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Are You Highly Creative?
- The Link between Unidentified Creative Abilities and Mental Health

By Mary Taylor, LCSW

Do you feel you are on a different “path” from most people? Do you have a sense of imagination that, it seems, few understand? Have you ever been told you are “too sensitive,” “think too much” or are “too much of a perfectionist”?

If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, you may be a highly creative person. Many highly creative people remain unaware that they are, in fact, creative.

The inability to identify highly creative individuals in and of itself may place them at risk for serious and longstanding difficulties in many areas of life. Without appropriate education and intervention strategies their problems often continue to escalate over the long term.

Why do so many creatively gifted people remain unidentified and struggling in our society?

One reason this happens is because of a mistaken notion about what creativity is in the first place. Most often we link creativity to an exclusively artistic activity or occupation, like playing the piano or painting a picture. This stereotype misses the real root of creativity – Creativity stems from a way of absorbing and processing information and experience. Through this process, new ideas, inventions, products and works of art are born.

This viewpoint acknowledges the existence of raw abilities that can be clearly identified and can exist independently of any specific task – abilities that can be directed toward the accomplishment of many endeavors and in fields that are often considered far from being creative. Five significant creative abilities are:

• High ideaphoria - Having a naturally rapid flow of ideas;
  
  
• Divergent thinking – A natural inclination for simultaneous and multifaceted thinking (used in addition to linear thinking);
  
  
• Acute sensory skills – In one or more of the five senses (often exhibited in terms of having strong sensitivities to light, sound or visual images);
  
  
• Strong intuitive capabilities – The experience of “knowing” something is true and being highly accurate without reliance on concrete information;
  
  
• High emotional intelligence – Having an acute awareness of one’s own feelings as they occur, and the ability to be highly attuned to the emotions of others.

When Abilities become Liabilities

A frequent burden of having creative abilities comes from the fact that they cannot be “turned off.” For example, abilities of perception are continually at work whether one is actively aware of it or not. Creative abilities often become liabilities when they are not recognized, protected and given a meaningful outlet on a direct basis. This phenomenon can be considered the “double-edged sword” experience of having creative abilities in the first place.

Highly creative individuals may notice a tendency to become frequently tired, anxious or overwhelmed, but may not know why they are feeling this way. They may fail to understand that the tendency to absorb stimulation “like a sponge” can make them vulnerable to sensory and information “overload.”

Without receiving correct information about their abilities, they might attribute their symptoms to the wrong cause. Statements such as: “I’m too sensitive,” “I’m too much of a perfectionist,” and “I think too much,” are frequent, but often incorrect, conclusions many highly creative people make about themselves when they do not understand their abilities clearly.

These types of inaccurate and negative descriptions can do major damage to one’s self image. Attempts made at correcting a problem from this vantage point are frequently unsuccessful because the initial interpretation was in error. Over time, self-blame and an inappropriate approach to problem-solving lead many of the brightest and most creative individuals into marginalized lives as adults – underemployed, dissatisfied and often in tremendous psychological pain.

Many highly creative people are at risk of receiving an incorrect mental health diagnosis when their doctor or therapist remains unaware of their special needs and abilities. Some of the most common misdiagnoses are: mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder), anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and social anxiety disorder.

If a diagnosis is incorrect, treatment will often be in error as well. For example, the failure to realize that highly creative individuals frequently become depressed when they do not have adequate outlet for their rapid flow of ideas may result in the recommendation for an antidepressant medication rather than a real solution to the original problem – adequate outlets (projects and people) for their highly productive thinking.

Of course, some people may have high levels of creativity and a mental health disorder. On these occasions, care needs to be given to identify each component accurately and address it on its own terms in order for treatment to be effective.

Many highly creative people are actually coping with two sets of problems – the problems of daily life and those which stem from having unidentified creative abilities. Failure to acknowledge this reality can lead to students receiving incorrect educational approaches in school (often from a mismatch between teaching and learning styles), and adults remaining in unsuitable careers and relationships while blaming themselves for their perceived “weaknesses.”

Crossing the Bridge from Adversity to Success

In order to prevent highly creative individuals from remaining at risk, specific action is necessary:

1. Withhold judgment or diagnosis of a particular problem until a thorough evaluation of the person and their environment has been made. All those who work in mental health, educational and vocational assistance programs should be aware of the link between unidentified creative abilities and the emergence of psychological, vocational, interpersonal and other difficulties.
   
   
2. Maintain awareness that a creative aptitude is often hidden under an easily recognized problem in daily life. Understand that the “problem” may actually be a symptom of something else – a raw ability that exists under the surface (like a pearl in an oyster shell). For instance, sensitivities to bright lights, noises or other people’s moods (a “problem”) may indicate the presence of strong perceptual abilities.
   
   
3. When creative abilities have been identified, determine if they are causing any repercussions in daily life. For example, having a sense of imagination that few people understand, can lead to feelings of loneliness and an experience of feeling “different” than most people. This determination is needed to establish a correct interpretation of one’s difficulties.
   
   
4. Develop an accurate understanding of creative abilities and identify how they can be used in a way that is personally helpful and meaningful. For instance, someone with strong perceptual abilities may excel in graphic design, research science or in other occupations that require one to be highly observant.
   
   
5. Identify specific skills that protect creative abilities from the “assaults” of daily life (so that the ability does not become a liability). For example, use meditation to counteract the effects of stimulation “overload,” or get rid of clutter in the environment to compensate for having naturally complex thought patterns.
   
   
6. Reframe negative labels into accurate descriptions. For example, the label “I’m too sensitive” can become: “I am very skilled at noticing things in my environment – I am a very perceptive person.” “I’m too much of a perfectionist” can become: “I am able to see things as they could be – I can imagine an ideal and work toward it.” And “I’m too emotional” can become: “I can feel my feelings and those of others very deeply – I am a compassionate person.”
   
   This process of reframing may lead to the awareness that one’s perceived weaknesses are actually strengths. Gaining an accurate self-knowledge can lead to a transformational process where one is empowered to live more fully from his or her own creative “space.” The confidence that arises from this experience may make it possible to bring one’s creativity into the world in ways which may not have been possible before. This often marks the onset of an authentic vocation.

(This article was originally published in About Town, Winter 2003)