This question is for visual artist who can draw well or paint and are taking (or have taken) adderall. With the many short commings one can have with ADD, I was blessed with having "naturally" sharp drawing skills since I was a young child. I have a steady hand and generally can work with ease. My subjects in my drawings are generally properly proportioned on first sketch and rarely do I have to make corrections. Since I have been taking adderall, I notice my drawing ability suffers greatly at times. There are times I litterally have to lay it down and attempt again later. When I take my adderall vacations, my drawing abilities return as usuall. Can anyone relate or offer some form of explanation as to why this happens?

Regards-

CW

it's bizarre.
...I can't draw without adderrall.

I have ideas. but i can't exicute them

seriously, this blows my mind.
....Ive done my best stuff on adderrall

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49403

My awesome musical talent as well as my ability to dance nearly vanishes when I take adderall. In other words much of my creative drive is wiped out when im on it.
I have been searching for the exact mechanism of this for a long time but I still am not sure. My guess is it has something to do with the mass amount of norepinephrene it causes to be released in the brain but I really don't know.

Just putting the topic back at the front and seeing if it might get any more responses.

When my adderall is adjusted properly, I am better able to complete creative projects. I don't get stuck in the endless loop of not being able to take an idea and run with it. And I can keep an idea in my head long enough to see it to fruition. For me, it calms me to the point where my handwriting gets MUCH better... legible! :) I slow down enough to write real words instead of chicken scratches. So detail work is easier. But when it's not adjusted quite right, I get jittery and that makes anything requiring fine motor skills difficult. If you think this is your problem, you might try either Dexedrine or Vyvanse. They only have one stimulant instead of four. My husband is calmer and more centered on Vyvanse, I am calmer on Adderall. To each his own!

I draw for my work, and I rely on my artistic skill and inspiration daily for my pay. I've heard that some medications can cause you to lose the inspiration...or something to that effect, and hearing that made me too frightened to get treatment with stimulants.

I'd like to get more help and see a doctor but I can't take the risk; I can't just be producing for fun or stuff that isn't up to par, I have to be able to live up to my current abilities regularly and as I'm used to doing.

This topic interests me I guess is what I'm trying to get across, I really am curious to read more responses to this.

I only started feeling better (getting over depression) once I started being true to myself and letting myself be creative again.

Through school I was told (or kind of ordered by my parents) not to study art as there was no value in it. I felt like a huge part of me was dead for so long and now that I have revived it I am so scared of the thought of it being taken away from me...by going on meds etc.

It's interesting that some people have found that adderall has given them times where they have produced their best art and others have found that they can't do art. I wonder if it depends what kind of style you have in the first place?

The value of being creative for me is huge. My drawings are a reflection of my mind at the time. I look at each one and I can see where I was. I think they also offer other people who see them an insight into parts of me which I keep hidden.

I also make sterling silver jewellery. This takes more time, more planning and more motivation. It can be relaxing once I get going but theres definately more thought that needs to go into it than most of the sketches I do. I wonder if I were to take meds if it would make it easier to sit down and do a whole day of jewellery making. As much as I love it that is certainly a challenge for me at the moment. I always start things and then start other things and then lose focus when I need it ;)

Wow. That boggles my mind. I was LESS creative when I wasn't on drugs. I've always believed that ADHD stifles creativity. Without meds, I was always coming up with ideas but then forgetting them two minutes later or coming up with an idea, then another idea, then forgetting about my first idea, then coming up with another idea, forgetting previous ideas, then trying to remember the original idea I had, then coming up with another one.... and on and on and on.

Maybe Adderall isn't the right drug for you. Perhaps you should try a different medication or adjust the dosage. If you have ADHD and you find the right meds, the meds should bring out your creative potential.

I enjoy playing my drum set even more when I am on my Adderall. It really helps me focus. It also helps with me being able to concentrate very well when I am playing them. I do not drift away any when I am on my medicine, or space out on what I am trying to play. It helps me a lot and certainly helps me as opposed to hindering me at all.

I'm a professional designer/artist and I own a graphic design company. It's been my experience that Adderall has only helped my creativity by making me more focused and better able to execute an idea or concept. I can't see how it would hinder anyone's creativity.

As one poster already mentioned, maybe it's your dose, or maybe it's the wrong drug for you. Could it also be that the drug is making you more critical of your work by making you more aware of mistakes?

Could it also be that the drug is making you more critical of your work by making you more aware of mistakes?

Ooh, that's a really good point to consider too. Having ADHD can make a person "dense" sometimes because we're in our own little worlds so maybe now you're just more aware of your flaws. Add that to the stereotype that ADHD=creativity and you could possibly have a "placebo" effect going on.

First, allow me to thank you all for participating in this post and sharing your experiences. I feel this is an important topic for artist, as many suffer from ADD. First allow me to clarify that I never stated that adderall hendered my creativity. I would also admit that it seems to enhance it somewhat. I did state in my original post however that I felt it was having an affect on my natural drawing ability. Lines and shapes that I would normally exectue with east whould instead be stressed and ill proportioned. Then again, only now do I realize that it may not be the adderall as much as it was due to my intake of coffee while on adderall. I initially cut back on my coffee intake last week but yesturday I quit it all together. I seem to be more at ease and better focussed today than usuall. Perhaps I should see how it goes in the next few weeks without coffee and see if that makes a difference.

