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Breaking News: Bipolar disorder linked to creativity.

        Poets, authors, and artists alike have reported that their extreme changes in mood, and subsequent depressive states can potentially lead to more productive creative episodes. “Increases in enthusiasm, energy, self-confidence, speed of mental association, fluency of thought and elevated mood, and a strong sense of well-being” were beneficial in the creativity of the artists. Other products of their episodes were a decreased need for sleep and feelings of anticipation and excitement, symptoms also associated with hypomania.Bottom of Form Risks that creative individuals are vulnerable towards are results of a desire for exploration, openness to new experiences and tolerance of uncertainty. While these traits are positive in the sense that they allow an individual to see and understand more, they also leave a person more susceptible to dark states of mind and depressive moods. Creative personalities are not able to function in the structured confines that others find comforting because they find these confines suffocating, instead they feel the need to constantly search for other unconventional ways to solve problems. The creative mind enters a state that allows periods of concentration similar to a hypomanic episode, characterized by “heightened consciousness, frenzied activity, and intense productivity”. Psychiatrist Felix Post suggested that distress as a result of a psychological disorder is a drive for creative expression, giving artists the ability to drive away bad moods and dark ideas and protect themselves from becoming overwhelmed by darkness. Both artists and people diagnosed with bipolar disorder have been found to share the tendency to gradually shift from overexcited moods to depressed moods, from openness to irritable. During periods of depression, both types of individuals indicate the ability to intrinsically focus and seek solutions, and to focus on what is necessary, while, in elated states, they are likely to put the vision into action with confidence and have the ability to realize their full potential. However, not all creative people are bipolar, and those who are bipolar and creative are usually noted to be at their most creative during periods of remission or when symptoms are least prevalent. Those suffering from bipolar disorder state that they do not have the ability to be creative during their depressive periods, but they are able to draw from the depression for inspiration towards what type of art they produce. They also are not known to be able be productive during their manic periods because their ideas are too unfocused and coherent thoughts are not prevalent during these periods. After a manic episode, individuals feel like there is nothing that they cannot do, they feel unstoppable and although medication can help, they see it as limiting them, and they do not see medication as desirable or necessary. People working with bipolar disorder in comparison to those who are not are more likely to think of innovative ways to solve problems in their workplace. Also, those with bipolar disorder who are associated with creative jobs such as poet Sylvia Plath, are described as being most creative during their healthiest points in the cycle. Virginia Woolf, also believed to have had suffered from bipolar disorder, through research it has been noted that Woolf was productive between attacks, however the illness that she suffered from is proven to be the “source of the material for her novels.” Overall it is more likely for someone suffering from bipolar disorder to be more creative than their peers than ot os for anyone who is creative to be bipolar. Both Sylvia Path and Virginia Woolf committed suicide, emphasizing the fact that the negative aspects of living with bipolar disorder far outweigh the benefits of relative creativity.

**** there is a possible third factor: temperament