The link between mental illness and creativity. Myth?

I’m really funny, does that count as creativity?

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I’m too imaginative and not practical at all.

I play drums and jazz and feel more creative when I am having the least symptoms and the most concentration.

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my parents said that i had been highly imaginative/creative since i was a child. they also said i was always bouncing of the walls and that if they had decided to take me to the doc id have been put on ritalin lol. im still creative. ive met people who are not creative, it is a night and day difference with their thought processes. i personally think everyone is creative they just have it all suppressed through traditional schooling and rigid scheduling, social pressures etc

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I am neither imaginative or practical.

i think the mental illness holds me back a lot.

i mean just imagine how much more creative i could be without this

things would be very different without it

Maybe I should have put a poll at the beginning of the thread to make it interesting. But to summarize the responses, by the looks of things:

  • People with mental illness are not necessarily ‘creative types’
  • Most people here feel that their mental illness does not make them more creative.
  • The people here who do consider themselves creative where probably creative before the illness.

Personally, I know that my psychosis was triggered by sleep deprivation and a correlation of unusual events which led me to becoming unwell. I do not feel my creativity was the cause. However, once I was psychotic I began developing very intricate conspiracy theories and delusions to try to explain my experiences. This is where my creativity had a negative impact. But arguably, it was also my creativity which helped find ways to get over that, and find the path out of the mess. Remaining creative on a therapeutic level has also been a big part of my recovery.

I guess my next question is, do you think creative people are more susceptible to mental illness?

Please discuss, thanks!

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I think in answering any question on creativity and mental illness we need to pin down what we mean by “creativity”, although I am not sure there is an easy answer to that question .
There are probably those who subjectively see themselves as “creative” but objectively are not and vice versa.

I think lack of drive and motivation would put a block on creativity even if at some point you had been creatively inclined.

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this picture is lmfao


me and my ex created a child

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I always say that when I was young before all this I was a very good copyist, I could copy well like some others in my family. I wanted things to resemble the things they were meant to be and wasn’t happy if it wasn’t perfect. However since becoming ill I’m able to create pieces from my head, I didny care about perfection, and my mind let loose I stopped doing art for three years, then returned to it I notice when I’m in not acute, but not doing well, I seem to be able to create more raw, individual art work!

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I don’t know if I’m more creative than the next person, but I feel a need to do something constantly. Just to give you some idea of the kind of things I do/ have done for recreation: guitar, piano, metalworking, blacksmithing, airgun smithing, knifemaking, woodcarving, BMX racing, rallycross racing thru the local scca, drag racing, and camping. Things I have done for a living: HVAC tech, Factory maintenance mechanic, Vending machine repair, carpenter, auto mechanic, forklift mechanic, electrician, apartment complex maintenance, welder, and gameskeeper.

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Dude that’s pretty impressive to do all that with sz. Most of us just sit inside all day.

It’s the only way I can shut the ■■■■■■■ voices up. If I sit for too long, they start making headway. I don’t EVER want to end up in the psych hospital again.

It can be kind of motivating. For me is basically keeping myself preoccupied to escape my thoughts.

I’m getting over that ■■■■ though. Learning to think a new at every moment.

Me and my mom both wrote poetry before and after our diagnosis. After my diagnosis I began to paint my dreams and hallucinations. So I would say it has made me more creative

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I have come to decide that everyone starts out in the same position when it comes to be creative, but some will nurture it, develop it, devote themselves to it, and these are the ones who will succeed.

As far as mental illness goes, it is this same type of person who also has had at least one hard fall. By that I mean, has had a mental breakdown, a severe episode, a long situation of insanity, and this is what separates a great creative mind from an average creative mind. Examples are Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, and Robert Lowell.

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I think mental illness helps a person think outside the box, and maybe find solutions where no one has looked.

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