[Secretum]

I don't care what "experts" think; they are blinded by their prejudices. I am convinced that BPD is a form of bipolar disorder, and not a mild one like some postulate. I think people with BPD have a biochemical illness that they cannot control. It's not your fault!

To test this theory, I want to see how common creativity is among people with BPD. Most people (though not all, of course) with mood disorders (bipolar and major depression) are incredibly creative people. If BPD and bp share a common neurobiological diathesis, then it follows that BPD should predispose people to the same strengths that bipolar does.

So, here is my question. Are you creative? Do you draw/sew/knit/paint/write? Do you have a lot of ideas? Do you see novel solutions to problems?

I know you may have low self esteem and don't recognize all the potential that you have. I felt for a long time that I had nothing to offer the world because the only creative thing I do is write, and I can't finish anything (I've got three novels under construction, and they're not getting done any time soon). However, I know that at my core I have a lot of creative energy. I have a lot of ideas. I can't do anything with them, but they are there nonetheless.

So, are you a creative spirit? Regardless of whether or not you produce anything?

[FlowerChild67]

I am creative with Photography, it can be very relaxing.

[HD7970GHZ]

Interesting topic.

I've been misdiagnosed with psychosis NOS, Schizopreniform, Bipolar, etc....

I have BPD. Creativity - for me - is the single most powerful form of strength that I have. And I don't have many strengths.

Without - I would be dead. That is fact.

My opinion - is that anyone who feels life is intolerable - will find a means to make it more tolerable. Being that we struggle to such an extent - we adopt creativity as a practical means of dealing with our intense struggles. And not just because we WANT to... But because we NEED to. We need to escape. So we do. We escape wherever we have control - because we live in a world where we feel we have no control...

I got a plethora of stories and characters that I plan to incoorporate into screenplays - and photos that I will show one day - but creativity to me is primarily therapeutic because it allows me the escape to a world that I wish were real.

I think creativity is primarily correlated to emotions - and secondarily to intellect. Perhaps because we experience emotions to such an extent - we have heightened creative sensibilities.

I look forward to seeing where this thread progresses!!@

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

[s4ndm4n2006]

Originally Posted by Secretum

I don't care what "experts" think; they are blinded by their prejudices. I am convinced that BPD is a form of bipolar disorder, and not a mild one like some postulate. I think people with BPD have a biochemical illness that they cannot control. It's not your fault!

To test this theory, I want to see how common creativity is among people with BPD. Most people (though not all, of course) with mood disorders (bipolar and major depression) are incredibly creative people. If BPD and bp share a common neurobiological diathesis, then it follows that BPD should predispose people to the same strengths that bipolar does.

So, here is my question. Are you creative? Do you draw/sew/knit/paint/write? Do you have a lot of ideas? Do you see novel solutions to problems?

I know you may have low self esteem and don't recognize all the potential that you have. I felt for a long time that I had nothing to offer the world because the only creative thing I do is write, and I can't finish anything (I've got three novels under construction, and they're not getting done any time soon). However, I know that at my core I have a lot of creative energy. I have a lot of ideas. I can't do anything with them, but they are there nonetheless.

So, are you a creative spirit? Regardless of whether or not you produce anything?

To be honest I dont' see a correlation between mood or personality disorders with creativity at all. Creativity is simply the ability to bring imagination to life and implementing them in some way. In no way can one say that because someone is bpd, bipolar, schizophrenic, apd or anyt other number of MIs or PDs that they will definitively be creative nor would it be something that is useful in looking at. If it were true that in the absence of any disorders one could NOT be creative it might have some kind of validity but in this case creative people exist in all walks of life and I do not see creativity being a part of bpd's criteria nor does it have any bearing on it.

Just my 2c

[Secretum]

Of course not all mentally ill people are creative, and not everyone who is creative has a mental illness. But creativity is found at a higher rate than normal in people with certain mental illnesses, especially bipolar, depression, and ADHD. This is a scientifically proven fact. If your brain works differently, you are more likely to see the world in a different and creative way.

Kay Jamison, a famous bipolar psychologist, has written a book called Touched By Fire. It is on creativity in bipolar patients.

[s4ndm4n2006]

Originally Posted by Secretum

Of course not all mentally ill people are creative, and not everyone who is creative has a mental illness. But creativity is found at a higher rate than normal in people with certain mental illnesses, especially bipolar, depression, and ADHD. This is a scientifically proven fact. If your brain works differently, you are more likely to see the world in a different and creative way.

Kay Jamison, a famous bipolar psychologist, has written a book called Touched By Fire. It is on creativity in bipolar patients.

without being able to say definitively that people with mi are creative, the answer is meaningless. Without any proof that there is a solid connection between the two things it's just a chasing after the wind.

With that in mind I will say I am creative but not because I'm bpd, but because I've been creative since I was very young (obviously prior to bpd issues). I believe on some level being as emotionally dysregulated as I am it has been something to both impair and enhance my creativity so it does affect it but it's not the reason for it.