Does ADHD Medication Ruin Creativity?

Medication can help focus on creativity I think, among helping other ADHD things. It certainly won’t Cure ADHD. So many times, ppl ask me if the meds I take for ADHD and meds for other stuff I deal with: “So your better now and everythings ok after you started taking meds?” I just say: “I wish it was that easy.”

I also wish it was that easy!!

Medication works as a Balm. Some is Chemical and some is your subjective spin. Value is what YOU assign to something..If you feel better you are better… It is a Fine Line between what is Creative, Innovative & Stupid….Stupid for me is spending Work (irreplaceable, finite) Time on things which don’t generate Income…..Money to me is a Tool to Enjoy Life….Nothing more.We must draw the line.

IHSV, I STRONGLY disagree with your assertion that “Medication works as a Balm. Some is Chemical and some is your subjective spin.” This makes it sound like it’s part placebo which is 400% wrong. The medication is not inert. It is not like a kernel of corn that passes through your system. It has very real effects and those effects are quite discernible. It is not a subjective spin.

Balm was the wrong word…Instrument would have maybe been better choice. I used to take Ritalin but stopped in 1999. Yes, I noticed effects but also my mental state along with it could have a catalytic effect in helping me really get “on a roll” and accomplish things productively. But later just decided to try to sleep enough hours, drink coffee and watch and condition my behaviors.Maybe I will revisit medications but that adds to my anxiety on things overall.

The drugs have changed ENORMOUSLY since 1999 and if Ritalin was my only experience (I tried it and it made me bounce off the walls) I, too, would stay away from medication.

I think the most important thing about deciding what medication to use is to first make sure we know how it will affect our bodies. Do I have high BP? What other medications do I have to take, and could it hurt me more in the long run…etc. Some things a much more important than money. Caffeine is cheap and easy to get…..But…….I’m old and life is too short anyway.

Absolutely right! It’s like putting the wrong gasoline in an engine. It may run…but it could reduce the life of the engine.

-sent via blackberry

I tend to think of it in reverse — my creativity helps me to deal with the ADD. I’m not saying it does a good job of it. But you use what you have.

By the way, your post on living with diabetes and ADD was hard to argue with, since I’m a Type 2 with ADD. Sadly, I control my blood sugar with the same rigor I employ to control my ADD.

We certainly use our creativity to deal with ADHD…that’s why people can go a long time without being diagnosed…they are very clever at fooling themselves and compensating for ADHD’s affects.
And I hope you learn to control that Type 2 diabetes. I know it can be tough…I’ve seen many relatives struggle with it. But it can be done.

Compensating for ADHD’s affects! As I look back in time, I can see it. Some of us diagnosed ADHD late in our lives(particularly us 40-50+ yrs.old) had no idea what ADHD was. So yes we were clever at fooling ourselves and experts at fooling others.

That’s one of the sad facts of the guilt,stress,etc,,,,etc… of not knowing why we did what we did. And why most other people we knew seemed to just naturaly fit into the crowd. But we had to make them and ourselves believe we could fit. How many times did I hear: “You can be whatever you want to be in this world!”? 942,429,249 maybe.

The problem is that I **still** think I can be whatever I want to be.

Yep, that is a problem, no doubt about that. I **still** try to appear **as if** I am what I want to be, to my customers and some of my friends and family. A creative man whith a confident, posotive attitude, who can beat the odds, and “take a licking and keep on ticking!” The reality is, I’m a guy who is lucky to have a wife who makes sure I take all the prescribed medications that keep me “ticking”.

“So, ADHD medication does not ruin creativity.”

For you, Jeff. For YOU.

Your subjective experience with ADD medication is hardly a good basis for such a sweeping generalization. There are some of us out there whose creative pursuits have dried up thanks to medication. I don’t think the same way when I am on Ritalin.

Ellen, you are correct that it is wrong to generalize from subjective experience. However, something doesn’t seem right. Creativity and ADHD are two separate things. ADHD is an issue of executive function: issues of (in)attention; problems with planning; impulse control, etc. These are the things that interfere with the flow of creativity, from the creative “spark” to the completed project based on that creative spark. If one’s attention is flitting about…the creative spark dies out and the project does not get completed.

I am trying to avoid falling into the trap of “heck…it works for me…it must work for everyone.” But the loss of creativity is something that you may want to look into much more carefully. Creativity should *not* disappear. The Ritalin is supposed to work on the executive functions. So if you are creative pre-Ritalin, you should be creative – and be able to act on that creativity – post-Ritalin.

