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Creative blocks and procrastination are two of the most prominent features of artistic patients, whether they are exploring their creativity or are already successful professionals.
Often called writer’s block, creative blocks also happen to painters, composers, choreographers, and other artists. Although they are usually anxiety-provoking experiences in the moment, they often result in personal and creative growth when the artist addresses underlying self-conceptualization issues.
Procrastination allows the person to avoid the potential shame of failure by doing something considered less shameful.
Dennis Palumbo discussed creative blocks and procrastination during his January 16 presentation for the International Forensic Psychiatry Lecture Series. (You can watch a recording of the lecture online.) He worked in Hollywood as a television and movie screenwriter for about 17 years before becoming a licensed psychotherapist. He has worked with creative patients for more than 30 years.
Creative Blocks
When artistic people experience creative blocks, the deepest cause of their anxiety is not the block itself but the meaning they give it. Often, patients feel they would not be blocked if they were good at their work or if the stories they were telling were good. However, artistic work is difficult, and being blocked does not mean anything about the person or the quality of their work.
Family support for creative members often casts doubt on their ability to succeed. Mental health professionals should help artistic patients understand the depth of their belief about their skill set, their personal investment in the material, and the reality that they are working in a brutal marketplace.
In Mr. Palumbo’s experience, having a creative block is good news because the artistic person’s struggle can teach them something about themselves.
Biographies of creative people often include periods when their work becomes repetitive or completely stops. It usually ends with a growth spurt in their work with greater personal relevance that speaks to a broader audience.
Mr. Palumbo said the artistic patients he has worked with have all thought they were better artists on the other side. He frames these creative blocks as necessary and inevitable developmental steps.
“If it’s a harbinger of a growth spurt in your work, let’s look at the content of the work.” Creative blocks can be caused by a change in genre (e.g., short story to novel, comedy to drama), which causes the artist to doubt their ability. It could also be that the work touches on unresolved family issues.
Just as important is that the most creative work often comes when the artist feels their way through the work, exploring different approaches from what they have done in the past.
Procrastination
In Mr. Palumbo’s experience, when a person procrastinates, it is because they fear being exposed to shame.
People would rather feel the shame of procrastination than the shame of failure. That is because when something is finished, it will be evaluated. And because the work represents the person, evaluating the work means evaluating the person.
The artist is the first viewer of their finished work, so they worry about not meeting their own approval, invalidating their legitimacy to do the work. They then need to gain the approval of the people closest to them before the approval of the marketplace.
Mr. Palumbo used the example of doctoral students who procrastinate completing their thesis, having one more reference to look up or a new book to read. The students can claim legitimacy in doing continuous research, but it is usually just a way to avoid the potential shame that could accompany the completion of the dissertation. “And remember what happens when [they are] done with a dissertation. [They] have to defend it in front of a panel. What an awful word, having to defend [their] work. It’s every artist’s nightmare.”
The shame of procrastination often grows, and the person’s awareness of it becomes its own problem, diluting their good, positive feelings about themselves.
Written by Virginia St-Denis and approved by Dennis Palumbo.
