[Greenfish77]

I've noticed that since going on meds my creativity has been drastically hampered. I'm currently on Risperdal, Lamictal, and Seroquel. Am I crazy or is this a real side effect? If it is real then why haven't my psychiatrists or side effect lists told me about this? I'm hoping that if I switch to Lithium my creativity will come back. Any thoughts or experiences? Thanks.

[Tryingtobehappy5]

For some reason I became extremely creative in my last depressive episode before starting antidepressants for the first time. My creativity continued during the first two meds they put me on(both antidepressants for depression only)

My experience with APs was that seroquel completely took away my creativity and basically everything else about me too. Risperidone wasnt so bad but I have gone off it a couple days ago and I feel my creativity has really increased since then. Im not sure, I might be hypomanic but hopefully not, I like being creative and connected to all of the parts of myself and the universe. If things go south I will go back on the risperidone most likely( I was only on it 3 weeks and went off without asking or telling pdoc, that is bad, I know) I started depakote at the same time as risperidone but dont see that it has had any effect. Maybe this is stuff I'm dreaming up, I dont know.

I wont put any theories about why they dont tell us about this because then I will slip back into bad thinking again lol

[Northchild]

My creativity has decreased as I've taken medications as well, though I feel that the trade-off has been well worth while.

[~Christina]

Recently I have been trouble reading much at all, even on here if the thread is too long I just cant do it. Wall O Text is just impossible.

This hellish mania has me unable to focus on once enjoyable things.

[NatsukiKuga]

Yes, I so feel you. There are the visionary, Mad flights of Blake and Dryden and Rimbaud, and who the hell knows what they were jacked up on.

Then there was Milton, who labored his whole life and weight against a consistent vision, and ditto Dante.

If you ask me? 99.9 percent of the stuff I write while manic is sad crap. Doggerel I wouldn't feed to a dog.

It's only when I get stable that I can work with those insights and turn them into something worthwhile.

[scatterbrained04]

I'm honestly not sure if it's the meds that have zapped my creativity or the trauma of the episodes themselves. Every major episode has changed me as a person. Or maybe it's a combination of both.

[neverending]

Still stable. I can think, I can plan, and I feel I m doing a better job at getting things accomplished. I have been excited and happy with what I have finished so far. I m doing a huge project, but I can't look at the whole, just focussing on each piece as I finish it. Brefore, I was too much in subjection to my moods. Yes, I could still do beautiful things, but it was very anxiety producing at the same time. Now I don't have that anxiety.

Actually I find that my physical health problems are limiting the time I can put into anything. I m on low dose seroquel in addition to my other psych meds, but maybe because it is low dose that I don't feel it adversely affects my thinking or creativity.

But even when I took other higher dose meds, the meds themselves never seemed to affect creativity. My rapid and/or confused, agitated thinking or inability to concentrate before getting this period of stability really hampered me. It just made everything harder.

I haven’t played the piano in a very long time. I think it coincided with when my antipsychotic was tripled because I couldn’t sleep (was hypomanic).

I’ve had the dose reduced, but I’ve started lithium. I don’t feel like touching the pianos.

Yeah, I bought a second piano while manic a couple of years ago. I’ve got a lot of stuff I don’t need (sigh)

[HALLIEBETH87]

I havenot been able
To focus much until
Now with the mania gone.

Creativity wise I am super creative when manic but my meds decrease that!

Originally Posted by ~Christina

Recently I have been trouble reading much at all, even on here if the thread is too long I just cant do it. Wall O Text is just impossible.

This hellish mania has me unable to focus on once enjoyable things.

Same here -- I can't read text walls. I need things broken up into paragraphs.

I just get lost because there are too many lines to keep track of. I end up reading the same line like 5 times

But
This
Drives
Me
Nuts
Too
.

[Shazerac]

I am a writer and artist. Until I got diagnosed and treated for bipolar I didn't realize how much I relied on hypomania to "feel" creative. That was the only time I did anything. For example I'd sit on the sofa and write 30 pages of a story line going on in my head (handwritten) when I reread what I thought was masterpiece it was gibberish.

I have learned to approach my creativity in a whole new way. I don't wait to feel inspired. I just go in my studio, set out my brushes, squeeze out my paints and start painting. The creativity comes and 2 hours later I'm amazed at what happened on my canvas.

Same with writing. I sit down with my coffee, open my laptop and go to it.

I don't "feel" the same way I did about creativity that used to, but the quality of my work is much improved with a clear head.

[Unrigged64072835]

I find the meds do affect my creativity. I was stable for a while and couldn't think of anything. I'm now a little depressed and things are flowing again.

[TaubTaube]

Depakote hasn't affected my creativity, thankfully. Well at least the visual stuff. My writing muse has been stagnant for a while before I was put on that med.