# Wellbutrin killing creativity?



## peaceandlove09 (Aug 10, 2010)

:blank

I've been on Wellbutrin for almost 2 months now, and i've noticed i dont' have much creative output anymore. 

I am normally an avid journal'er and writer and I always used to have creative ideas pop into my head and i'd typically carry a pad/paper with me and jot them down. I don't have these creative moments anymore (like never) and that concerns me. 

I don't know if my depression was making me more creative, or if the Wellbutrin has stifled my creativity. 

Has anyone else felt this? 

I thought this only happened with SSRi's but apparently not. 

OTOH, Wellbutrin has destroyed my depression and I am much less depressed than I was before. 


Cheers


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## yelda (Jun 12, 2010)

you need some time for your creativity comes back. just wait.
I have no lack of creativity problem with meds.


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## alex999 (Oct 21, 2008)

On Lexapro this happened to me. 

Music is my life passion, and it seemed like I was never inspired to pick up my guitar or other instruments. When I did, I did not get very much enjoyment out of it. Music also sounded kind of bland. That was the ultimate deal breaker for me.

I could not live like that. That actually motivated me to really take strides to overcome SA, because it was either: (1) Be on meds, feel numb and sacrifice your life passion, or (2) Fight for the right to be happy and get off meds.

I have been on Wellbutrin SR 300mg for about a month and a half. As naturally a creative person as I am, I have not noticed any blunting of creativity. I have written two long essays in English that got almost perfect grades. I still feel articulate and witty during conversations. 

I'm actually kind of surprised you notice lack of creativity with Wellbutrin. If anything it should raise it due to the dopamine increase (dopamine is linked to creativity). 

How certain are you that it's the meds? If you normally journal/write stuff from unhappy events or emotions, then maybe since you are not depressed anymore you don't feel the need to. 

But yeah, SSRI's at least are a deal breaker for creative people. Creativity comes from strong emotions, and the flat effect that SSRI's give off will pretty much damper any creative thought. If I wasn't a creative person, I'd be OK with being on Lexapro since it killed my anxiety. But I've come to realize that playing music is therapeutic to me, and is my own natural antidepressant. I'm off Lexapro now and my anxiety is even lower than it's ever been, due to lifestyle and diet changes.


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## peaceandlove09 (Aug 10, 2010)

Yeah man. I am surprised too. I didn't think Wellbutrin had this effect.

I am trying to figure out if I lost my creativity because I was depressed, and it still hasn't come back yet, or if the Wellbutrin is stifling my creativity. I'm not totally sure to be honest.

I love to write and it's a passion of mine. I just haven't been motivated at all since starting Wellbutrin to write at all. I'm trying to remember if the loss of creativity is from the depression or the medication :blank

I'll stay on the Wellbutrin and see if my creativity eventually comes back. It's my only choice really, because SSRis are just not an option for me. The sexual sides and the emotional "flatness" .... no thanks

Sometimes i even toy around with being "med free" but then I remember all the yucky invasive thoughts i used to have, and how i'd be "down" about something for an entire day, and i hated that.

5 htp alone (before Wellbutrin) worked a bit, but since starting Wellbutrin i dont think negative thoughts like I used to, and that is something i really like 

I'll give it another month (so full 12 week trial) and see if my creativity comes back at all.

And if it doesn't, I have to decide:

Is my creativity more important than my mood?

Because being creative is great, but holding down a job is probably more important at this point in my life. I have quit so many jobs over the past few years and i think it's due to depression. So i have to decide between being "creative" or living a normal functional life.

Cheers,



alex999 said:


> On Lexapro this happened to me.
> 
> Music is my life passion, and it seemed like I was never inspired to pick up my guitar or other instruments. When I did, I did not get very much enjoyment out of it. Music also sounded kind of bland. That was the ultimate deal breaker for me.
> 
> ...


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## King Moonracer (Oct 12, 2010)

Craazzzyy... Lexapronhas shot my creatiity too.. I used to be able to Come up with wise quotes off the top of my head, and I used to be able to use language like a kin of vocabulary.... Laexapro ended that as dis cbalta... But,, recently... My new klonopin has blossomed my creativity beyond the limit, which is strange.. While in the little semihigh klonopin gives me, I can think of witty jokes and am really.... Myself more... Probaly because I'm not spending all that extra energy worrying


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## terra (Feb 12, 2007)

Were your pre-Wellbutrin journal entries mostly depressive? Maybe writing was how you dealt with the depression, and now that it is lifting, you don't feel that need to write in your journal anymore. You probably are still creative; you just need to break the association between journal writing and depression and force yourself to write, right now. I know that it's often said that depression spurs creativity, which makes sense: strong emotions do make us look at things from different angles and perspectives we didn't know existed. However, you do not have to be depressed to be creative, and vice versa. Make sure you are not subconsciously buying into the myth that you must be depressed in order to be creative.


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