View source for Creativity and mental health

{{short description|Concept in psychology}}
[[Image:Joseph Karl Stieler's Beethoven mit dem Manuskript der Missa solemnis.jpg|thumb|Composer [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] may have had [[bipolar disorder]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqajnKzxTJMC|title=Diagnosing Genius: The Life and Death of Beethoven|last=Martin Mai|first=François|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|date=2007|isbn=978-0-7735-7879-1|quote=There is a strong possibility that he had recurrent depressive episodes, and it is also likely that he had what would now be called a bipolar disorder.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYr0U7iJuWkC&pg=PA15|title=Mania: Clinical and Research Perspectives|page=15|last=Goodnick|first=Paul J.|publisher=American Psychiatric Pub|date=1998|isbn=978-0-88048-728-3}}</ref>]]

Links between '''creativity and mental health''' have been extensively discussed and studied by psychologists and other researchers for centuries. Parallels can be drawn to connect [[creativity]] to major [[mental disorder]]s including [[bipolar disorder]], [[Autism spectrum|autism]], [[schizophrenia]], [[major depressive disorder]], [[anxiety disorder]], [[OCD]] and [[Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder|ADHD]]. For example, studies<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kyaga|first1=Simon|last2=Landén|first2=Mikael|last3=Boman|first3=Marcus|last4=Hultman|first4=Christina M.|last5=Långström|first5=Niklas|last6=Lichtenstein|first6=Paul|date=January 2013|title=Mental illness, suicide and creativity: 40-year prospective total population study|journal=Journal of Psychiatric Research|volume=47|issue=1|pages=83–90|doi=10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.09.010|issn=1879-1379|pmid=23063328}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Musgrave|first1=George|url=https://uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/m/10.16997/book43/|last2=Gross|first2=Sally Anne|title=Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition |date=2020-09-29|publisher=University of Westminster Press|isbn=978-1-912656-62-2|language=en|doi=10.16997/book43|s2cid=224842613 }}</ref> have demonstrated correlations between creative occupations and people living with mental illness. There are cases that support the idea that mental illness can aid in creativity, but it is also generally agreed that mental illness does not have to be present for creativity to exist.

== History ==
It has been proposed that there is a link between creativity and mental illness. [[Major depressive disorder]] appears among playwrights, novelists, biographers, and artists at a higher rate than the general population.<ref>Goodwin, F. and Jamison, K. R., ''Manic Depressive Illness'', Oxford University Press (Oxford, 1990), p. 353.</ref> Association between mental illness and creativity first appeared in academic literature in the 1970s, but speculation about a link between "madness" and "genius" dates back at least to the time of [[Aristotle]], to whom [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] attributes the aphorism "No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seneca |title=De Tranquillitate Animi |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0021%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D17%3Asection%3D10 |access-date=17 May 2024 |chapter=9.17.10 |quote=sive Aristoteli' nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit '}}</ref> Even before Aristotle, Plato spoke of artistic inspiration as occurring during a state of frantic senselessness.<ref name="vc">{{Cite web|url=https://vacounseling.com/tortured-artist/|title=The Tortured Artist: Creativity Myth or Reality|last=Mathews|first=John|date=2018-04-18|website=Virginia Counseling|language=en|access-date=2025-05-09}}</ref> The word "genius" may refer to [[Literature|literary]] genius, [[Creativity|creative]] genius, [[scholar]]ly genius, "all around" genius, etc.<ref>Kaufman, James C. "Two." Creativity and Mental Illness. United Kingdom: Cambridge U House, 2014. 31–38. Print.</ref> The Ancient Greeks believed that creativity came from the gods, in particular the [[Muse]]s (the mythical personifications of the arts and sciences, the nine daughters of [[Zeus]]). In the Aristotelian tradition, genius was viewed from a [[Physiology|physiological]] standpoint, and it was believed that the same human quality was perhaps responsible for both extraordinary achievement and melancholy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/09/what-is-a-genius|title=What is a Genius?|last=Romeo|first=Nick|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=November 9, 2013|access-date=May 16, 2017}}</ref> On this topic, Romantic writers had similar ideals, with [[Lord Byron]] having pleasantly expressed, "We of the craft are all crazy. Some are affected by gaiety, others by melancholy, but all are more or less touched".

Individuals with mental illness are said to display a capacity to see the world in a novel and original way; literally, to see things that others cannot.<ref name="Andreasen">Andreasen, N.C. (2011), [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115302/ "A journey into chaos: Creativity and the unconscious"], Mens Sana Monographs, 9:1, p&nbsp;42–53. Retrieved 2011-03-27</ref> However, people do not require a mental illness to do so.

