Insomnia and Creativity

People debate whether or not you can be creative when you suffer from insomnia. Some people will even avoid sleep, just so they can have a creative moment. Some people with disorders have difficulty with sleep also. For instance, manic depressive patients not on medication can suffer from insomnia. I have my doubts that bouts of insomnia help creativity. The opposite is true. Insomnia would hinder it.

I remember from my school days in college, that we discussed research that showed that insomnia is a danger to both the insomniac and those around him. Psychologists have known for years that in order to be healthy, a person needs to go through all the stages of sleep. Us common folks don't even think about how the sleep cycle works, but it can be rather complicated.

There are five stages to sleep. There are four non REM stages, and one REM. So what is REM? Have you ever watched a person sleeping and seen their eyes move? We all know that means they are dreaming. So the first four stages of sleep take you through different levels of sleep. The fourth is the deepest level of sleep. It is as if the body senses any deeper sleep might lead to a coma, so the body automatically kicks us into REM sleep or rapid eye movement sleep. In simpler terms, we are dreaming. Then we rotate back around to stage one or the lightest. People are easiest to wake up during REM sleep or stage one of non REM sleep.

So this brings us back to our question. It is doubtful whether the person with insomnia is getting proper rest and rotating through all five stages of sleep, including REM sleep. People who suffer from insomnia, do not enter proper or sufficient REM sleep , and therefore can not be as creative as they should be. REM sleep allows a person to subconsciously rid themselves of daily stress and problems. If a person does not enter the proper amount of REM sleep and suffers from insomnia over a lengthy period of time, psychological problems start to arise. Also, not to mention this is a person you would like to stay away from when they are driving and operating dangerous equipment. A person who is an insomniac will l not be able to stay alert.

Maybe some equate mental oddities with creativity, but true creativity comes from a mind that has rested and dealt with life's stresses and problems through entering enough complete sleep cycles, including Rapid Eye Movement sleep. Tell your friends suffering from insomnia to try to have their creative bouts when they are rested. I believe insomnia does not enhance creativity.