Hi,
How are you?
Hope you have a great day today. I wanted to get this out to you really quick because I have to get going with a very busy day.
Really quick. Have you gotten my f.ree book yet. I hope so. I worked hard on it and it’s totally free. It’s an overview of mental disorders. Took me more than one year of really hard work.
Get it here:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/overview_of_mental_disorders/
Enjoy.
One thing you hear me talk a lot about is creativity and bipolar disorder.
That’s probably because I really do believe that the two things go hand in hand.
I think one of the symptoms of having the disorder is increased creativity. at least that’s shown itself to be true in my life.
My mom is one of the most creative people I know. And you know, if you’ve read my emails for any length of time, that I always brag on my staff because half of them have the disorder and they are VERY creative!
What that means, for one thing, is that when there is a problem that needs solving, they always seem to find a solution that people who don’t have bipolar disorder weren’t able to see.
I even talk about creativity and bipolar disorder in my courses/systems:
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
I know of a book on bipolar disorder that’s a sort of question and answer book on the disorder, and someone even asked the question, “Is there a connection between creativity and bipolar disorder?”
The answer surprised me, because at the time I didn’t know that creativity and bipolar disorder were linked. So maybe the answer will surprise you, too.
But the answer was, “The truth is there is a connection between creativity of all sorts and bipolar disorder.”
What was really cool about the book, though, was that it went on to list some very famous people who had or have bipolar disorder.
It was able to do that, because it said that these celebrities chose to publically come out and disclose their own struggles with bipolar disorder, so you know it’s true.
The first one to admit she had bipolar disorder was Patty Duke. In 1987, she wrote an autobiography called Call Me Anna about her bipolar disorder.
Other famous people include:
- Ned Beatty
- Dick Cavett
- Carrie Fisher
- Linda Hamilton
- Mariette Hartle
- Red Sox baseball player Jimmy Piersall
- Bipolar expert Kay Redfield Jamison (who has a whole list of famous people in her book called Touched with Fire)
- TV host Jane Pauley
Supposedly, the famous poet Lord Byron, composer Robert Schumann, painter Vincent van Gogh, and Winston Churchill also had bipolar disorder (only it was called manic depression back then).
If you want to know any other famous people with bipolar disorder, you can go on the internet, or read Touched With Fire by Kay Refield Jamison, who is an expert on bipolar disorder (and has a whole list in her book).
Okay I have to run. I will see you tomorrow.
Your friend,
Dave
David Oliver is the author of the shocking guide “Bipolar Disorder—The REAL Silent Killer.” Click Here to get FREE Information sent via email on how and why bipolar disorder kills.
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i would like the free book for francisco
David,
Thank you for all that you do. My father had bipolar, my brother has bipolar, my 1st wife has bipolar and now my 24 year old step daughter has it. It has had profound effects on my entire life. The things I have learned from your email push have helped my understanding and patience immensely.
My 1st wife is immensely creative which is one of the things I admire and respect in her. Unfortunately she uses it to punish me for leaving her, mostly by keeping me from 2 of our 3 sons. I continue to hope, pray and look for ways to reconnect. After 14 years she remains hostile and combative. Any overtures are viewed as assaults.
I have a son who is 22 and has bi-polar. He is quite creative in many areas. He can draw with great detail, he has a beautiful singing voice, and he has an imagination that provided him with many hours of contentment playing dress up as some character in movies he watched or as live versions of toys he had. Now if we could just get someone like you, David, to see this and be willing to give him a chance to blossom under their employ! He presently works at a grocery store and has been able to keep this job for 6 months, but it is physically exhausting for him with his excess weight and he doesn’t make enough to live in a place of his own. We are still dealing with financial issues such as his spending all his paycheck the first day if we don’t hold his debit card and checks and mete out money in increments to him. He is o.k. with this until he wants his card back to spend more that we have agreed on per day. If we give him the card he spends whatever is left and doesn’t have money for gas to get to work. If we. Sometimes it just isn’t convenient to go with him to purchase whatever it is he wants to buy that costs more than what we’ve agreed on. I know you have info to purchase related to this, but we can’t afford any thing else coming out of our own budget in the forseeable future.
Angela H.
