While discussing game addiction in another forum, it left me wondering if anybody that has the ability to focus exclusively on one activity might have generally have an addictive personality. Anybody who can spend many hours to create an artistic work certainly has the ability to focus on a task in a single-minded fashion. This isn't to say that creative people are substance addicts. It might mean that they are more prone to substance abuse if they start taking them.

I'm mostly basing this observation on myself and the few other creative people I know personally. With the small sample I've look at, I see the ability to have a focus, sometimes bordering obsession, on a variety of areas ranging from their ability to create to hobbies. I'm wondering if others here see a similar ability to focus highly on the things that they do--creative and otherwise.

None of this is meant in a negative sense. There is probably a better phrase than "addictive personality" because it carries so many undesirable connotations. Medically, only physical substances, such as illegal drugs, are recognized as addictive. The media is quick to label far too many activities as addictive (videogames, porn, etc.) and blame the object of obsession as causing the addiction. The only addiction is inherent in the person. Unlike addictive substances that can hook anybody, psychological addictions only affect a small fraction of the populace. The vast majority of supposed psychological addictions are just a difference of behaviors. A person playing videogames three hours a week will be called a videogame addict. A person recreationally reading three hours a day will be congratulated. Anybody not glued to their TV three hours a day watching sports is a sissy. In all three instances, the individual is essentially isolated from the world for an extended period of time. One can quibble which activity is better for the individual. Trying to classify one as a dangerous addiction is ridiculous.

 You may be onto something there. OR it's a special type of people who are creative. I think there are two sides to the coin. 

I know I'm easily addicted myself, and I'll absolutely call computer games or porn or Poser for addictions. If you've reached a point where it takes over and you feel trustrated/physically ill/irritated whenever you're NOT doing whatever it is, I'd say you're addicted.

Wheter or not something like a Poser addiction is "dangerous" depends on who you are and what you're missing from being obsessively addicted to it. If you starve to death L* because you forget to eat, it's definitely dangerous, but also not a probable scenario. If, OTOH your spouse decides to leave you because all you do is stare into the computer all day.. then it is also both serious and dangerous. 
I do a cold turkey from time to time with Poser. It's very unpleasant, but a necessity.

Then the other side of the coin is people who are already obsessive, like people with OCD or Asperger's Syndrome. While I don't really know any OCD people who do Poser or similar, I know a souple of Aspies, my daughter is one of them. I both hope and fear that she'll start with Poser. Hope, because I'm sure she'll be able to do great things due to her one-track-mind, and fear, because of her one track mind.. will she be able to leave the computer and go to bed? (that's a serious problem for some Aspies, if they're in the middle of something) She's definitely creative already.

I'm not sure. I'm not necessarily "creative," but I have "a focus, sometimes bordering obsession, on a variety of areas ranging from their ability to create to hobbies." I've thought of this as like OCD but not like addiction probably because what I want to focus on changes, and doesn't feel like it's under my control. It doesn't seem like there's an addiction TO anything. It's just a higher degree of commitment in general.

I think there may be something to that. Whenever I start a new project, I go whole hog, spending upwards of 20 hours a day on it sometimes for days on end. I'm also into a lot of different things, including crochet, making chainmail jewelry, beading, sculpting and painting, among others...lolol. I really don't have time for any of it! ;o).

Laurie

Yes!  In my case I have an addiction to toon animation.  In my youth I startred making dots jump around by putting them on book page corners and flipping them.  I graduated to rocket ships, then painting on cels, with primitive  people, (Stick, then very primitive toons), putting them on film one frame at a time.

Then came the computer and programs to animate most anything.  this was pure heaven taking away the drudgery of hand drawing each picture.

Seeing the creations move and do what you want is very addictive for me and hardly a day goes by when i am not animating something.

Pappy

I wrote a paper on this in College for a Jazz class.  My premise was that the risk-taking in improvisational Jazz  could also manifest itself in other risky behavours, such as drug use.  I then had a litany of drug-using jazz artists supporting this premise.  I think I got a B+...

