The Mind Creative
Scott Barry Kaufman, an American psychologist,
has summed up the results this way. "It seems
that the key to creative cognition is opening up
the flood gates and letting in as much
information as possible. Because you never
know: sometimes the most bizarre associations
can turn into the most productively creative
ideas".
Studies of the human mind have also found that
those who tend to have creative abilities also
tend to cogitate or contemplate more about their
thoughts and in fact this trait in itself leads to
intense
creativity.
Psychologists
and
psychiatrists however agree that major
depression is amplified in those who tend to
deliberate too much on their thoughts. This is a
known habit among creative thinkers and
therein lies the connection between creativity
and depression. It is important to understand
that ruminating too much on thoughts can also
lead to depressive bouts in “normal” people;
except that the “creative” ones tend to ruminate
much more on their thoughts than others,
therefore leading to more cases of depression
and longer lasting ones too.
Therefore, the simple fact is that depression is
not the driver for creativity and in fact the
creative person, who spends his or her
time pondering on thoughts, is likely to suffer
from major depression.
Of course, the question that needs attention is
“Why do the creative ones tend to get multiple
and long-lasting occurrences of depression?”
9