Hi David, This was so helpful to see all the celebrities that admitted to having this disorder. I’ve been reading your emails for quite a while. I have a 33 year old Daughter that I believe is bipolar. It seems to have started after she had her 1st child. I thought maybe it was postpartum, but now I think it was bipolar. When she was pregnant with her 2nd child, in her 4th month (April) she lashed out at me and proceeded to tell her 2 yr. old son who loved his Mima (me) not to talk to me because I was bad, bad, bad. She then proceeded to cut me off from her life. We had a mutual wedding to attend in May, she stayed away from me and made sure to keep my precious Grandson from me. Then in June at her Son’s birthday party she invited my son, but not me. I took a chance and went to the party for the sake of my Grandson. He was so happy to see me. She was cordial because we had many family and friends watching her reaction. But later I heard that she was upset that I had the nerve to come. I tried to reach out to her, but she kept rejecting me. I didn’t push it because she was pregnant and suffering from seizures I was concerned for her health. We were very close at one time. She was at the birth of her 3 brothers and even cut the cord on her youngest brother. I was at the birth of her fist son, but was not invited to be at the birth of her 2nd son. This devasted me. Her husband called me after he was born. He was born in September. My Dad was so upset at the way she was treating me and tried to talk to her. Lots of family and friends tried but she made no sense as to why she was so angry with me. We were all so confused. She went as far as to insult and disrespect my Dad because he was defending me. He was just recovering from a stroke, she had no compassion. It wasn’t until December around her birthday that she started reaching out to me. Of course I forgave her and we started rebuilding our relationship. The latest relationship she has destroyed is the worst. She accused her loving husband of being unfaithful and divorced him. I know this is not true. He has been a wonderful husband under her abuse. He could never do anything right. If he got her roses and they had baby’s breath he got attacked. I could go on and on she even had a inappropiate email relationship with a mutual friend of theirs. He forgave her for this. She started having a phone relationship with another man claiming that her marriage was over anyway, but they were still married. To get her way, and free legal help she took my Grandsons to a “Domestic Shelter” on Christmas Day for no good reason. Her husband never abused her. She abused him. She did this to get free legal help. Right now she is in Denver, CO living in different hotels when she is supposed to be in CT looking for a place to live. Her husband has had to fly out there once a month (added expense) to see his boys. I will write more later. Thanks for your time and helpful information.
Linda
David, I worry about your enthusiasm for BP creativity. ;o(
Surely, much of the creativity shown by people with BP is triggered by hypomania, which isn’t healthy. Stephen Fry, the writer and actor, is officially diagnosed as Bipolar but he refuses treatment in case it spikes the creativity which comes from his hypomanic episodes. Not surprising then that, when he made a TV programme about BP and was (for the it) examined by his psychiatrist, he was told that his condition had deteriorated! Of course it had – no medication = irreversible deterioration. But in a way, Stephen is right – if your medication is right, the hypomanic periods become tamed and with it the creativity that came from it. My friend, the poet Deborah Fruchley, is BP and she wrote prolifically, and finely, when she was in hypomanic. Getting the medication right stopped the creativity. But she new this store of creativity was locked with in her. All she neede was a new key to open the door to it! It took her a while to find a fresh way to dig out the creativity, but she did it. And while her poems are different than before, they are just as good!
My theory is that most people (probably all people) are innately creative; it’s just that most of them don’t know just HOW creative they can be! This is proven because very ordinary people who suffer brain damage in certain areas (e.g. motor accidents, strokes, etc) have become prolifically creative, churning out good poems, becoming very talented musicians and painters, etc. It was there all along. This has also been shown with hypnosis, when someone under hypnosis is told they are talented with a pencil and paper, and they have drawn very good work, of a standard they had no idea that they were capable of producing. They don’t realise that potential until it’s unlocked. BP can do that, but then BP is often relied on to get at that store of creativity. I suggest that once someone with BP knows that potential IS within them, they should find other ways to realise it, they should not rely on their BP hypomania to get it.
Perhaps that is what your people are doing – knowing that creative ability is within them (because it was shown to them by the BP) they have found other ways to tap into it. It’s that or … they use the hypomania to reach it, and that is most certainly not a good idea!
I am wondering if my grandaugter may have bipolar. I think my daughter does, who is her mother but we are not always on the best of terms so I don’t want to ask my daughter if she is bipolar. My grandaughter’s parents divorced and she has not been raised in a home with two parents. She keeps a lot of things to herself . I cannot say for sure if she shows any risky behavior because she is 27 and lives 6 hours away from me and my daughter lives 10 hours away from me. My daughter definitely had risky behavior in the past . Someone told me my daughter told them she was bipolar but she has never told me and I have never ask nor I want to mention it to my grandaughter, for fear of frightening her. My grandaughter has had quite a bit of stress in her life but a bad break-up and relationshio in the last year or so.
Hi Dave,
I would love to have a paper version of this book if it is possible, instead of the downloadable version. You have my email address, if you don’t mind letting me know if there is a paper version. Thanks so much. I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into your emails and blog.
Lianna D.
Hello Dave,
Thank you for sending all the emails and valuable information regarding Bipolar disorder. I have been reading all the information and I have one question for you. Most of the information pertains to Bipolar disorder in general, but do you have extra information regarding Bipolar type II disorder (that’s more depressive in nature)? I have a loved one that struggles with Bipolar type II and also has anxiety disorder, PTSD and an avoidant personality. I would appreciate it if you could share some info that pertains to these conditions.