== Studies ==
For many years, the creative arts, from visual arts and writing to music and drama, have been used in therapy for those recovering from mental illness or addiction.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/arts-and-health/201406/creative-arts-therapy-and-expressive-arts-therapy|title=Creative Arts Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy|last=Malchiodi|first=Cathy|magazine=Psychology Today|date=June 30, 2014|access-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Heenan|first1=Deirdre|s2cid=43879929|title=Art as therapy: an effective way of promoting positive mental health?|journal=Disability & Society|date=March 2006|volume=21|issue=2|pages=179–191|doi=10.1080/09687590500498143}}</ref>

Another study found that increased levels of creativity were more common amongst those with [[schizotypal personality disorder]] than in people with either [[schizophrenia]] or people without mental health diagnoses. While divergent thinking was associated with bilateral activation of the [[prefrontal cortex]], schizotypal individuals were found to have much greater activation of their ''right'' prefrontal cortex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Folley |first1=Bradley S. |last2=Park |first2=Sohee |title=Verbal creativity and schizotypal personality in relation to prefrontal hemispheric laterality: A behavioral and near-infrared optical imaging study |journal=Schizophrenia Research |date=December 2005 |volume=80 |issue=2–3 |pages=271–282 |doi=10.1016/j.schres.2005.06.016 |pmid=16125369 |pmc=2817946 }}</ref> This study hypothesized that such individuals are better at accessing both hemispheres, allowing them to make novel associations at a faster rate. Consistent with this hypothesis, [[ambidexterity]] is also more common in people with schizotypal personality disorder as well as people with schizophrenia.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

Three studies by Mark Batey and Adrian Furnham have demonstrated the relationships between schizotypal<ref>{{cite journal | author = Batey M. Furnham | year = 2009 | title = The relationship between creativity, schizotypy and intelligence | journal = Individual Differences Research | volume = 7 | pages = 272–284 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Batey M., Furnham A. | year = 2008 | title = The relationship between measures of creativity and schizotypy | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | volume = 45 | issue = 8| pages = 816–821 | doi=10.1016/j.paid.2008.08.014}}</ref> and hypomanic personality<ref>{{cite journal | author = Furnham A., Batey M., Anand K., Manfield J. | year = 2008 | title = Personality, hypomania, intelligence and creativity | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | volume = 44 | issue = 5| pages = 1060–1069 | doi=10.1016/j.paid.2007.10.035}}</ref> and several different measures of creativity. Specifically, Divergent Thinking Fluency, the Biographical Inventory of Creative Behaviors, as well as Self-rated Creativity.

Particularly strong links have been identified between creativity and [[mood disorder]]s, particularly [[manic-depressive disorder]] (a.k.a. [[bipolar disorder]]) and [[depressive disorder]] (a.k.a. [[unipolar disorder]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Andreasen |first=Nancy C. |date=June 2008 |title=The relationship between creativity and mood disorders |journal=Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=251–255 |doi=10.31887/DCNS.2008.10.2/ncandreasen |issn=1294-8322 |pmc=3181877 |pmid=18689294}}</ref> In ''Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament'', [[Kay Redfield Jamison]] summarizes studies of mood-disorder rates in [[writer]]s, [[poet]]s and [[artist]]s. She also explores research that identifies [[mood disorder]]s in such famous writers and artists as [[Ernest Hemingway]] (who shot himself after [[electroconvulsive treatment]]), [[Virginia Woolf]] (who drowned herself when she felt a depressive episode coming on), composer [[Robert Schumann]] (who died in a mental institution), and famed [[visual artist]] [[Michelangelo]].

A study by Simon Kyaga and others looked at 300,000 people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or unipolar depression, and their relatives, and found overrepresentation in creative professions for those with bipolar disorder as well as for undiagnosed siblings of those with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.<ref name=":1" /> There was no overall overrepresentation, but overrepresentation for artistic occupations, among those diagnosed with schizophrenia. There was no association for those with unipolar depression or their relatives.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal | last1 = Kyaga | first1 = S. | last2 = Lichtenstein | first2 = P. | last3 = Boman | first3 = M. | last4 = Hultman | first4 = C. | last5 = Långström | first5 = N. | last6 = Landén | first6 = M. | title = Creativity and mental disorder: Family study of 300 000 people with severe mental disorder | doi = 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.085316 | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 199 | issue = 5 | pages = 373–379 | year = 2011 | pmid =  21653945| s2cid = 3769831 | doi-access =  }}</ref>

A study involving more than one million people, conducted by Swedish researchers at the [[Karolinska Institute]], reported a number of correlations between creative occupations and mental illnesses. Writers had a higher risk of anxiety and bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, unipolar depression, and [[substance abuse]], and were almost twice as likely as the general population to commit suicide. Dancers and photographers were also more likely to have bipolar disorder.<ref name="Simon Kyaga et al 40-year study">{{cite journal |last1=Kyaga |first1=Simon |last2=Landén |first2=Mikael |last3=Boman |first3=Marcus |last4=Hultman |first4=Christina M. |last5=Långström |first5=Niklas |last6=Lichtenstein |first6=Paul |title=Mental illness, suicide and creativity: 40-Year prospective total population study |journal=Journal of Psychiatric Research |date=January 2013 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–90 |doi=10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.09.010 |pmid=23063328 }}</ref>