First, allow me to thank you all for participating in this post and sharing your experiences. I feel this is an important topic for artist, as many suffer from ADD. First allow me to clarify that I never stated that adderall hendered my creativity. I would also admit that it seems to enhance it somewhat. I did state in my original post however that I felt it was having an affect on my natural drawing ability. Lines and shapes that I would normally exectue with east whould instead be stressed and ill proportioned. Then again, only now do I realize that it may not be the adderall as much as it was due to my intake of coffee while on adderall. I initially cut back on my coffee intake last week but yesturday I quit it all together. I seem to be more at ease and better focussed today than usuall. Perhaps I should see how it goes in the next few weeks without coffee and see if that makes a difference.

my DH had that problem too... cutting out coffee helped, but Vyvanse helped more. keep an eye on it, if you still aren't satisfied it might be the wrong combo. I find that when I take my Adderall with milk, I get a much better result from my meds. I forgot to do that today and was more tense than normal. I can see it in my handwriting, so I'm sure you would notice in your sketches. When you are an artist (or god forbid a surgeon) the least little bit of tension can wreak havoc on a project. Just a suggestion, maybe worth a try. :)

First allow me to clarify that I never stated that adderall hendered my creativity. I would also admit that it seems to enhance it somewhat. I did state in my original post however that I felt it was having an affect on my natural drawing ability. Lines and shapes that I would normally exectue with east whould instead be stressed and ill proportioned. Thanks for the clarification. There seems to be a stereotype that ADHD drugs dampen creativity. I get tired of those rhetorical questions like, "What if Einstein/Mozart/Edison had been prescribed Ritalin?" I don't even believe they even had ADHD in the first place. BUT, even IF they had suffered from ADHD maybe they could have created even more great work if they had been treated for ADHD. So I just assumed that you were saying Adderall made you less creative. My apologies.


Then again, only now do I realize that it may not be the adderall as much as it was due to my intake of coffee while on adderall. I initially cut back on my coffee intake last week but yesturday I quit it all together. I seem to be more at ease and better focussed today than usuall. Perhaps I should see how it goes in the next few weeks without coffee and see if that makes a difference.Ahhh, it looks like the coffee might be the culprit. Coffee is a stimulant so it enhances the effect of the Adderall. Drinking coffee with Adderall would essentially have the same effect as taking a dose of Adderall that is too high. And we all know that taking the wrong dosage of a drug can have negative effects. Good luck.

The most immediately noticeable effect adderall has on me when I take it is my significant loss of dance rythm and creativity. It is not any kind of placebo effect whatsoever.

A dancers worst enemy is to 'think', you must simply feel the music. The fact is, I don't feel the music on adderall like I do off of it and hence I suddenly am thinking about my movements whereas usually they just come naturally. The same applies for when I play music, I don't feel it near as much on adderall and it suddenly becomes much more mechanical and less emotional and as a result, lower quality.

Its very depressing as music was easily my greatest passion and talent in life but in order to stave off my intense social anxiety I need to take the adderall.

Verbally; humorously, I am a heck of alot more creative on adderall though or rather I think the same things I usually do but I organize them 20 times faster so I actually can say them on the spot rather than laughing my *** off at something I thought of 15 seconds later that now would be inappropriate or awkward to verbalize in a conversation.

KurtG85, I understand what you me about sort of losing your usual rythm And your creativity being different. Because I am a drummer and taking the Adderral takes away my impulsivity, I believe is part if not all of it. I had to be creative with my drumming because my rythm does not come naturally for me. Being on the med. it "strickens" or makes my drumming technical and I revert back to regulated, military, marching band type of playing. If you can understand what I mean. When I start doing that too much I stand up and walk away from my drums for a few minutes and then go back to them "fresh" Maybe you can give what I am doing, it just might work for you too. I would be interested hearing if it does work for you.

Thanks for the clarification. There seems to be a stereotype that ADHD drugs dampen creativity. I get tired of those rhetorical questions like, "What if Einstein/Mozart/Edison had been prescribed Ritalin?" I don't even believe they even had ADHD in the first place. BUT, even IF they had suffered from ADHD maybe they could have created even more great work if they had been treated for ADHD. So I just assumed that you were saying Adderall made you less creative. My apologies.

Thanks for your valuable input scarygreengiant as you bring up some very good points. I think many of the artist and genuis' of yerturday suffered from various degrees of ADD, but I think they lived in a world that better accomodated their shortcommings. The world then moved at a slower (more natural) pace and they were without the pollution of virtuality, which I think worsens the symptoms of ADD. I probably shouldn't make such a claim, as I can't say with certainty that virtuality worsens the symptoms of ADD, I just know that I watched way too much television as a child and my whole way of thinking (daydreaming) is a never ending cycle of a mentally envisioned television program. Then again, I am not a Mozart, Edison, Einstein either.:rolleyes:

A dancers worst enemy is to 'think', you must simply feel the music. The fact is, I don't feel the music on adderall like I do off of it and hence I suddenly am thinking about my movements whereas usually they just come naturally. The same applies for when I play music, I don't feel it near as much on adderall and it suddenly becomes much more mechanical and less emotional and as a result, lower quality.


Verbally; humorously, I am a heck of alot more creative on adderall though or rather I think the same things I usually do but I organize them 20 times faster so I actually can say them on the spot rather than laughing my *** off at something I thought of 15 seconds later that now would be inappropriate or awkward to verbalize in a conversation.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head Kurt. In certain stages of being on the medication I can tell I am thinking too much. You almost over-notice so to speak. At this stage, I feel like a begginer or a stroke victim that has to relearn something. I failed to mention in my original post that there were stages where I actually could draw with somewhat better precision, but that is sporadically.

I am also more verbally attuned while medicated. I can actually keep up with a conversation and I voice my thoughts at a suitable pace. Of course I should add that I sometimes think I talk WAY TOO MUCH while on adderall. So far however, no one seems to complain. It's just so unusual for me. I use to just look like I was listening and daydream.