Winona Ryder: “I was lucky in the sense that my success was gradual. But then there was a point when there was so much attention, and you get surrounded with people who sort of make you feel like you have to do everything… “It’s really tough to suddenly be very famous. I think you get [...]
In another outstanding post, cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman includes a wide range of material on creativity and mental health. Here is an excerpt: In the movie Black Swan, the ballerina Nina Sayers (played by Natalie Portman) is asked by the director to “lose herself” in the role of the black swan in the ballet [...]
Many creative and gifted people have been diagnosed at some point in their lives with a mental illness. A diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, for instance, can deeply affect our sense of identity and change the course of our life. The decision to take medications to treat a mental illness may also have a [...]
By Cat Robson What are some of the considerations that lead sensitive and gifted adults to take psychiatric medications? What are some of the reasons people stop taking medications?? What are the alternatives? My inner life, and sometimes my outer life, is painful/chaotic/confusing. The DSM symptoms list for certain mental illnesses seem to fit me [...]
From a report by Medical News Today : The demands associated with creative work activities pose key challenges for workers, according to new research out of the University of Toronto that describes the stress associated with some aspects of work and its impact on the boundaries between work and family life. Sociology professor Scott Schieman [...]
The BioElectric Shield company has products to counteract electromagnetic radiation. An article on their site says: A large number of people who come to us are suffering as highly sensitive people. … This sensitivity can dramatically impact your ability to cope with the ever increasing chaos and energy in the world today. I get on [...]
Just what is ‘normal’ for a creative person? After trying clumsily to conform to what others consider normal for much of my life, I’m beginning to appreciate my own moods and personality. Are creative people like us ‘abnormal’? In his paper The Abnormal Psychology of Creativity, Steven James Bartlett writes…. Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, who [...]
As I discovered over the years in my own interactions with the mental health system, when someone with a creative personality is seen through the eyes of those who have a different temperament, such as scientists and doctors, the result can be mislabeling and misdiagnosis. People who are uncomfortable with extreme states are often, unfortunately, [...]
“Don’t compromise yourself. You’re all you’ve got.” Janis Joplin What reminded me of this photo and her quote was a recent obituary of the photographer Jim Marshall. He commented in the article: “Some people said I shouldn’t have published that picture of her lying back, with the bottle in her hand, but I’ll defend it [...]
Psychologist and creativity coach/author Eric Maisel, PhD says “The artist is often a drug and alcohol abuser. “The challenge for the creative artist stirred by [their] work and dream is to maintain mood equilibrium without resorting to mood-altering drugs. The social environment of the artist makes this challenge doubly difficult.” [From article Counseling Artists: The [...]
Scott Barry Kaufman notes, “Although their unusual abilities compel considerable attention, there are fewer than 100 known prodigious savants living at the present time.” He interviews one of these extraordinary people for his Beautiful Minds blog. Here is an excerpt: Daniel Tammet: I don’t think it serves very much to label someone. IQ is a [...]
Alexander McQueen was praised by many for his fashion design talents. He took his life by hanging a little over a week ago. The title of a recent Daily Mail [UK] article by Jane Fryer was “A life in fashion: Alexander McQueen was the hooligan of the catwalk who loved to shock – but nothing [...]
. Here is some information from the site: Jennifer Louden’s 2010 Virtual Retreat Refresh, Reawaken, & Rediscover Who You are in Ways that Truly Work. (And without taking a whole weekend — this retreat is designed for you to dip in and out — you get support for both options. This is a retreat that [...]
As part of her recovery from a water-skiing accident and brain surgery, actor and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg was evaluated with MRI scans, which can involve weird mechanical noises up to the intensity of a jet plane taking off. Her new album, developed with Beck, is titled “IRM” – derived from the French for MRI. Follow [...]
A London Times article notes that Stacy Ann Ferguson and her group the Black Eyed Peas have had “a record-breaking consecutive 26 weeks at the top of the US singles chart.” Here is more from the article : Fergie could have gone to Harvard if she’d fancied it… straight As, the stint as president of [...]
Author Caroline Myss says that healing is not only physical – “it is also a mystical phenomenon that transcends reason.” She “instructs readers to move beyond the dilemma of needing to find logical reasons for why an illness has developed and instead get on with the task of personal transformation.” Continued in Caroline Myss video [...]
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Site author: Douglas Eby, M.A./Psychology, is a writer and researcher on the psychology of creative expression and personal growth, especially for high ability adults. He is publisher of the Talent Development Resources series of sites.