However, as a broader group, those in the creative professions (defined as "scientific and artistic occupations") were no more likely to experience psychiatric disorders than other people, although they were more likely to have a close relative with a disorder, including [[Anorexia nervosa|anorexia]] and, to some extent, [[autism]], the ''Journal of Psychiatric Research'' reports.<ref name="Simon Kyaga et al 40-year study" />

[[Stress (psychological)|Psychological stress]] has also been found to impede spontaneous creativity.<ref name="apa.org">{{Cite web|last=Novotney|first=Amy|title=The science of creativity|url=https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2009/01/creativity|url-status=live|website=American Psychological Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428090533/https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2009/01/creativity |archive-date=2019-04-28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Byron |first1=Kristin |last2=Khazanchi |first2=Shalini |last3=Nazarian |first3=Deborah |s2cid=207633449 |title=The relationship between stressors and creativity: A meta-analysis examining competing theoretical models. |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |date=2010 |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=201–212 |doi=10.1037/a0017868 |pmid=20085417 }}</ref> In fact, Robert Epstein describes it as a creativity killer. Instead, people must work to cultivate creativity like any other skill. He found that capturing ideas, seeking out challenges, acquiring knowledge, and surrounding oneself with others in the profession help creativity grow rather than focusing on stress.<ref name="apa.org" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Epstein|first1=Robert|last2=Schmidt|first2=Steven M|last3=Warfel|first3=Regina|date=2008|title=Measuring and Training Creativity Competencies: Validation of a New Test|journal=Creativity Research Journal|volume=20|pages=7–12 |doi=10.1080/10400410701839876|s2cid=56165561 }}</ref>

A 2005 study at the [[Stanford University School of Medicine]] measured creativity by showing children figures of varying complexity and symmetry and asking whether they like or dislike them. The study showed for the first time that a sample of children who either have or are at high risk for bipolar disorder tend to dislike simple or symmetric symbols more. Children with bipolar parents who were not bipolar themselves also scored higher dislike scores.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simeonova |first1=Diana |title=Creativity in familial bipolar disorder |journal=Journal of Psychiatric Research |date=2005 |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=623–631 |doi=10.1016/j.jpsychires.2005.01.005 |pmid=16157163 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395605000099|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A study by Sally Anne Gross and George Musgrave suggested that high levels of self-reported anxiety and depression amongst musicians might be explained, at least in part, by the nature of their working conditions.<ref name=":0"/>

== Mood and creativity ==
There have been many studies on the correlation between [[mood (psychology)|mood]] and creativity with very different results. Some studies seem to show a correlation between positive mood ([[Affect (psychology)|affect]]) and heightened creativity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Greene |first1=Terry R. |last2=Noice |first2=Helga |date=1988 |title=Influence of Positive Affect upon Creative Thinking and Problem Solving in Children |journal=Psychological Reports |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=895–898 |doi=10.2466/pr0.1988.63.3.895 |s2cid=144354800 |issn=0033-2941}}</ref> Other studies show that negative moods seem to be correlated with heightened creativity. One such research paper concludes, "Negative moods signal that the status quo is problematic and that additional effort needs to be exerted to come up with new and useful ideas."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=George |first1=Jennifer M. |last2=Zhou |first2=Jing |date=2002 |title=Understanding when bad moods foster creativity and good ones don't: The role of context and clarity of feelings. |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=687–697 |doi=10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.687 |pmid=12184573 |issn=1939-1854}}</ref> The debate is not binary, with some studies saying that both positive and negative emotions play a role in creativity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=Mark A. |date=2009 |title=Understanding the relationship between mood and creativity: A meta-analysis |journal=Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |volume=108 |issue=1 |pages=25–38 |doi=10.1016/j.obhdp.2008.04.001 |issn=0749-5978}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baas |first1=Matthijs |last2=De Dreu |first2=Carsten K. W. |last3=Nijstad |first3=Bernard A. |date=2008 |title=A meta-analysis of 25 years of mood-creativity research: Hedonic tone, activation, or regulatory focus? |journal=Psychological Bulletin |volume=134 |issue=6 |pages=779–806 |doi=10.1037/a0012815 |issn=1939-1455 |pmid=18954157}}</ref> Additionally, the connection between mood and creativity is rarely direct; rather, being in certain moods forces or fosters people into certain actions that make them more creative at the moment. For instance, negative emotions have been shown to increase the amount a person will reflect and ruminate, which then can cause a person to be more creative.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Du |first1=Ying |last2=Yang |first2=Yilong |last3=Wang |first3=Xuewei |last4=Xie |first4=Cong |last5=Liu |first5=Chunyu |last6=Hu |first6=Weiping |last7=Li |first7=Yadan |date=2021-01-20 |title=A Positive Role of Negative Mood on Creativity: The Opportunity in the Crisis of the COVID-19 Epidemic |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=11 |article-number=600837 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.600837 |pmid=33551914 |pmc=7854895 |issn=1664-1078|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Bipolar disorder ==
{{Main|Bipolar disorder}}
Bipolar disorder may stimulate creativity, as [[Mania|manic]] episodes can include prolonged periods of elevated energy. The first empirical study about this topic was done by Nancy Andreasen in the 1970s. She expected for the correlation to be between Creativity and Schizophrenia. She instead discovered that the correlation was actually between creativity and those with mood disorders. Specifically, that 80% of her sample had experienced at least one major episode.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Burton|first=Neel|date=2012|title=Bipolar Disorder and Creativity|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/bipolar-disorder-and-creativity|website=Psychology Today}}</ref> In her follow-up study 15 years later, she found that 43% had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and 2 had committed suicide.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Andreasen|first=Nancy|date=1987|title=Creativity and mental illness: prevalence rates in writers and their first-degree relatives|journal=The American Journal of Psychiatry|volume=144|issue=10 |pages=1288–1292 |doi=10.1176/ajp.144.10.1288|pmid=3499088 }}</ref> In her book ''Touched with Fire'', American clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison wrote that 38% of writers and poets had been treated for a type of [[mood disorder]], and 89% of creative writers and artists had experienced "intense, highly productive, and creative episodes". These were characterized by "pronounced increases in enthusiasm, energy, self-confidence, speed of mental association, fluency of thought and elevated mood".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Touched with fire: manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament|last=R.|first=Jamison, Kay|date=1996|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-684-83183-1|oclc=445006821}}</ref> Although mania is characterized by reckless and possibly self-destructive behavior, in milder forms, the energy and free-flowing thinking of mania can fuel creativity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Psychology: 4th edition|last=R.|first=David G. Myers|date=1994|publisher=Worth Publishers}}</ref>

