Being an artist?

They say a lot of bipolar people are artists. I've been told many times that I am an eccentric artist. I married a manager who creates music on the side. I don't have the ability to make much money and people reproach me for it.

Eh. The whole "mad artist" thing gets played up a lot, but as far as I'm aware, more recent studies have demonstrated that that's not really reflective of reality. Sometimes our relatives have been shown to be more creative than usual, maybe because they inherit some but not all of the genes that make us sick, inheriting the good without the bad. But there are plenty of non-artistic people with bipolar disorder, arguably as many as in the non-mentally-ill population... Maybe it's just that the bipolar creatives can be a bit more extreme about things at times, but maybe it's also just confirmation bias: we notice the examples that confirm the suspicion but not the legion of examples that don't.

That being said, I do dabble in many forms of art, and I want to be a published writer eventually. Bipolar disorder severely impedes my progress, though; it's hard enough to keep a basic routine that takes care of necessities, much less a routine that includes things like writing. Depression makes me not want to do anything, (hypo)mania makes me too distracted to really accomplish anything, and the brain fog in between doesn't do me any favors, either. I think that if I didn't have this condition, if I could rely on consistent functionality, I'd be ten times the artist I'm able to be while bipolar, in terms of output at least. Even if I do eventually "make it," the word "prolific" will never be applied to me.

Studies show that about 3-6% of gifted people are bipolar compared to 1-2% of the rest of the population. So 94-97% of gifted people are NOT bipolar.

Also, the gifted population is the top 1-2% of the population, so obviously the majority of people with bipolar are not gifted.

The same study showed that people who studied music and languages were more likely to have bipolar.

From my experience on the hospital ward, many bipolar manics like to walk around with a guitar, singing, or take advantage of the art materials on the ward. However, most of these people do not have any talent at all and are not aware of their lack of talent. There might be just one person on the ward who displays that unique gift of artistry or music, and they are usually quite shy about it.

This tells me that there is a creative drive in bipolar disorder, regardless of talent. In the fortunate circumstance where you have both drive and talent, you might be regarded as a 'mad artist' or 'mad genius'.

Lexicon_Devil wrote:Eh. The whole "mad artist" thing gets played up a lot, but as far as I'm aware, more recent studies have demonstrated that that's not really reflective of reality. Sometimes our relatives have been shown to be more creative than usual, maybe because they inherit some but not all of the genes that make us sick, inheriting the good without the bad. But there are plenty of non-artistic people with bipolar disorder, arguably as many as in the non-mentally-ill population... Maybe it's just that the bipolar creatives can be a bit more extreme about things at times, but maybe it's also just confirmation bias: we notice the examples that confirm the suspicion but not the legion of examples that don't.

That being said, I do dabble in many forms of art, and I want to be a published writer eventually. Bipolar disorder severely impedes my progress, though; it's hard enough to keep a basic routine that takes care of necessities, much less a routine that includes things like writing. Depression makes me not want to do anything, (hypo)mania makes me too distracted to really accomplish anything, and the brain fog in between doesn't do me any favors, either. I think that if I didn't have this condition, if I could rely on consistent functionality, I'd be ten times the artist I'm able to be while bipolar, in terms of output at least. Even if I do eventually "make it," the word "prolific" will never be applied to me.

Wow! That last paragraph you wrote described me!! I'm a aspiring writer and it's SO...HARD to keep with the process! Especially with my lack of patience and getting bored easily with something, just makes me so frustrated because I know I can do it. It just seems like I can't because of this. But regardless of that, I think it IS possible, it will just be harder when you're accompanied with a disorder. & I'm actually a very artistic person and love to work with my hands. In the future I want to make my own online store (like etsy or something!) and sculpt little fairy figurines. It's something I've really been wanting to do lately but sadly, I don't have the materials needed as of yet. :/ OH and also, I really really love to sew and I never thought I would until I've taken a fashion design class back in 9th grade! Once I've done projects and made things in that class, I've really started to like it and so I got a sewing machine for my birthday! Though I'm sad because it's collecting dust and I don't have the materials needed to do such projects once again. All I have 'write' now is writing! That pun came out of nowhere, I swear. xD But yeah! I definitely agree with what you've said.

I've read that there is a definite correlation between bipolar and creativity, but they don't know which way -- are bipolars more creative, or are creatives more bipolar.

I make music, write and worked as a graphic designer for 14 years. In graphic design it's actually useful to have short attention span because you force yourself to stay on top of trends and completely improve yourself. In music, I don't know. I tend to have six months of no inspiration, then write three songs in three days, repeat. My first book, which is really short, took me almost a year because I would write in spurts. Then not write for three months. If I could achieve some sort of actual stability I might actually get things done, like I did when I worked as a graphic designer.

I've always painted and drawn, ever since I was a little kid. I went to fine arts school for a double major in drawing and sculpture. I made it halfway through before I got bored/couldn't work consistently on creative projects and transferred to another school for a different major. I really only make art when hypo, and it's only "good" because I've been formally trained in technique and craft. Right now, I color mandalas and that's the extent of my creativity while stable, but every now and then I get a wild hair and start a project. My husband is an artist, a working artist, and he makes money from it but I never have. I'm too inconsistent! And since the desire only strikes me sometimes, it would never work out. Before I was medicated I painted all the time. I have some drawings I did in that time framed and hanging on my walls. I'm proud of my work when I do it, and wish I could control the inspiration because I really do have talent.

One side of my family is moody and creative, the other side deals with depression and there is only one creative person other than myself. My "gifts" are visual fine arts, my brother is a piano genius. He has cyclothymia and doesn't make money from his gift though, either.

