In this article, concrete, abstract, convergent and divergent thinking are explained as they relate to our illness and creativity in us as well as normal people.
Sz has eliminated my capacity to produce spontaneous and elaborate thoughts for sure. I may seem okay on the forum but my concrete thinking means I lack a capacity for symbolic thought which I used to have. When I write or speak, the words only come out laboriously after great deliberation and concentration. Sometimes they don’t come out at all.
I feel like I produce maybe 70% as many original thoughts as I once did. My interests are also very narrow as, being unable to handle new ideas, I continually return to the same old limited set of ideas everyday. This is pervasive in my life but also very subtle.
TLDR message: Which modes of thinking do you most often use? Is there a differencebetween your thought modes before and after developing symptoms. Particularly, has sz made you more creative or has it stifled all divergent or spontaneous, random thought in you. Did it get better over time? What about the random thoughts which take the form of bizarre delusions, hallucinations and ideas which seem totally out if context. I don’t hallucinate but would like to hear you talk about how random and disconnected or alternatively loosely connected the themes of your psychosis are.
There is a clear difference between my thoughts before and after developing the illness, before my mind felt expansive, flexible, able to go in any direction, then double back and return to reality.
I was constantly, effortlessly pumping out original ideas, I could amuse myself with my thoughts.
Now it feels as if my mind is locked up, forced to return to the same set of ideas everyday. I also find myself having intense apathy or indifference toward novel ideas and experiences.
This is part of the anhedonia I guess. Before my interests ranged widely and I could attach significance and value to about anything.
I’ve been this way a bit over two years now, no sign of it going away.
