I'm bi-polar, and at the moment I'm taking anti-depressants. Long before I was taking these, I was writing seven poems a day and finishing four novels before the month was out. NOW I'm experiencing a terrible dry streak. I'm only able to write two poems for about a month at a time and I haven't written a poem in a while. I read that bi-polar people can be very creative, but when they take the anti-depressants its had effects in stifling their creativity. This sucks. Because I'm feeling it. As a writer, It's like torture not having any ideas. I'm not sure what I can do. Anyone can offer some words of widsom or advice? I'd really appreciate it. BTW, here's my writing in case anyone is remotely interested. http://www.fictionpress.com/~maul83 Thanks.
I have known a few bi-polar women, but that's bout it. It seems like it comes down to chosing between meds and creativity?
Oh... yeah. I know. It sucks. One of these days I'm going to stop the meds for a month just to get some ideas.
I know exactly how you feel, are you taking an anti-psychotic as well? Or anything like lithium to deal with the manic side? I think that you don't have to choose b/t being medicated or creative, you just have to get used to the fact that being bipolar very much takes you to the extremes of yourself, and it can be hard to not have that but you will eventually cope and you will get your creativity back, I think. I don't know how it is for everyone but I am speaking from experience. If you have any other questions feel free to pm me, I'll try to help. I'm better if I know specifics.
Were you getting what you wrote before read or even published? Maybe you could try and push for quality over quantitiy, take the time to revise and submit the work you do get finished so that it reaches a wider audience? Just a suggestion... I find that when i write less, it is often better work that required less editing and 'fixing'.
Yeah...well...this is probably not the best advice...but I'm Bipolar and I chose creativity over meds. And it wasn't just the creativity thing...I didn't feel like "me" on any meds I tried. I figured it was better to be off meds and try to deal with it on my own, that way I'd gain some real coping skills that I could always use instead of relying on medicine. Those medicines are like band-aids...they can dull the symptoms of the illness, but they do not cure it. They haven't even figured out exactly what causes the illness. Maybe when they come up with a cure then I'll use it. And everyone advised against me going off meds and it was scarey for a long time. But...it worked. I've discovered that I deal better when I use my own inner strength instead of chemicals. I didn't even feel that I had any inner strength until I tried to get through things without meds. Yes, I still experience the extreme ups and downs, but I've learned how to disconnect myself from it in a way. And through it all...I still feel like myself and I can still be creative and I don't have to deal with the horrible side effects of meds. So, I'm a success story...so far. At this point I'm doing well. Maybe it won't last forever, but I really think it will. I was on meds for 5 years and the whole time I was mess. I've been off meds for 2 years and I'm finally becoming happy and productive. I keep thinking that I need to write about how I cope with my illness so maybe I can help others with the same problems. What I can say is that it is possible to learn very effective coping skills. Those coping skills will not make you a "normal" person, but in my experience...neither do the meds.