Not at all: Prducing art is a self rewarding  activity based primarily upon our own assessment that we have done well. That might well produce a neurochemical response that produces the sensation of pleasure e.g. endorphins that encourages futher art from us and stimulates us to improve but art is generally considered to be a positive and productive form of behaviour. An obsessive person or someone with other mental health problems ie. Dadd or Van Gough may also produce art but not all artists are such.

Generally addictions are dysfunctional and require an external input to our systems, whether they stimulate an endorphine response in the form of computer games or other substance abuse

Quote - Not at all: Prducing art is a self rewarding  activity based primarily upon our own assessment that we have done well. That might well produce a neurochemical response that produces the sensation of pleasure e.g. endorphins that encourages futher art from us and stimulates us to improve but art is generally considered to be a positive and productive form of behaviour. An obsessive person or someone with other mental health problems ie. Dadd or Van Gough may also produce art but not all artists are such.

Generally addictions are dysfunctional and require an external input to our systems, whether they stimulate an endorphine response in the form of computer games or other substance abuse

Well!  I enjoy my "Dysfunctional" condition
and I definately use it for "an external input to my system".

Pappy

I took the liberty to look up the definitions for both Addiction and Obsession, and found that their meanings could be just as ominous describing as well as something positive.  After reading, decide under which label you would categorize yourself.  And, of course, let's consider the medical behaviors of sound mental rationale and cognitive reasoning, as long as such activities do not become life-threatening preoccupations and abnormal distractions.  
 
Addiction - 1 : the quality or state of being addicted
2 : compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine*, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful

*Addicted - 1 : *to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively
2 : to cause addiction to a substance in (a person or animal)

*Obsession - *1 : a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling; broadly : compelling motivation
2 : something that causes an obsession

*In general, I believe it is more a compulsion, good or bad, that drives us towards being creative.  We find an interesting diversion, we develop it, and we turn it into something very much our own.  It takes the pressure off our everyday lives, and it mentally stimulates and challenges those brain neurons we, most often, take for granted.  Think for a moment, how many times you immerse yourself into a project without consciously thinking. 

 I've always thought true creativity manifested like Bi Polar Syndrome...at least in me...when I'm manic I create and when I'm depressed i, well for lack of a better description, edit.. ...

Perhaps. I make things, which gives me something to feel good about. Dont addictive habits have much the same appeal? You use them to feel good.

Short answer for me: Yes

I dont know if i'm addicted to what i do as such - to me - when i'm doing something, and im really inspired with it, i will continue to work on it until its finished or i'm starting to see cross eyed LOL ... but if and when a problem arises, im stubborn and sit for hours trying to fix it.

I get a sense of pride when i've accomplished what i've set out to do...

Creativity and the ability to focus exclusively on one activity are different subjects that can or cannot be together and one doesn't imply the other.
You can be very creative, as in my case, and do many things almost at the same time, you work on some task and solve the problems of other task.
I said "almost" because the theory tells that man can handle one thing at the same time and woman can do two at the same time.
This is the theory, don't know if is true or not, I can do only one thing, but I can switch tasks very quickly.
A creative process you can divide in two parts:

• The creation itself that is a mental process that depend on imagination, inspiration and insight. Is here where all is created, you do nothing, only think and create.
• The second part is executing the creation that already exist in your mind, it's a mechanical process and it can be even something automatic and so, your mind is free to do other thing as another creation or do nothing.
  For example, you create some scene, once the scene or the sketch exist in your mind, you open Poser, begin to load the figures, props, pick textures, move your mouse. This is something mechanic that doesn't require too much your attention, so your mind is free to do other things, hear music, think or do nothing.
  Time to time you have to give attention to what you are doing, many times the result is not what you had in your mind and have to break your head how to do it, other time you need some prop that you haven't in your library. You have to interrupt all what you are doing, search in your DVDs, in the internet or even purchase what you needed and then return to your work.
  The two parts of the creative process not always are separated, many times can be mixed or iterative, you started with nothing in your mind and ended with something or you started with some thing and the final result was something different and not always related.

As for addiction and obsession I have no idea.

Quote - Do creative people have addictive personalities?

