I have a feeling that schizophrenia increases creativity. In any case, I noticed that a lot of people with the illness do creative things. Is there a link?
In my personal experience, I was not into art at all as a kid, only math, science and “concrete” stuff.
In the ~2 years leading up to my first episode I became more and more interested in art and philosophy, like literature or paintings, music, poetry, etc.
In the hospital I was obsessed with that stuff. When my family visited, I told them to bring me pictures of paintings and told them that for some reason I really wanted to read War and Peace by Tolstoy (when they brought me the book, I thought it was a computer generated fake story so I didn’t read much, though the book was way too big anyway).
Sz actually decreased my creativity but increased my appetite for art in general. I used to be good with puns and coming up with short funny stories but I can live without that skill…
You might be right, I used to be more witty too but I blamed my slowing down on the medication though there’s no way for me to tell what effects are from the meds and what’s the schizophrenia.
I’ve heard that bipolar people can be very creative in the manic phase of their illness. I think Handel wrote “The Messiah” during a manic episode. I believe that both Poe and Coleridge had their creativity enhanced by opium, but they payed an enormous price for it. They write about getting long, wet kisses from crocodiles, and living a hundred years in a single night during opium withdrawal. It stands to reason with me that schizophrenia could make a person’s prose more distinct and picturesque. I don’t recommend that anyone get off their med’s in an attempt to punch up their prose.
I think I’m pretty creative I just lack the motivation to get started. Every once in awhile I start something and I can feel the creativity is still there hiding just below the surface. When I’m hypomanic I can think of a thousand ideas but lack the focus to complete them.
I was more creative before my med kicked in, I guess; unless philosophy counts as creativity. James Joyce, the Irishman who wrote Ulysses, had a drinking problem, a schizoid tendency, and was amazingly creative. His daughter, Lucia, had full-blown schizophrenia and had to be hospitalized. Ezra Pound, a modern American poet, went a little nuts with Fascism and was imprisoned for treason in Pisa. Later he stayed at the hospital in Washington. His literary friends signed a petition and finally got him released. But in my opinion, his poetry was pretty gosh-darn awesome
You say you liked math and science, but that is not really a bar for creativity. Creativity requires thinking so people who were into education before the illness would be the most influenced to be creative.
Creativity is not a lack of brain power. It is hard work, thinking, judging, and takes concentration.
It has been said that those with certain personality characterisics (INTJ, if I remember right) are likely to have sz personality traits.
It is also often noted that people of those description like and can understand systems amd systems of systems. (Engineers- people who create things).
That many of us are dreamers with good math scores, love of science, and a belief that some pretty out right weird stuff is going on is no mystery to any that know us.
At least you are aware that some of your delusions were only that.
