The drugs have hurt my ability, I am afraid to take medicine because I am an artist, I can not without a work, please tell me how it is with you?
2 Likes
Good meds get rid of congnitve problems. Thereās no easy way to find out but to take them. Positive symptoms are usually taken care of for most but youāll have the side effects of the medication and youāll have the negative symptoms that arenāt addressed by the the medications.
Iād suspect if your not delusional then your postive symptoms are getting to be under control. Itās probably those negative symptoms and depression that are in question. Never pass aside depression. Itās common for most folk with schizoprhenia and it can be a deal breaker.
The disorder untreated is brain damage. Medications can improve neural linksā¦so keep on them. Meanwhile work on the negatives and depression. Simple exercise 30 minutes a day can make a big difference!
6 Likes
I feel like my emotions have dulled downā¦ ā¦
But it might be more to do with my illnessā¦
4 Likes
I used to be an artist and antipsychotics hurt your ability, i think itās trueā¦
2 Likes
And itās true, any work I managed to draw under drugs was many levels below what I could, beyond the negative signs, something in the brain in processing the work, and the sigt was lost
Dopamine and Serotonin are the main ingredients for imaginative creativity. Aps reduce their production in the brain so connections and thoughts which we assimilate and use to spark creativity are blocked. Hence, a dulling of our ability to create new meanings and ideas. So yeah, aps have a lot to answer for when it comes to loss of creative flare.
2 Likes
Yes, I read an article about Parkinsonās treatment, they are given drugs that increase dopamine, and indeed they started writing and painting, unfortunately all these drugs block the dopamine receptors, I checked the subject and itās very scary
Yeah. I recently increased my AP and now Iāve lost my creativity and libido. If I ever happen to get hypomanic again, maybe itāll come back.
Yes I use to be really creative and make allot of money.
1 Like
I get more creative when in the early stages of psychosis. Now I am medicated it is more slow burn creativity but I think it is more grounded and the ideas not so mercurial
2 Likes
I donāt think it is true at all. I am creating every day. With medication, I have clear thinking so I can plan.
1 Like
Iām a writer, and all the typical apās ruined my ability to write, especially Haldol. However, Geodon and Seroquel give me a pretty good head for writing. Iām fairly pleased with a few of the things I have written since Iāve been on Geodon and Seroquel. (Some people find Seroquel too sedating, though.) The atypical apās are not as destructive to a personās creativity. You can probably find atypical medās that will let you be creative.
2 Likes
I used to write short stories, poetry, make music, and draw/paint before I became stable on meds. I found that art was very beneficial to me during times of crisis, so Iād do it more often in my psychosis. Now that Iām more stable, I donāt need to express myself as much as I did while psychotic, as when I was psychotic art was one of the rare means in which I communicated my thoughts to the outside world.
I think mostly, though, it was the meds that stripped me of the manic highs and the impossible lows, whatever it was that flew me like icarus to heights Iād never have reached creatively, otherwise. It just kind of made me a bit less creative. When I sit down and put my mind to it, I still paint a nice picture, although nowhere near the amount I used to! Still, Iād rather occupy my time with a new hobby instead of going off my meds to chase that creativity dragonā¦
I did have a side job as trying to build my own little novelty art vending business selling magnets and stuff with my art printed on it, but the sz took the motivation out of that sailboat, sadly. I think itās hard to tell whatās the meds and whatās the sz cognitive effects, but whatever it is, Iād like my fountain of creativity back now!
1 Like
I used to be more creative, yes, in the sense that Iād create more stuff.
BUT BUT BUT
The stuff I do produce now that Iām medicated has a much higher quality than before, because Iām more able to focus and more in touch with reality.
If youāre good at what youāre doing, youāll keep being good at it.
You might not be as manic about it as without medicines, but what would you rather: risk braindamage due to untreated schizophrenia, or produce a little less things?
2 Likes
Is it possible there is a connection between mental ilness and creativity? Like, we were all mildly artistic and wonderfully weird long before we developed full blown psychosis, then afterwards the medications we were put on impaired our past creativity? Just a thought. I know hallucinations and delusions could be seen as enhancements of normal thinking, or maybe they are perversions of normal thinkingā¦
2 Likes
This book is all about the co-occurrence of bipolar disorder within the poetry/writing community of awesome writers. I read it, although it comes off a little more like elaborate prose than a research book. I did like all the poetry quotes, too
2 Likes
Mine is more like exhaustion as heard it 13 years non-stop, medicated or not. Found using the meds to sleep really did improve my functioning and metabolism is better for females due to bad insomnia. Serqouel 50-400mg at bedtime cut into pieces will have you sleeping like babyā¦donāt eat a lot before bed.
The artistic mood has to be fed I noticedā¦The art museum, gallery crawl night, photography and outdoors just feed it but is fragile. Too much social harassment or troubled time at home will stifle until you avoid troubled spots or do not talk to nags/verbal harassers at home.
Was easier for me to return to analytical work as I just function better due to miserable childhood with belligerent and an OCD. These turn out analytical usually. I only learned āthink outside boxā practicality due to old-school parents who thought artistic pursuits were frivolous. I get to do the art thing on the sideā¦Getting tortured too bad to really explore the art subjects in enough depth and bad discrimination at the colleges so unable to finish out the studiesā¦
1 Like
It sounds very sad, dont you prefer the intensity of illness and creativity over drug suppression? I personally I hate medications after what I experienced in ātreatmentā. I fight every day, but I also feel a lot, paint, so there are a few scars, I see that many say the same thing, that drugs are depressing. And as I was afraid, it was true
Are you taking a high dose? Did you paint when you were given a higher dose?
yeah I took like 15-20 mg of Abilify and was still creative. Yes I paint watercolor but artistic in a way that I have always an objective. I work more on the skills used (I am a graphic designer) than creating masterpieces. But I still have a good ambition and drive.
1 Like