Ask that question of F. Scott Fitzgerald's ghost, or Edgar Allan Poe's.
dph

Judging soley on certain forum personalities, you can see obessive and addictive behaviors right here, myself included. I have to work to stay out of the forums at certain times of the year because of SAD (Seasonal Affectation Disorder). You see a lot of the "Spring" and "September" bad behaviour in the forums because SAD can also be coupled with obessive behaviour.

I myself prefer Poser to alcohol, if that means that I'm addicted then so be it!
dph

Also, having just watched the Doctor Who episode about Vincent Van Goghe, art and depression/obsession appear to have quite a history.

 At least what ever drives me to create is a GOOD thing,IMO. I'm addicted to creation. In Poser and writing. Making characters and bringing them to life with image and the word so people are entertained, learn something and have a good laugh.

I did used to addicted to worthless things like Role-playing games and video games. That was sort of like being addicted to porn and such. Pleasured myself, but didn't make me of much use to the population as a whole,though.

Making images, especially since I hooked them to a story lifted me up and gave me a real purpose in life that drives me to greater heights as both an artist AND as a person!  I can only suppose that whether it is good or bad really depends on what we Do with them.

As Benjamin Franklin wrote,"Moderation in all things...INCLUDING moderation!"

Quote -  I've always thought true creativity manifested like Bi Polar Syndrome...at least in me...when I'm manic I create and when I'm depressed i, well for lack of a better description, edit.. ...

lol that's veyr apt, Bobby! :)
I'm not bi-polar but yeah, it's a agood description for me too ;)
ups and downs, natural ones, as opposed ot the severe swings of bi-polar, you get a great idea, or feel good, or whatever and create
you feel down, sick or whatever, you organize content, hehe :)

Yup.
Life used to be a roller coaster for me, I've learned how to tame that somewhat.

IMHO the answer to your question is no.
My baby daughter will spend an hour trying to pull down the bumper pad in her crib so she can see us when she first wakes up in the morning. Is she obsessed at the age of 7 months?
My wife will spend 2 hours doing her hair. Is she obsessed?
My son will spend 4 hours trying to master the guitar solo for his favorite song. Is he obsessed?
Talk shows have really wrecked society and the way we look at each other IMO.

Here's the real question I think....

If someone spends a lot of time on an activity that is by its very nature time consuming can they easily be labeled obsessed or addicted?
YES!!!
Is the world label crazy?
YES!!!
If you were posing a character in a scene could you really pose just one finger and then leave it alone for two days and then come back and pose just one more finger etc?
Would you not be labeled a procrastinator or lazy then?

Labels...BAH.

I think you might see this in some people with AS (asperger syndrome) as they tend to develop a 'passion' about a single subject. Sometimes this is art, sometimes something esle...
but then again, some might just do it for fun.

Quote - " I've always thought true creativity manifested like Bi Polar Syndrome...at least in me...when I'm manic I create and when I'm depressed i, well for lack of a better description, edit.. ..."

* 

Quote -"lol that's veyr apt, Bobby! :)
I'm not bi-polar but yeah, it's a agood description for me too ;)
ups and downs, natural ones, as opposed ot the severe swings of bi-polar, you get a great idea, or feel good, or whatever and create
you feel down, sick or whatever, you organize content, hehe :)"

Back in the day we used to call those examples of feeling uninspired or feeling inspired*.
I guess it's called manic and depressed now.

LOL*

At least they don't burn witches anymore.
They just find a rich pharmaceutical company to develop and market a nice drug to medicate them with.

I know we artist want to be special, but sorry to disappoint, being an addict (to whatever) is just part of human nature and really not because of creativity at all.

Part of my job is to observe people and people groups. Know what? Whether a person is creative or not, almost everyone is addicted to something.

I'll take my family as an example..... my son is not creative at all.... yet he's addicted to playing games and eating candy, if I'd let him, he won't be doing anything else all day.

My oldest daughter is very creative.... dance, drawing and more. But, she's not addicted to it at all, she likes doing it, but she isn't addicted to creating art in the more traditional way, but has this other thing.... doing nails, she's almost obsessed with that. Some of her nails are little pieces of art, amazing what you can do with them.

