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Creativity and mental illness
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Do you really think there is a link between the two?
I know some people, including myself, that are both.. but then i know others that are healthy and fine but also very creative.
tell me your thoughts...
:chin:
I know some people, including myself, that are both.. but then i know others that are healthy and fine but also very creative.
tell me your thoughts...
:chin:
0
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Just bought a book on depression my Spike Milligan - haven't read it yet, but he was a famously talented depressive
Actually for some reason, when I think that it might help me, I feel slightly better, help me to be creative i mean, it's just when it gets too much that i can't stand it. meh, oh well. I'll learn from the masters.
Of course given enough of a sample you're going find people who suffer from varying mental illnesses that are fantastically creative.
But you could apply the same thought to ugly people, is there a link? well there is a number of ugly people who have made an impact due to their creativity, could it be that because they are ugly, they have strived to become something using other methods, ie creativity?
The same would be true of every label you wish to look at given enough of a sample to select from.
Also, creativity is heavily influenced by many other factors - immediate environment, intelligence, cognitive style, childhood experiences, to name a few. Mental illness may be a deciding factor or an unrelated bystander. Its very difficult to tell
I guess it doesn't really matter then, everybody is different.
I don't see why psychologists have to put people in all these different minority groups. I guess sometimes it makes sense, like when diagnosing an illness, but other times I think that we are all different so what good does it do? If we go to see a specialist for a problem then we should be treated as an individual, not put into a group, so therefore that must be what we are thinking and feeling because of past studies...
I don't know if that makes sense, I'm just ranting...
I think thats a very different arguement to your initial post, we put people in to "groups" rightly or wrongly because it usually makes things easier.
I agree everybody is different and should be treated as an individual, but regardless of what you think of the treatment people get now, i think overall the level of service people got would go down, massively should we start from a blank page with everybody that walks through that doors, since most illnesses etc... share some extent of similarity with their symptoms, and again with their treatment, it'll always be quicker to draw back upon previous experience and treat them with what worked before, then tweak the treatment accordingly.
But yeah, very different to your first point, still no probs :thumb:
:yeees:
You are generally put into a group because of what you are thinking and feeling already, not the other way round. It is unlikely that you will be put into a 'group' and it will be assumed that you are exactly the same as everyone else with the same diagnosis, there is some leeway (although admittedly some people have problems with psychological diagnosis because it is too strict)
I'm not sure what this has to do with mental illness and creativity though?
I agree. There's also the fine line between madness and intelligence.
They (whoever they are!)say Schizophrenia is often linked to your own inner voice questioning yourself. Intelligant people look at all possibilities, where as those less fortunate take things as a given.
I do believe and there is quite a lot of research into strong link between dyslexia and creativity. I'm not suggesting dyslexia is a mental illness, but merely pointing out a connection.
:thumb:
I'm not saying you're right or wrong, but i just find it really hard to take these sorts of findings as anything close to being fact.
I think the problem is that i'm sure i could go out today and if i asked enough people i could find a reasonable link pointing towards the conclusion i wanted to find.
I can see the reasoning as to why dyslexic people may be viewed as being more creative, but you could just argue that they have merely had to find an alternative way to deal with the problems they are finding, and it's less creativity and more a necessity of finding a way to deal with their problem that doesn't fit in line with the conventional, if that makes sense!?
I don't think relationships between mental illness and creativity are scientific fact but more a noticeable correlation. I get what your saying, that if you went out and asked enough people, your results could indicate whatever you wanted them to indicate.
I'm be no means an expert on the subject but there does seem to be a strong correlation between dyslexia and creativity; this could be dyslexics finding other ways of solving their problems or they are simply born this way.
:thumb:
Just had a quick look and statistics show that an estimated 15-25% of art students have a diagnosis of dyslexia or dyspraxia
HOWEVER, there is little theoretical basis or empirical evidence to how or why this is, and most studies view subsequent creative efforts as a compensatory trait (as Mr Orange suggests). Additionally, creativity in itself is not measured by most studies, and those which do attempt to account for this a standardised creativity test is not used. It all seems a bit wishy washy to me
:thumb:
A totally useless post really, cause I can't remember anything about the programme!
haha! right o..
shame,coz i wouldn't have minded knowing what it was...