Is there something I’m overlooking?

The point about executive function is good; you can’t produce creative work if you can’t produce. But I, and many other people, can report that Ritalin also produces a flatness in one’s perception that changes the *quality* of the creative work. You no longer are able to make the sort of multidimensional connections you used to be able to make. Your headspace just feels different, and that changes the sort of creative connections you make and the ideas you pursue. That also has to do with creative spark.

Ellen, I hesitated saying anything about Ritalin since I didn’t want to blame the drug but, perhaps, as you note, the problem *is* Ritalin. (I tried Ritalin for a short time…I hated it.) Perhaps you would do better on one of the slow-release versions of it or something completely different.

Well, I’m not going to say anyone here is “right” or “wrong” but personally, Ritalin and I get along just fine. I’m a perpetually creatively involved person and no ADHD medication has ever made me feel that my creativity is diminished. I have other various complaints about various drugs, but creativity-wise, no complaints.

Honestly, if I could just shut off about 35% of the frigging creative thoughts that fly through my brain on a given day I would be DELIGHTED and far less distracted, whether or not I take medication. I do wonder sometimes if people mistake prolific thought or mental chaos with creativity. I’m SURE that not all people who say that are having that experience…but I do wonder about some.

But…again…of course…this is all opinion and speculation on my part and I’m not going to say I know what’s going on in everyone’s brain…however, it IS common for people with various mental health issues to feel that they are more creative, or somehow better functioning without medication, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. With ADHD, I feel it is usually a case of weighing the plusses and minuses…but for those most heavily “afflicted” those plusses and minuses can be pretty intense…and pretty destructive.

“if I could just shut off about 35% of the frigging creative thoughts that fly through my brain on a given day” – Amen!!

Katy R.,

For me, your observations have hit the bullseye. Heavily “afflicted” was happening to me, when I found out I was a clinical profile of ADHD. Medications woke me up enough to be a “plus”, but the “minuses” will always be with me. Just not as destructive as they were. Some days the “minuses” outweigh the “plusses”, no doubt lately. But thats my own fault.

Thank You for helping me see this better!

Ritalin’s bouncing off the wall effect is a nice change of pace from my usual glued to a chair effect. I’m taking Concerta which doles it out nicely, and my creativity is in fine shape. For 50 years my creativity was good for short sprints, and became winded once the project got into the details, or became routine. Now my creativity is like the Marathon Man, without the teeth pulling.

That’s what’s supposed to happen. Your medicated ADHD is supposed to get out of the way so you can accomplish things in life.

Just one quick point on this exceedingly important post – having seen many artists, performers, and those making their living on their creativity – I am going firmly on record with Jeff on this one: “No” – but with an important qualifier, so frequently overlooked and seen in myriad second opinions… It’s not the ADHD diagnosis that’s the occasional problem, it’s the dosage, the correct medication in the first place, and the missed comorbid diagnoses that inevitably create problems with thinking, or concentration, or creativity.

Once these several variables are addressed, and too often they are completely overlooked once that surface diagnosis is identified, the problem with creativity and constructive action is resolved. ADHD is so more than the surface appearances, more than inattention and more than hyperactivity. It’s amazing to me how basic issues like context are overlooked so regularly. I just did a video on the context thing:
See what you think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-H6NRPh8Ww

Thanks for jumping on this important point Jeff!
cp

Ah, excellent point, Mark. I’ve not heard anyone express that sentiment before (that your creativity helps you to deal with ADD) but I’ve definitely seen the phenomenon in action.

In my experience, the more creative and intelligent the person with ADHD is, the better they are able to manage.

For those people with ADHD who don’t possess those qualities, it’s another story entirely. These people are too often marginalized and even disavowed by the “Gifters” (as Betsy calls that movement).

Also Mark, sorry to hear about your diabetes. It’s been part of my “platform” for ten years now – the health risks of untreated ADHD. Diabetes must be one of them. I hope you continue to find helpful strategies; this is definitely something you can reverse.

Excellent points, Mark and Jeff.

Ellen, Ritalin can “flatten” at too high a dose. So can all the MPH meds (the AMP tend to create more irritability at the too-high doses).

But that said, I do know some artists who like to paint while the medication is not active. This is easy enough to manage for some people — to know when they need medication and when they don’t.

But it’s tougher for others to live with the constant “rollercoaster” of neurochemical adjustments. A steady maintenance dose works best for them.

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