Posted by Andrew on August 8, 1999, at 11:15:37
In reply to Re: Cyclothymia & mood stabilizers, posted by Cynthia on August 7, 1999, at 16:31:34
Thank you so much for your responses, they were so informative.
It makes sense to get to sleep, as well as do other things, on a strict schedule. Are there any tricks you use to get to sleep when your on the up cycle?
Concerning mood swings and artists, I read a study recently on that very subject. The subject of the study were 47 eminent British poets, playwrights, novelists, biograhers, painters and sculptors. The study found that about a third of the artists suffered severe mood swings, and 25 percent underwent long periods of elation. Intensely creative periods, reported by all except biographers, usually coincided with hypomanic (midly manic) episodes. Ninety percent said that moods and feelings of sustained elation were either necessary or very important to their work. Writers and artists who had been treated for mood disorders produced the least at the highest point of their cycles. For them, peaks of productivity usually preceded and followed the mood peaks by three or four months. Both groups tended to be at the height of their cycles in summer.
(Source: The Harvard Mental Health Letter, December 1989)
Mood swings are certainly a mixed blessing.Andrew
poster:Andrew
thread:9730
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990829/msgs/9765.html