There is a range of types of bipolar disorder. Individuals with Bipolar I Disorder experience severe episodes of mania and depression with periods of wellness between episodes. The severity of the manic episodes can mean that the person is seriously disabled and unable to express the heightened perceptions and flight of thoughts and ideas in a practical way. Individuals with Bipolar II Disorder experience milder periods of hypomania during which the flight of ideas, faster thought processes and ability to take in more information can be converted to art, poetry or design.<ref>Parker, G., (ed.) "Bipolar II Disorder: modeling, measuring and managing", Cambridge University Press (Cambridge,2005).</ref> In a study done by Shapiro and Weisberg, they found that it was not the depressive episodes, but rather coming out of them that sparked the creativity. Specifically, the self-image that one has during hypomania causing them to be more self-confident and allows them to have the confidence to create.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Shapiro|first1=Pamela J|last2=Weisberg|first2=Robert W|date=1999|title=Creativity and bipolar diathesis: Common behavioral and cognitive components|journal=Cognition and Emotion|volume= 13|issue=6 |pages=741–762|doi=10.1080/026999399379069}}</ref>

Dutch artist [[Vincent van Gogh|Vincent Van Gogh]] is widely theorized to have had bipolar disorder. Other notable creative people with bipolar disorder include [[Carrie Fisher]], [[Demi Lovato]], [[Kanye West]], [[Stephen Fry]] (who has [[cyclothymia]], a milder and more chronic form of bipolar disorder),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cyclothymia/symptoms-causes/syc-20371275|title=Cyclothymia (cyclothymic disorder) - Symptoms and causes|work=Mayo Clinic|access-date=2018-11-07}}</ref> [[Mariah Carey]], [[Jaco Pastorius]], [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]], [[Jean-Claude Van Damme]], [[Ronald Braunstein]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Franz Strasser and David Botti (2013-1-7). "Conductor with bipolar disorder on music and mental illness", BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20732070}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=David Gram for the Associated Press (2013-12-27). "For this orchestra, playing music is therapeutic", The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2013/12/27/mentally-ill-and-their-supporters-fill-vermont-orchestra/WIeh9mIp9GzPampyIXwtLM/story.html|access-date=2019-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414112300/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2013/12/27/mentally-ill-and-their-supporters-fill-vermont-orchestra/WIeh9mIp9GzPampyIXwtLM/story.html|archive-date=2019-04-14}}</ref> and [[Patty Duke]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/famous-people-celebrities-bipolar|title=Famous people with bipolar disorder|date=2018-04-11|access-date=2018-11-07}}</ref>