Then there's my other daughter, she's somewhere in between. A bit creative, but not over the top. When she feels like it she will do something with, when not, she won't. She's addicted to email, site mails and forums. If I let her, I will not see my computer all day, she always seems to find someone to email or chat with.

My wife is addicted to God, she really is..... at times it's like an obsession. I'm not like that, not that extreme as she is. She's not creative, doesn't have many hobbies, but religion is everything in her life.

Then there's me, I'm very creative and yes, I'm addicted to modeling & poser..... at the moment. I always need some way to express what's in me. I often need to force myself to do something else, to let creativity be and do other stuff.

I know very uncreative people who are addiction to food or sports or tv or work or whatever they may be into. It's part of human nature, we need something to fill our life with and when we find that thing we love, it's pretty easy to become and addiction. From what I've seen we all are addicted to something, that has nothing to do with being creative or not.

I have probably ADD, which symptoms( among others) are creative and vulnarable for addictions, so in my case it has everything to do with it.
I know it's a lable, but it explains a lot for me.

best regards,

Bopper.

Quote - I know we artist want to be special, but sorry to disappoint, being an addict (to whatever) is just part of human nature and really not because of creativity at all.

The question wasn't "Are we creative BECAUSE we have addictive personalities?". It was "Do creative people HAVE addictive personalities?" And the answer is pretty much, yes, yes we do.

Personally, I wouldn't say addictive. I'd say its a passion that all artist share. :)

Generally, psychological addictions aren't classified as a problem until they interfere with life. If a person can hold a job and maintain healthy relationships, they probably don't have an out of control addiction. One bit of good news is that a classic sign of addiction is an inability to recognize that one is addicted. It's one of the things that makes recovery so difficult. Since most of the people responding see some level of an addictive personality, there's a good chance there's nothing to worry about.

I was trying to find a good medical definition for psychological addictions, but couldn't find anything consistent. It's even harder finding anything from established medical sites. I tried following one of the links from Wikipedia to a site that was downright illiterate and useless. Substance addiction definitions are very clear and consistent. There's a long history on the physical dependencies caused by drugs. Psychological addictions are less straightforward as an illness. Whenever I see sites classifying them into subject categories, I know they're on the wrong track. The obsessiveness is in the person, not caused by the subject of the obsession. If there can be a cure for psychological addictions, it will be in stopping the obsession, not in attacking the object of obsession. Religion has often been cited as a means to cure such addictions, but usually just transfers the addiction from the original obsession to religion.  It's less a cure than a change to a socially acceptable medium.

A creative passion is very different from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). An OCD condition is very ritualistic, doing the same things over and over. Creative impulses are anything but repetitive. OCD is an extreme condition, but there has to be varying levels of that condition before having something bad enough to require medical attention. Lucky rituals would be an example. Eating and going to bed at set times could be another example. I just took a retirement course and they emphasized the need to have something to do in retirement because many people cannot adjust to the lack of structure in their lives when they no longer have to go to work for set periods of time. A former boss of mine ran into that problem.  He handled the first couple months of retirement fine and was suddenly confronted by the reality that he woke up the same time he did when he was working, but now he had no place to go when awake. A lot of groups rely on rituals that members find comforting.

It is interesting that people with creative passions seem to largely tackle any project with great intensity for long periods of time. Unlike real addictions, where usage increases at a higher and higher level until the person has either overdosed, been forced into rehabilitation, or quit the addiction out of sheer desperation, the kind of "addictive" personality I have tends to shift from interest to interest. After delving into one passion for a many months, or even years, something else engages my attention and I fixate on that. I can go back to the other passion at a lower level without being "hooked" again on it. That's very different from a former alcoholic or smoker--one drink or cigarette can start the pattern of abuse again.

It would seem that some degree of obsessive passion is almost necessary to create something significant. The time and effort needed to master a craft and create something new out of it would necessitate some degree of obsessive behavior or passionate focus or whatever it ought to be called. A person, who lacks focus, is going to have a hard time creating anything of significance. Having that ability to focus on something for long periods of time doesn't guarantee being an artistic genius, but it does seem as if it might be a prerequisite.

