by David Roberson

Created on: July 01, 2007   Last Updated: October 03, 2008

There are many things that can help or hinder creativity. In the case of insomnia, the question needs to be turned on its ear. That is, in my experience, creativity is more likely to lead to insomnia. When I am inspired to think, write, or draw, my mental activity increases to the point where I can go for days without sleeping if I am not interrupted. I have found that most jobs I have had or can get require so little creative thought my mind shuts down to an almost mechanical level until I am off the clock and able to fully wake up again. If I am to associate creativity with a lack of sleep, it would be because I can only free my mind in the evening. On the other hand, my mind also escapes through dreams and I could not say when my mind is most creative - when awake, half-awake or fully asleep.

For that reason, it is important to address how we are defining and measuring creativity. If we mean abstract, uncommon or unconventional thought, then insomnia can contribute to creativity about as well as any other form of intoxication. If we mean productive creativity, then clearly it is important to be awake and to stay awake for maximum productivity. Depending on what causes one to be unable to sleep, insomnia can open doors that lead to productive creativity, assuming that much of the work can be performed in something of a trance - and in the case of graphic arts, the work can be very entrancing. It is also necessary to ask if creativity is dependent upon mental efficiency, taking into account the fact that people with mental deficiencies have proven quite creative.

To be honest, this is a question that we cannot ask a neurologist - it is not a scientific question and would not benefit from a scientific analysis because it can not avoid the subjective evaluation that is required to recognize creativity. It is more of a philosophical question, though it certainly does touch on issues of mental health. Being unable to sleep can mire one in desperate and fruitless mental toil. A mind can become obsessed with the expression of something many people would hesitate to call creative, and might indeed be a sign in insanity. Depending on how strict your definition of sanity is, it might be reasonable to say that creativity insane. Creativity is passionate and driving. Inspiration can make people virtually mad with the need to create and they will sacrifice sleep and sensibility to fulfill that drive.

So, if you turn the question around, if you look at the creative drive and the many ways it is frustrated by the obligations of daily life, it is more accurate to say that creativity is often the cause of insomnia, and by serving that creative impulse insomnia can help in a creative endeavor. Nor is it surprising that the urge to create will often set in when others are bedding down to sleep. The distractions of the world subside as most of the world around one retires, until the only thing left to deal with is that impulse that has been frustrated and put off amid life's ceaseless demands. So, Insomnia is a price that many people pay for being creative, and the rewards of creativity make them more than willing to pay it.

The irony is that insomnia does hinder many mental functions crucial to creative pursuits. Mental fatigue certainly plays a part in causing writer's block - just as writer's block can play a part in causing insomnia! So, in all honesty, insomnia can be said to help and hinder creativity - and vice versa.

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