== Schizophrenia ==
{{Main|Schizophrenia}}

People with schizophrenia live with positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms ([[psychotic]] behaviors that are not present in healthy people) include [[hallucinations]], [[delusions]], [[thought disorder|thought]] and [[movement disorders]]. Negative symptoms (abnormal functioning of emotions and behavior) include [[flat affect]], [[anhedonia]], among others. Cognitive symptoms include problems with [[executive functioning]], attention, and memory.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Schizophrenia|url = https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia|website = www.nimh.nih.gov|access-date = 2015-11-27}}</ref> One artist known for his schizophrenia was the Frenchman [[Antonin Artaud]], founder of the [[Theatre of Cruelty]] movement. In ''Madness and Modernism'' (1992), clinical psychologist [[Louis Sass|Louis A. Sass]] noted that many common traits of schizophrenia – especially fragmentation, defiance of authority, and multiple viewpoints – happen to also be defining features of [[modern art]].<ref name="FreyOnJamison">{{cite magazine|url=https://hyperallergic.com/376339/a-new-account-of-robert-lowells-mania-risks-glorifying-it/|title=A New Account of Robert Lowell's Mania Risks Glorifying It|last=Frey|first=Angelica|magazine=Hyperallergic|date=May 3, 2017|access-date=May 16, 2017}}</ref> However, it has been found that those who have it are the most creative either before or after active periods, not during them.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Burton|first=Neel|date=2012|title=Schizophrenia and Creativity|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/schizophrenia-and-creativity|website=Psychology Today}}</ref>

Multiple research studies study a link between reduced latent inhibition, and the psychopathology of acute-phase schizophrenia. This is suggestive of a correlation between psychopathology and creativity, but should not be interpreted as a causal relationship.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Reddy |first1=IndlaRamasubba |last2=Ukrani |first2=Jateen |last3=Indla |first3=Vishal |last4=Ukrani |first4=Varsha |date=2018 |title=Creativity and psychopathology: Two sides of the same coin? |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |language=en |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=168–174 |doi=10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_129_18 |issn=0019-5545 |pmc=6102953 |pmid=30166672 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Arguments that support link ==
In a 2002 conversation with [[Christopher Langan]], educational psychologist [[Arthur Jensen]] stated that the relationship between creativity and mental disorder "has been well researched and is proven to be a fact", writing that [[Schizothymia|schizothyme]] characteristics are somewhat more frequent in philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists than in the general population.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.megafoundation.org/MegaPress/Titles/Jensen.html|title=Discussions on Genius and Intelligence|publisher=Mega Foundation Press|date=2002|access-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228093659/http://www.megafoundation.org/MegaPress/Titles/Jensen.html|archive-date=2017-12-28}}</ref>{{ufs|date=November 2017}} In a 2015 study, Iceland scientists found that people in creative professions are 25% more likely to have gene variants that increase the risk of [[bipolar disorder]] and [[schizophrenia]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Power |first1=Robert |title=Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder predict creativity |journal=Nature Neuroscience |date=2015 |volume=18 |issue=7 |pages=953–955 |doi=10.1038/nn.4040 |pmid=26053403 |s2cid=12605788 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.4040|url-access=subscription }}</ref> with [[deCODE Genetics|decode Genetics]] co-founder [[Kári Stefánsson]] saying, "Often, when people are creating something new, they end up straddling between sanity and insanity. I think these results support the concept of the mad genius."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sample |first1=Ian |title=New study claims to find genetic link between creativity and mental illness |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/08/new-study-claims-to-find-genetic-link-between-creativity-and-mental-illness |access-date=July 14, 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=June 8, 2015}}</ref>

=== Bipolar disorder ===
Many famous historical figures gifted with creative talents may have been affected by bipolar disorder. [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], [[Kanye West]], [[Virginia Woolf]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Isaac Newton]], [[Judy Garland]], [[Jaco Pastorius]] and [[Robert Schumann]] are some people whose lives have been researched to discover signs of mood disorder.<ref>Goodnick, P.J. (ed.) Mania: clinical and research perspectives. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, 1998.</ref> In many instances, creativity and mania – the overwhelming highs that bipolar individuals often experience – share some common traits, such as a tendency for "[[thinking outside the box]]," flights of ideas, the speeding up of thoughts and heightened perception of visual, auditory and somatic stimuli.

Research indicates that the brains of creative individuals are more receptive to environmental stimuli due to lower levels of latent inhibition—the unconscious capacity to ignore irrelevant stimuli. While reduced latent inhibition has been linked to a predisposition toward psychosis, it may also facilitate original thinking, especially when combined with high intelligence. A study published in the ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'' found that individuals with high creative achievements had significantly lower latent inhibition scores compared to those with lower creative achievements.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carson |first1=Shelley |date=2003 |title=Decreased Latent Inhibition Is Associated With Increased Creative Achievement in High-Functioning Individuals. |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=499–506 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.499 |pmid=14498785 |s2cid=3968611}}</ref>

=== Emotions ===
Research indicates that individuals with high creative achievement often exhibit decreased latent inhibition (LI), which is the unconscious capacity to ignore irrelevant stimuli. While reduced LI is associated with a heightened risk for psychosis, it may also facilitate original thinking by allowing a greater influx of environmental stimuli into conscious awareness. This effect is particularly pronounced in individuals with high intellectual functioning.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/52456?pageNumber=3 |title=Are Genius and Madness Related? Contemporary Answers to an Ancient Question {{!}} Psychiatric Times<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2008-08-02 |archive-date=2012-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319205358/http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/52456?pageNumber=3 }}</ref> Because mania and hypomania may decrease social inhibition, performers who have bipolar disorder may become more daring and bolder during an episode. Other creators may exhibit characteristics often associated with mental illness that are not necessarily equivalent to a full-blown manic episode.<ref name="simonton2005">{{cite magazine|url = http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/are-genius-and-madness-related-contemporary-answers-ancient-question|title = Are Genius and Madness Related? Contemporary Answers to an Ancient Question|author = Dean Keith Simonton|magazine = Psychiatric Times|date = June 2005|access-date = 2007-02-20|archive-date = 2013-06-03|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130603030313/http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/are-genius-and-madness-related-contemporary-answers-ancient-question}}</ref>