P.S. I’m presenting a talk on psychoactive medications in the next few weeks. How can I get a hardcopy of your free book?
Thanks,
Sarah
Hello David:
Thank you again for your e-mails. It just show your interest and concern about people you even do not know. Also, say a lot about you. And for the book, no, I do not have it, but I would like to get it for myself and for my daughter. I do not know how to do that. Love, Isolina
Wow Dave,
You pinned the tail on the donkey with this post. I am one of the most creative people you will ever meet. I never attributed it to bipolar, but I guess it makes sense that I have a lot of creativity because I have a bad case of bipolar, lol.
If you have any questions about supporting a loved one or surviving bipolar, you can go to:
http://www.bipolarinnercircle.com/phpbb3/index.php
There people can answer your questions and provide support.
Thanks for posting today Dave, I love your topics.
Bob
Yes…I agree with Sarah. Dave…please write something about Bipolar II disorder. It seems to be the new diagnosis. I have discovered that I thought I always had Major Depression, but my psychiatrist believes I have Bipolar II. There is a difference between Bipolar I and II. But, there really is not much information about Bipolar II. So, it would be great if you have it or could research it and share with your readers….Thanks.
My greatest creativity (when I’m NOT in a manic episode), is writing. I can write business letters, and personal letters. I even have websites where I’m a frequent blogger! It’s part of the way I have of expressing myself.
When I had my first nervous breakdown (1968), I am convinced I was manic, though the diagnosis THEN was schizophrenia. I could take charcoal and a pad, and sketch anybody, capturing their personalities in the drawing. I could play the piano – when I hadn’t touched a piano in 8 years! I even tried oils, but was transferred to another hospital before I finished a self-portrait. I LOVED working in ceramics and pottery at the University Psychiatric Ward. Unfortunately, at all 3 hospitals I was incarcerated in, they never allowed you to keep what you made. I even did a chess set, but couldn’t keep it.
Perhaps Bob is right; you’re more creative in a manic state. I only know that if I had to draw/sketch someone NOW, I couldn’t do it. Maybe the creativity comes to the forefront BECAUSE of the mania, and not in SPITE of it!!
Big hugs to all bipolar survivors, and those who love us. May God bless you real good.
Had started browsing your book, save it in my file and plan to print hard copy of it.
I know this book gives me a lot of information which is very useful to me in teaching mentally challenge child.
These would surely help me understand and made strategic approach so that my teaching is more effective.
My son who is 9 was diagnosed 2 years ago with BP. HE refused to do the test in Kindergarden to past to first so he was held back. He has had all kinds of behavior problems and aggressive. Anger problems also. We are presently waiting to have him placed at Cedar oaks. The latest big thing he did was break into my parents gun cabbinet and get a riffle out and two clips and put one clip in and take it down stairs and out the door and shot it once then lost one of the clips. He is presently staying at my parents because he wouldn’t stop touching the other three children I have . My husband has alot of anger as well and can be aggressive when he loses his temper with the children. My question is how do you find out if someone is BP? He has a cousler and phsyciritrist who perscibes him meds for depression and adhd. It took me to get him diagnosed adhd. He took a quiz to his old med doc who said it wasn’t the problem. the test said he was but he didn’t stand up and push for it. He has problems as the son above in another ladys comments said with mannaging money. He would take the check book and debit card and not give me reciets and then wonder why when his check came we could only use 100 of 450 for bills. He used to just buy publisher clearing house while living at homa I had to tear up the envelopes so he wouldn’t be able to when we got together. So tell me is there a questioneary he could take to see if he is BP or not? It would help very much thank you. I would also like to say I would like the book. I haven’t been able to open the other sites my Internet conection sayes internat explorer cannot open and aborts the page. SO this is the first email I could use. I want to thank you for any help that you have or can offer. Elizabeth
My boyfriend has bipolar and he needs constant stimulation. He says that having nothing to do drives him nuts. He does painting, drawing, writing, jewellery, wood sculpture, loves singing and entertaining, probably acting given the opportunity. He is also good at fixing almost anything, but he has little interest in computers. He seems to be much the same whether he is hypomanic or stable, although the creations are slightly different.
I am, and always have been, very creative. I write, paint, and enjoy designing and making clothes. I am good at everything which can be improvised. If I can’t use my imagination and something has to be just so, forget it! I am not bipolar but often considered eccentric. That’s why I am drawn to other creative people (like attracts like) and have come across quite a few people with bipolar disorder over the years. I find some common ground with them, which many ordinary people don’t understand.