ADHD and Creativity

I've never thought of myself as particularly creative. My husband, however, would beg to differ with me. He thinks I come up with some of the most off-the-wall thoughts at the most inappropriate times. I hate to admit it, but sometimes I even embarrass him! I believe that he feels that in this way I am very creative.

I don't think of myself as creative simply because I can't draw a straight line, much less a picture. I tried crocheting once and that was one time too many. I play the piano-poorly. I've started about a million "hobbies" and have yet to finish any of them. But, as my husband points out, I have written a number of articles and poems, I sing well, and I can come up with unique approaches to things that he would never have thought of.

So, what is creativity and do people with ADHD have an advantage in this area? To create, according to my dictionary (Merriam-Webster's Deluxe Dictionary, 1998) is to produce through imaginative skill, to design, to make or bring into existence something new. To a certain extent, I think everyone is creative. I don't think we could survive without it. Being creative is certainly not a symptom of ADHD, but there seem to be an awful lot of people with ADHD who are creative. Some of the most creative people throughout history are thought to have had ADHD. Of course, we'll never know for sure, but their habits and problems seem to support this thought. Einstein, de Vinci, the Wright Brothers and Beethoven are all thought to have had ADHD.

Bonnie Cramond, Ph.D. wrote a paper titled "The Coincidence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Creativity" that points out some interesting commonalities between people with ADHD and people who are creative.

She pointed out that creative people tend to have a number of interests, even to the point of losing interest in one thing and beginning something else. This can easily be correlated to the person with ADHD who loses focus on a task and moves on to another task. Many with ADHD start projects that are never finished. She points out that Leonardo da Vinci only finished 17 paintings in his 67 years as a painter. da Vinci himself admitted that this was because his interests were so diverse.

Dr. Cramond also found other similar characteristics between those who are creative and those with ADHD. In addition to the inattention mentioned above, many creative people have a high energy level and tend to be risk takers or sensation seekers. These traits certainly correspond to the hyperactivity and impulsivity found in many individuals with ADHD. Other similarities found in both groups were moodiness, poor social skills, and poor school performance.

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