=== Posthumous diagnosis ===
Some creative people have been [[Retrospective diagnosis|posthumously diagnosed]] as experiencing bipolar or unipolar disorder based on biographies, letters, correspondence, contemporaneous accounts, or other anecdotal material, most notably in [[Kay Redfield Jamison]]'s book ''[[Touched with Fire (book)|Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament]]''.<ref name="TWF">{{cite book|title=Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament|author=Kay Redfield Jamison|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-684-83183-1|year=1996}}</ref>{{ums|date=November 2017}} ''Touched with Fire'' presents the argument that bipolar disorder, and affective disorders more generally,<ref>Jamison, K. R., ''Touched with Fire'', Free Press (New York, 1993), pp 82 ff.</ref>{{ums|date=November 2017}} may be found in a disproportionate number of people in creative professions such as [[actors]], [[artist]]s, [[comedian]]s, [[musician]]s, [[author]]s, [[Performing arts|performer]]s and [[poet]]s.

Scholars have also speculated that the visual artist [[Michelangelo]] lived with depression.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2005 |title=The Effects of Diseases, Drugs, and Chemicals on the Creativity and Productivity of Famous Sculptors, Classic Painters, Classic Music Composers, and Authors |url=https://meridian.allenpress.com/aplm/article/129/11/1457/459384/The-Effects-of-Diseases-Drugs-and-Chemicals-on-the |access-date=2023-09-30 |journal=Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine |doi=10.5858/2005-129-1457-TEODDA |last1=Wolf |first1=Paul L. |volume=129 |issue=11 |pages=1457–1464 |pmid=16253027 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Arshad |first1=Muhammad |last2=Fitzgerald |first2=Michael |date=May 2004 |title=Did Michelangelo (1475–1564) have High-Functioning Autism? |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/096777200401200212 |journal=Journal of Medical Biography |language=en |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=115–120 |doi=10.1177/096777200401200212 |pmid=15079170 |s2cid=6805357 |issn=0967-7720|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In the book ''Famous Depressives: Ten Historical Sketches'', MJ Van Lieburg argues that elements of depression are prominent in some of Michelangelo's sculptures and poetry. Van Lieburg also draws additional support from Michelangelo's letters to his father in which he states:<blockquote>I lead a miserable existence and reck not of life nor honour – that is of this world; I live wearied by stupendous labours and beset by a thousand anxieties. And thus I lived for some fifteen years now and never an hour's happiness have I had.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Famous Depressives: Ten Historical Sketches|last=Van Lieburg|first=MJ|publisher=Erasmus Publishin|year=1988|isbn=978-90-5235-007-3|location=Rotterdam|pages=19–26}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Positive correlation ===
Several recent clinical studies have also suggested that there is a positive [[Correlation does not imply causation|correlation]] between creativity and bipolar disorder, although the relationship between the two is unclear.<ref name=santosa2006>
{{cite journal |vauthors=Santosa CM, Strong CM, Nowakowska C, Wang PW, Rennicke CM, Ketter TA |title=Enhanced creativity in bipolar disorder patients: a controlled study |journal=J Affect Disord |volume=100 |issue=1–3 |pages=31–9 |date=June 2007 |pmid=17126406 |doi=10.1016/j.jad.2006.10.013 }}
</ref><ref name=rihmer2006>
{{cite journal |vauthors=Rihmer Z, Gonda X, Rihmer A |title=[Creativity and mental illness] |language=hu |journal=Psychiatr Hung |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=288–94 |year=2006 |pmid=17170470 }}
</ref><ref name=nowakowska2006>{{cite journal |vauthors=Nowakowska C, Strong CM, Santosa CM, Wang PW, Ketter TA |title=Temperamental commonalities and differences in euthymic mood disorder patients, creative controls, and healthy controls |journal=J Affect Disord |volume=85 |issue=1–2 |pages=207–15 |date=March 2005 |pmid=15780691 |doi=10.1016/j.jad.2003.11.012 }}
</ref>  Temperament may be an [[intervening variable]].<ref name=rihmer2006/> Ambition has also been identified as being linked to creative output in people across the bipolar spectrum.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Johnson |first1=SL|last2=Murray |first2=G|last3=Hou |first3=S|last4=Staudenmaier |first4=PJ|last5=Freeman |first5=MA|last6=Michalak |first6=EE|last7=CREST.BD.|title=Creativity is linked to ambition across the bipolar spectrum.|journal=J Affect Disord|date=2015|volume=178|issue=Jun 1|pages=160–4|doi=10.1016/j.jad.2015.02.021|pmid=25837549|pmc=7187909}}<!--|access-date=27 August 2015--></ref> ''Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition'' <ref name=":0" /> by Sally Anne Gross and [[George Musgrave (academic)|George Musgrave]] suggests that high levels of self-reported anxiety and depression amongst musicians can be explained, at least in part, by the nature of musicians' working conditions.

