I am Always Late

Creativity is a very important quality for some types of jobs. It is vital for all kinds of designers and video artists, writers, journalists, for those who work in advertisement industry, all levels of management, engineering and IT, as well as many other common occupations. Creativity is necessary in our daily life as well. We need it for effective problem solving and decision making, when we’re looking for effective solutions and dealing with a wide range various daily situations. Well developed creativity skills are very important, that is why many employers are asking their potential employees to pass various creativity tests in order to assess their creativity skills and estimate their chances to make successful decisions or generate creative ideas. Creative employees are usually valued in all modern companies very highly, and they always have much better chances to be promoted compared to other employees.

At the same time, it turns out that creativity actually has some negative sides, and in some people it can be even quite unhealthy. Swedish specialists at the Karolinska Institute found out that boosted creativity in modern people is very often linked to high risks of suffering from a lack of self-discipline, a lack of respect to other people and improper self-esteem, as well as being always late, inattentive and unable to focus when it is necessary. Moreover, as the study has shown, the people like dancers, artists, famous fashion designers, photographers, novelists, or writers who have unique creativity and can produce really amazing artworks usually suffer from anxiety, depression attacks, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and even very serious conditions like schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, and other mental illnesses.

According to the report about this study published this month in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, creative people are usually more problematic. It is estimated that they have twice higher risks for suicide, and very often they suffer from anorexia. The scientists say that the mentioned tendencies took place among all representatives of creative professions, who are suffering from mental and psychological disorders more often. Creative minds are usually troubled minds, the scientists warn. There is no need in avoiding taking creative specialists or people with special thinking abilities to work with, but it is necessary to be ready for possible drawbacks of working with such people. As Dr. Simon Kyaga, the study leader, says these findings can be used to help experts understand the connections and find possible ways to treat the mentioned mental and psychological disorders.

“If one takes the view that certain phenomena associated with the patient’s illness are beneficial, it opens the way for a new approach to treatment,” Dr. Kyaga said. He refers to a number of examples from our history proving that creative minds historically are troubled and not understood. Our famous writers Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woof who are considered geniuses in their genres, suffered from chronic severe depression and ended up their lives with suicide. Another famous author Graham Greene, the creator if the novel Brighton Rock, suffered from a number of problems including bipolar disorder. The scientists underline the importance not to avoid such kind of people and give them a hand to find themselves in this life. “We know that one in four people will be diagnosed with a mental health problem this year and that these individuals will come from a range of different backgrounds, professions and walks of live. Our main concern is that they get the information and support that they need and deserve.”