Quote- "I was trying to find a good medical definition for psychological addictions, but couldn't find anything consistent. It's even harder finding anything from established medical sites."

Yeah there's a reason for that and it's really really obvious.

As far as what I call the strong almost single-minded desire to spend lots and lots of time perfecting your craft.
We used to call it dedication.
Of course you can't make any money on a diagnosis of dedication.

Forget psychology, it was completely subverted and is no more a science long time ago.
Who are with serious psychological problems and a great distortion of reality are the shrinks and their great academics.
Use common sense instead.

DSM-IV/TR (psycho-bible) was written prior to widespread use of internet and poser, but
DSM-V (in progress) will include both substance addiction and non-substance addiction.
they may avoid freudian/subjective terms (e.g. creativity) in favour of statistical analyses
(e.g. effects associated with drugs affecting neurotransmitters).  resistance to neuro-psychiatric
methods may have been formerly known as "reaction formation", but they are trying to
deprecate that to a less negative interpretation.  they are trying to develop a quantitative
model of human brain function using scientific methods and apparatus.

Hopefully the new DSM update will be more reasonable than the last. The DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--essentially a directory of mental diseases. I remember a Time magazine article from a couple years ago accusing that the last DSM update had been usurped by pharmaceutical companies that drastically increased the number of disorders being covered--such that even shyness was included. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but the pharmaceutical industry had drugs to help overcome all the newly added disorders.

The problem with trying to cure psychological addictions is ensuring that there really is a problem. Societal attitudes too frequently paint the problem as being due to what a person is addicted to. Society says that something is seriously wrong with a person who looks at porn two hours a day while not considering anything wrong with watching sports four hours a day. I was looking at one religious site that focused on porn addiction and one of the highlighted articles was about a woman who had to divorce her husband due to his porn addiction. She caught him watching a porn pay show ONCE and immediately labeled him a porn addict and the site touted her bravery and misfortune to be married to such a horrible individual. I've got a brother-in-law that, at any social gathering, will walk in the door and sit on the couch and turn the TV on to watch a sports game. Even if he doesn't want to be there, it's still a crass thing to do. It's not as if I'd go to his home and find the den so that I can sit down and play on the computer instead of interacting with his family. Whatever "addictions" I might have, they're not as bad as his sports addiction.

The biggest question here, and as yet not only unanswered as far as I can see, but even unasked is this: Why should we even care?!
dph

We should care because it's a valuable discussion that could help us understand our fellow forumites just a little bit better. There's nothing wrong with that. Just my opinion.

It just seem to me that we're expending an excessive amount of energy, and ruminating in a long and effusive manner, about something of very little importance.
dph

My Grandmother used to say her rosary for 2 hours a night before she went to bed.
We referred to her as being religious.
We never considered the fact that she might be addicted to God.
Someday someone will draw a big chart of disorders represented by circles and someone will notice that all the circles overlap and that every conceivable personality trait falls within one of the circles.
They will also discover that there is a medication designed to treat all of the circles.
If your roof needs to be repaired you would do well to find a roofer who is addicted to roofing cause they do a really really good job.
A healthy person who can walk away from roofs at any time is not a good choice.

psycho-bible=psycho-babble

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/639813.html

Check this out.

Quote - It just seem to me that we're expending an excessive amount of energy, and ruminating in a long and effusive manner, about something of very little importance.
dph

It's one post out of dozens over the past few days. Do what I do--ignore posts you're not interested in reading--unless you have an addictive personality... Are there any forum anonymous programs to help us?

Quote -
Someday someone will draw a big chart of disorders represented by circles and someone will notice that all the circles overlap and that every conceivable personality trait falls within one of the circles.
They will also discover that there is a medication designed to treat all of the circles.

From what I've read, they use an OCD medication. Unlike physical dependencies, which have drug treatments tailored to the specific addictive substance, psychological addictions have one course of treatment. That would pretty much indicate that there is only one problem--and it's not what the person is addicted to.

