indication of creativity. A lot of famous artists lived their lives in obscurity and were only discovered after they died.
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No. I’m tired of people attributing my creativity to my illness. The things I have achieved creatively were done in spite of ny medical condition, not because of it.
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I was more creative before my major psychotic break.
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Yes me too 1222
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It might give you some creative ideas if you can get motivated.
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I have been a creative soul all my life writing both lesbian erotica, and horror short stories, poetry, writing and producing my own music, and my own autobiography, studying and playing digital piano, and occasionally doing illustrations. People have called me a “true artist”.
Risperdal Consta took away almost all of that. Except the piano which I’m no good at anymore since the Risperdal.
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I never had creativity, sz didn’t change a thing for me.
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I was always a science guy.
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Science is a great deal more creative than drawing unicorns or writing bad poetry.
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I heard schizophrenics are way less creative than other people including those with schizotypal PD. A lot of the “creativity” I’ve seen is subpar and sort of junk that a pre-schooler could do…
Sure, there are extremely talented schizophrenics but it’s a rare find.
I think they had that potential or ability prior to schizophrenia and were talented before it hit them.
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