Oliveira wrote:I've read that there is a definite correlation between bipolar and creativity, but they don't know which way -- are bipolars more creative, or are creatives more bipolar.

I make music, write and worked as a graphic designer for 14 years. In graphic design it's actually useful to have short attention span because you force yourself to stay on top of trends and completely improve yourself. In music, I don't know. I tend to have six months of no inspiration, then write three songs in three days, repeat. My first book, which is really short, took me almost a year because I would write in spurts. Then not write for three months. If I could achieve some sort of actual stability I might actually get things done, like I did when I worked as a graphic designer.

Man, what you've mentioned about you writing a book is exactly like me if I don't PUSH myself to do it. Currently I'm working on the characters. I want to write out their personalities basically so I can get a good feel of them before I actually start writing. After that, I'll then work on the timeline of the book which will basically go over everything that happens throughout the book, the main events really. And if needed, I'll add in some more details here and there! But yeah it takes me FOREVER to get even one part of the writing process DONE and it makes me frustrated right now just thinking about it. xD I guess I just have to be more patient with myself and just do the best I can. What was your first book about? o:

BrainStorm wrote:I've always painted and drawn, ever since I was a little kid. I went to fine arts school for a double major in drawing and sculpture. I made it halfway through before I got bored/couldn't work consistently on creative projects and transferred to another school for a different major. I really only make art when hypo, and it's only "good" because I've been formally trained in technique and craft. Right now, I color mandalas and that's the extent of my creativity while stable, but every now and then I get a wild hair and start a project. My husband is an artist, a working artist, and he makes money from it but I never have. I'm too inconsistent! And since the desire only strikes me sometimes, it would never work out. Before I was medicated I painted all the time. I have some drawings I did in that time framed and hanging on my walls. I'm proud of my work when I do it, and wish I could control the inspiration because I really do have talent.

One side of my family is moody and creative, the other side deals with depression and there is only one creative person other than myself. My "gifts" are visual fine arts, my brother is a piano genius. He has cyclothymia and doesn't make money from his gift though, either.

That's so cool that you got a major in those things! & That's SO cool that you have an artist as a husband! Hope his career is doing well! That would be AWESOME if my future partner were artistic in any way shape or form. Most of all though, I'm really glad that you do know that you're good at said thing and know you have talent in it. I used to be REALLY low in confidence with my writing (most of it years ago was just a random mess of stuff that I never finished xD ) because I didn't think anyone would like it.

But just recently, I've been reassured of myself. In my homeschool I attend to, we do discussion threads in some classes.. And in my English III class, one of the discussions I did (We had to write about this certain thing, include quotes from the passages to cite our evidence, that sort of thing.) I wrote when I was in a particularly irritable and stressful mood and just didn't want anything to do with school work anymore at the moment. I didn't think that it was 'amazing' but I guess satisfactory enough to get a good grade. But in the Gradebook feedback, she said it was one of the best responses she's ever read! I just about died . It's so funny because I wrote that in such a low and cranky mood! Other than that though, so far in the school year, I've gotten great grades on my assignments in both english and Creative Writing.The feedback from the teachers was basically the voice shouting, "HEY! You're good enough! Stop DOUBTING yourself!! YOU GOT DIS." And one of the assignments I had to do in Creative Writing was write a Memoir of one memory of your choosing. The finishing result after the rough draft, and then the editing & tweaking, I've come to really really love it!

So now, my eyes are opened more and I realize I can do it. Nowadays when I show others my work, I only just feel a little weird because I'm not used to others reading it yet, hah.. But I'm all open to constructive criticism and feedback! Love that stuff ♥ It really helps you improve. With writing, you just have to write and write and write and write and write....There's really no ending to that skill or career (if one has a career in it.) In every work, you learn things every day. You do need to research about certain things if needed so that way you can weave that in and, along with the characters, it will be more believable and real to the reader. And not only that, every day you're improving and each time you write you improve. And so I've really come to love writing because I feel like that's THE way that I can reach out to ANYONE and get my voice heard. (Especially with my anxiety >.>) Words are the most powerful thing and I want to use them to hopefully make some amount of change in this world/some people's lives. So then whenever I may die, I will do so knowing that I've done something with my life and my soul joyously dance.

I am feeling quite discouraged right now. My university singing studies culminated in many performances including one with orchestra. I don't know many people who could have pulled that off, yet I feel severely unliked by my family, in-laws and well everyone else...I did what I love and now I am married. I am so darn tired. Getting a job isn't easy in my case.

Opera_diva4 wrote:I am feeling quite discouraged right now. My university singing studies culminated in many performances including one with orchestra. I don't know many people who could have pulled that off, yet I feel severely unliked by my family, in-laws and well everyone else...I did what I love and now I am married. I am so darn tired. Getting a job isn't easy in my case.

What do you mean that you feel severely unliked by your family, in-laws & everyone else if you don't mind me asking? o: We're all here for you on this forum. ^.^ That's good that you did what you love and congrats on getting married! You're not alone with the job situation. I'm currently 17, in 11th grade and I think I'm pushing myself too hard when it comes to jobs. I've applied to various places but to no avail, not even an interview! But then I came to realize that maybe I've put the stakes up too high considering I'm just starting out in the job world so as of right now, I'm going to apply to a movie theater near by where I live and possibly a fast food restaurant like Mcdonalds. Meanwhile, I'll try finding some writing related opportunities, I guess free-lance is what you call it?? But yeah, I want to write for people like articles or something of that nature so I can start getting myself noticed a little somehow!

If you're tired from the busyness in your life (if that's what you mean), take some time for yourself and to breathe. If there's one thing I know is to never over-work yourself. I've done that to myself many-a-time and it's never ended well. But in the end, I'm still ok! We'll survive, we just gotta keep fighting.