The blog of D Kai Wilson-Viola

Author, advocate, designer, mental health advocate and parent. 

Is your sleep costing you your creativity?

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Is your sleep costing you your creativity?

Jun 30, 2009 | Writing | 0 comments

I’m a parent. I know what it feels like to burn the midnight oil, at both ends and then crash and burn.
But recent studies suggest that without a regular sleep pattern, those of us with careers as writers could actually be damaging our writing ability.

How?

Well, apparently, there’s a couple of studies kicking around out there that suggest that if you don’t get optimum sleep, you can’t create, or function at your best.  You over compensate through ’substance’ (caffine) abuse, and end up wrecking your creative ability, sometimes permanently.

I’m a four hour a night girl, or was, until my partner ‘trained’ me to sleep more.  At that point, I started to lose my edge.  I still wrote, but not as well – [email protected] now eight hours and always tired and barely writing.  But did I write more because I was wired, and it wasn’t as good, or is the smaller volume I’m writing now the best I can do?  For that matter, what’s your sleep/creativity quotient?

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P is for Psychosis #realmentalhealth #mondayblogs #nomorestigma

This is one of my harder blog posts to write, because though I talk – a lot – about the impact my mental health has on my day to day life, and has done for a while, I’m pretty sure that this is the bit no one really understands, causes the most…misunderstanding and I hope, because I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, they can’t relate to. If you didn’t know that psychosis was a feature of my mental health diagnosis, or didn’t understand if you’d heard it mentioned before now, please…don’t start changing your opinion of me. That’s the biggest reason those of us with serious mental health issues aren’t as open as society needs. Because we lose people.