=== Mental illness and divergent thinking ===
In 2017, associate professor of psychiatry [[Gail Saltz]] stated that the increased production of [[divergent thinking|divergent thoughts]] in people with mild to moderate mental illnesses leads to greater creative capacities. Saltz argued that the "wavering attention and day-dreamy state" of ADHD, for example, "is also a source of highly original thinking{{nbsp}}... CEOs of companies such as [[IKEA|Ikea]] and [[JetBlue|Jetblue]] have ADHD. Their creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, high energy levels, and disinhibited manner could all be a positive result of their [condition]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/959936/there-are-some-positives-to-mental-illness-to-remove-the-stigma-we-need-to-accept-how-complex-and-sometimes-beautiful-it-is/|title=To remove the stigma of mental illness, we need to accept how complex—and sometimes beautiful—it is|last=Saltz|first=Gail|website=Quartz|date=April 16, 2017|access-date=May 17, 2017}}</ref> Mania risk has also been credited with aiding in creative accomplishments<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ruiter|first1=Margina|last2=Johnson|first2=Sheri L.|date=January 2015|title=Mania risk and creativity: A multi-method study of the role of motivation|journal=Journal of Affective Disorders|volume=170|pages=52–58|doi=10.1016/j.jad.2014.08.049|pmid=25233239 |issn=0165-0327}}</ref> because "when speed of thinking increases, [[word association]]s form more freely, as do [[Glossary of psychiatry#F|flight of ideas]], because the manic mind is less inclined to filtering details that, in a normal state, would be dismissed as irrelevant."<ref name="FreyOnJamison"/>

=== Brain imaging and genetic links ===
Brain imaging studies have consistently reported that low-latent inhibition is associated with originality, creative personalities, and high levels of creative achievement. There have also been genetic studies conducted to consider genetic links between creativity and psychopathology. Several genes that have  been flagged as linking to some forms of psychopathology have also been linked to creativity. These include polymorphisms of the DRD2 and DRD4 genes, the 5HT2a gene, and the NRG1 gene.<ref name=":2" />

=== Correlation but not causation ===
Several studies suggest a consistent link between creativity and those with either mild forms of bipolar disorder or family histories of bipolar disorder, but not full-blown Bipolar I Disorder. These findings reiterate that creative individuals are more likely on the mild end of psychosis spectrums, but not repeatedly beyond that point. One study wrote that "only elevated levels of schizotypy and psychosis-proneness found in divergent thinkers or possessing some indicators of schizotypy promotes creative achievement but not full-blown schizophrenia". Another article writes that "it is likely that psychopathology and creativity are closely related; sharing many traits and antecedents but outright psychopathology may be negatively associated with creativity".<ref name=":2" />

These correlations could be due, in part, to shared vulnerability factors between creativity and psychopathology, including neural hyper-connectivity, novelty salience, cognitive disinhibition, and emotional lability. There are also shared environmental factors that can simultaneously increase potential for creativity and vulnerability to psychopathology. These factors continue to drive further research, like the study ''Anxiety and Adverse Life Events in Professional Creative and Early Psychosis Populations'' (Crabtree et al.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Crabtree |first1=Julie |last2=Hudson |first2=Jennifer L. |last3=Newton-John |first3=Toby |date=2020-10-01 |title=Anxiety and Adverse Life Events in Professional Creative and Early Psychosis Populations |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332747.2020.1777816 |journal=Psychiatry |language=en |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=328–343 |doi=10.1080/00332747.2020.1777816 |pmid=32946338 |s2cid=221798069 |issn=0033-2747|url-access=subscription }}</ref>).

== Creativity and mental well-being ==
There is a popular Indian cultural belief that deep pain can enhance creativity, and that creative acts may help in healing emotional wounds. This idea is rooted in traditional healing practices, where suffering is viewed as a potential pathway to personal insight and transformation.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=6102953 | date=2018 | last1=Reddy | first1=I. R. | last2=Ukrani | first2=J. | last3=Indla | first3=V. | last4=Ukrani | first4=V. | title=Creativity and psychopathology: Two sides of the same coin? | journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry | volume=60 | issue=2 | pages=168–174 | doi=10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_129_18 | doi-access=free | pmid=30166672 }}</ref>

