Creativity

For me, creativity, in the form of creative writing, has been essential for my journey through adulthood. Whenever I was ill, I’d write in an attempt to express delusional thoughts safely, find closure for difficult situations and to gain a deeper understanding of myself and the world. In my book, The End Justifies the Pain, the chapter on creativity focuses on the relationship between bipolar mental illness and creativity. Although the information in this chapter may prove useful to many, it does focus on how creativity can help with the serious challenges that mental illness can present to specific individuals.

It is because of my creative instincts that I have grown mentally and spiritually. Without it, I feel certain I’d have been doomed to perpetual relapse that would have made me a burden to myself and others. The following is a summary of the chapter called “Creativity - Living outside the Box.” It stresses the importance that creativity plays in long term recovery.

Summary: Creativity – 10 Reasons Why Creativity is Such an Important Talent to Develop

Unfortunately, some mental health professionals see creativity as a kind of largely irrelevant footnote to treatment. However, for some of us with a serious mental illness, creative projects can be a powerful way to redirect our thoughts, feelings, and energy which is both therapeutic and fulfilling. Together with medication, physical exercise, and daily meditation, creativity is indispensable for many of us who are challenged with a bipolar diagnosis.

1. Creativity helps redirect our delusional impulses. So, we express ourselves in socially acceptable ways. Writing stories and poems, for example, may help channel this energy before it overwhelms. Since ignoring or burying this creative propensity doesn’t insure it won’t return, delusional thoughts may contribute to a possible relapse if left unchecked. The idea is to manage their impact.

2. Individuals with a mental illness don’t think outside the box, we live outside the box. We have adapted to our situation in order to survive. It’s been a very steep learning curve that has given us unique viewpoints and original insights. We see things that are not alike and combine them. When we’re ill, we may think we’re a religious figure; but when we’re well, we might see a statute trapped in granite. When we’re ill, we may speak unintelligibly; but when we’re well, we can be very perceptive. For most of us, reality is often experimental, so often we generate original ideas.

3. Because of our bipolar disorder, we’re usually required to undergo extensive therapy. We must learn about our thought patterns, repressed feelings, and conditioning experiences. We also need to understand how we interact with the world generally. The definition of good artists are those who understand themselves and the world that they inhabit. This can be an unanticipated bonus of the counseling process.

4. In our relentless search for relief, we discover books, places, and individuals we never would have sought out which can enhance our creative pursuits. For example, by learning about Eastern philosophy, I was able to understand the concept of time as a circle rather than a straight line. This helped me to think and write from a different perspective.

5. The creativity that often accompanies bipolar disorder creates openness to experience that allows for unforeseen possibilities in ourselves and in the world around us. Before my illness, I was very close-minded and ridiculed ideas and practices I didn’t understand. For example, I once believed that medication and meditation were both worthless until I desperately needed them to live a productive life.

6. A number of us with bipolar disorder have a high degree of intelligence. However, we can’t handle a lot of stress, partly because of the anxiety that is often part of the diagnosis. Creativity, like writing and painting, for example, are practiced with no one else around. Working alone, we can fully engage our intelligence without any outside pressure. In fact, the only stress we usually experience is the pressure we put on ourselves. In addition, it is very difficult to find any job that has high intelligence and low stress. Creativity gives us a chance to build our self-confidence, maintain a genuine sense of purpose, and overcome boredom.

7. Creativity provides a sense of closure for me and helps resolve festering emotions and unresolved conflicts. I think about a problem, such as a terrible memory like Cook County jail; then I write about it, and I often experience a cathartic feeling of moving past the experience. Sometimes when I’m depressed, I can capture the actual feeling, describe it, and then let it go. Creativity also keeps my mind positively occupied, so it doesn’t have the chance to focus on doubt, anxiety, and restlessness.

8. Those of us with a major mental illness have been analyzed, counseled, and behavior modified to the point that sometimes we feel like we don’t have any genuine thoughts and feelings of our own. Creativity helps us move beyond psychological theories and labels, so we can discover who we really are. The study of psychology and the mind aren’t the final word on consciousness.

9. Creativity expands awareness, because in the creative process we can grow spiritually by developing self-discipline. For example, after creating a poem or story, we may become a different, more mature person. In other words, thoughts and actions that once led to mental illness like “wrong turns” and “crash landings” no longer influence us. We have evolved to a new expanded level of understanding.

10. Creativity is a different kind of concentration that is somewhat disconnected from normal states of mind. A predictable routine as well as physical work can help balance the creative aspects of thought with the more practical ways of thinking.

I hope you found this summary intriguing because of its interpretation of the mind and its relationship to creativity. You can download my eBook for $1.99 with Amazon.com. Thank you for your support for my newsletters. Have a great day, and I’ll see you next time!

(Please remember these are my own ideas, and I’m not attempting to persuade anyone to change theirs.)

Quotes:

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” — Pablo Picasso

"I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn." — Anne Frank

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” — Maya Angelou

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