The study found that about a third of the artists suffered severe mood swings, and 25 percent underwent long periods of elation. Ninety percent said that moods and feelings of sustained elation were either necessary or very important to their work. Writers and artists who had been treated for mood disorders produced the least at the highest point of their cycles. For them, peaks of productivity usually preceded and followed the mood peaks by three or four months. Both groups tended to be at the height of their cycles in summer.
Mood swings are certainly a mixed blessing.
It makes sense to get to sleep, as well as do other things, on a strict schedule. Concerning mood swings and artists, I read a study recently on that very subject. The subject of the study were 47 eminent British poets, playwrights, novelists, biograhers, painters and sculptors. The study found that about a third of the artists suffered severe mood swings, and 25 percent underwent long periods of elation. Ninety percent said that moods and feelings of sustained elation were either necessary or very important to their work.