The ability to highly focus on a single task is not in and of itself a bad thing. Without it, we probably wouldn't have cars, buildings and all the accoutrements of civilization. I sure as hell want the guy, designing a new bridge, to be especially obsessive about doing it right. I'd be a lot less comfortable if it were being done by a hyperactive person who cannot maintain attention on a task for more than a few minutes. Without creative people having a passionate focus on various entertainment arts, we'd still be picking fleas off one another for fun. We also wouldn't have some of the cool Poser figure remaps that DP's given us. It's important to have people who are highly driven to find solutions and create new things. OCD is a real disorder that is probably the ability to concentrate gone haywire--somewhat akin to allergies being the immune system out of control.

There seems to be differences between a creative obsession and many other obsessions. An artist is making something new and controlling the results of the obsession. It's a very productive obsession. It's also mostly a solitary passion. Most other addictions seem to be passive in nature to some degree. They're also often socially structured. People who spend way too much time watching sports and observing religions are doing so in a social fashion where what they are doing allows them to participate in a larger group structure. The effort they put into that structure allows them to conform and be a greater part of it and--if the most knowledgeable one in that subject, to even control some aspect of it. Collecting hobbies are a little less social, but are still a bit about control. Collecting is about completing a sequence and restoring an order to a small corner of a chaotic world. It's a little more OCD oriented. A lot of collecting is about showing off what's been collected and that becomes part of one's social fabric.
 

So, am I creative because I'm nuts or am I nuts because I'm creative? Sounds a bit like a chicken and egg question really ;o). At any rate, you can probably chalk it up more to the slight differences between individuals than due to any type of mental illness. They're character traits, and perhaps creative people share a lot of the same character traits, but that doesn't equal something being wrong with the mind ;o).Something I think is lost on a lot of shrinks these days. I really don't think I need therapy or meds to stem my creativity or my need to create things. They don't interfere with my life since I'm able to lay them down and get on with living ;o).

Laurie

 The egg came first by hundreds of millions of years. Long before chickens evolved. Why is that even a question? Dinosaurs laid eggs, but not chickens. That's be against the TOS, anyway.:laugh:

For me the answer is yes. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have the internet.

My wife is Jealous of my LOVE for Posette!  She accuses me of having an affair with her behind her back!
dph

:laugh: @ dph

I have neither an addictive personality, OCD, nor Asperger's.  I do, however, have synaesthesia.   

None of the above have anything to do with creativity, IMO.  

@ dph - that's what a discussion forum is all about, matey.  We discuss stuff.  Sometimes we discuss stuff others aren't interested in.  Sometimes we discuss stuff some are interested in.  In either case, the thread lives or dies, depending on the responses received.

Quote - @ dph - that's what a discussion forum is all about, matey.  We discuss stuff.  Sometimes we discuss stuff others aren't interested in.  Sometimes we discuss stuff some are interested in.  In either case, the thread lives or dies, depending on the responses received.

I'd rather talk about sex instead, -more fun and profitable!
dph

The link I provided was all about sex.

Quote - The link I provided was all about sex.

People actually COMPLAIN about **THAT!!! ** I'd give my left testicle to have such a problem!!!
dph

Quote - > Quote - @ dph - that's what a discussion forum is all about, matey.  We discuss stuff.  Sometimes we discuss stuff others aren't interested in.  Sometimes we discuss stuff some are interested in.  In either case, the thread lives or dies, depending on the responses received.

I'd rather talk about sex instead, -more fun and profitable!
dph

I'd rather do than talk.

Spend the rest of my time doing something other than sex.  

Hey, it's what makes me such a well, adjusted, interesting and altogether wonderful person.  He said with tongue firmly in cheek.

Quote - I'd rather do than talk.

I did!  Five Children!  Six Grandchildren!  Now I'm too tired to do, but I'd still like to talk about it!
dph

Quote - > Quote - I'd rather do than talk.

I did!  Five Children!  Six Grandchildren!  Now I'm too tired to do, but I'd still like to talk about it!
dph

Well there are forums where that is encouraged. This just isn't one of them.