The healing power of creativity is frequently observed in both clinical and everyday settings. Engaging in artistic outlets—such as writing, music, or visual art—has been shown to facilitate emotional processing, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and improve overall well-being.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Shukla |first1=Apoorva |last2=Choudhari |first2=Sonali G. |last3=Gaidhane |first3=Abhay M. |last4=Quazi Syed |first4=Zahiruddin |date=August 2022 |title=Role of Art Therapy in the Promotion of Mental Health: A Critical Review |journal=Cureus |volume=14 |issue=8 |article-number=e28026 |doi=10.7759/cureus.28026 |doi-access=free |issn=2168-8184 |pmc=9472646 |pmid=36134083}}</ref> For many people, creativity serves as a way to cope with trauma, depression, and emotional crises, offering a constructive outlet for intense emotions.<ref name=":3" />

Moreover, creativity can significantly impact mental health and well-being by helping individuals find meaning, purpose, and a strengthened sense of identity. Participation in creative activities is associated with improved self-worth, emotional regulation, and resilience.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jean-Berluche |first=Ducel |date=August 2024 |title=Creative expression and mental health |journal=Journal of Creativity |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |article-number=100083 |doi=10.1016/j.yjoc.2024.100083|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Notable individuals ==
{{See also|List of people with schizophrenia|List of people with bipolar disorder|List of people with post-traumatic stress disorder}}
This is a list of individuals whose creative sensibilities have been linked to their mental health.

* [[John Forbes Nash Jr.|John Nash]] (1928–2015) was an American economist, noted for his contributions to [[game theory]], who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After undergoing several different treatments and therapies over the course of several decades, Nash effectively eschewed further psychiatric intervention and gradually adjusted to dealing with his symptoms without the usage of medications; he eventually returned to his field and earned a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994.
* [[Joanne Greenberg]] (born 1932) is an American author who wrote ''[[I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (novel)|I Never Promised You a Rose Garden]]'' (1964), an autobiographical account of her teenage years in [[Chestnut Lodge]] working with [[Frieda Fromm-Reichmann]]. At the time she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, although two psychiatrists who examined Greenberg's self-description in the book in 1981 concluded that she did not have schizophrenia, but had extreme [[Mood disorder|depression]] and [[somatization disorder]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Sobel |first=Dava |date=February 17, 1981 |title=Schizophrenia In Popular Books: A Study Finds Too Much Hope |work=The New York Times|pmc=9472646 }}</ref> The narrative constantly puts difference between the protagonist's mental illness and her artistic ability. Greenberg is adamant that her creative skills flourished in spite of, not because of, her condition:
: {{blockquote|I wrote [''I Never Promised You a Rose Garden''] as a way of describing mental illness without the romanticisation {{sic}} that it underwent in the sixties and seventies when people were taking LSD to simulate what they thought was a liberating experience. During those days, people often confused creativity with insanity. There is no creativity in madness; madness is the opposite of creativity, although people may be creative in spite of being mentally ill.}}
: This statement from Greenberg originally appeared on the Amazon.com product page for ''Rose Garden'' and has been cited in several published works including ''Asylum: Callaway, E. (2007). Asylum: A mid-century madhouse and its lessons about our mentally ill today. Praeger.''
* [[Brian Wilson]] (1942-2025), founding member of American rock band [[the Beach Boys]], had bipolar and [[schizoaffective disorder]].  In 2002, after undergoing treatment, he spoke of how medication affects his creativity, explaining: "I haven't been able to write anything for three years. I think I need the demons in order to write, but the demons have gone. It bothers me a lot. I've tried and tried, but I just can't seem to find a melody."<ref name="A Boy's Own Story">{{cite news |first=Sean |last=O'Hagan |title=Feature: ''A Boy's Own Story'' |journal=Review, the Observer |issue=January 6, 2002 |pages=1–3|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/jan/06/features.review87|date=2002-01-06 }}</ref>
* [[Daniel Johnston]] (1961–2019) was an American singer-songwriter whose music was often attributed to his psychological issues. In a press release issued by his manager, it was requested that reporters refrain from describing Johnston as a "genius" due to the musician's emotional instabilities. ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s David McNamee argued that "it's almost taboo to say anything critical about Johnston. This is incredibly patronizing. For one thing, it makes any honest evaluation of his work impossible."<ref>{{cite news|last1=McNamee|first1=David|title=The myth of Daniel Johnston's genius|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2009/aug/10/daniel-johnston|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=August 10, 2009}}</ref>
*[[Marij Kogoj]] was a Slovenian composer with schizophrenia.
* [[Terry A. Davis]] (1969–2018) was an American computer programmer who singlehandedly created and designed an entire [[operating system]], [[TempleOS]], alongside full 2D and 3D graphics libraries, a programming language (HolyC) and a compiler. Although his remarks were often incomprehensible or abrasive, he was known to be exceptionally lucid if the topic of discussion was computers. He refused medication for his schizophrenia because he believed it limited his creativity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thenewstack.io/the-troubled-legacy-of-terry-davis-gods-lonely-programmer/|title=The Troubled Legacy of Terry Davis, 'God's Lonely Programmer'|website=The New Stack|date=September 23, 2018|last=Cassel|first=David}}</ref>  In 2017, the OS was shown as a part of an [[outsider art]] exhibition in [[Bourgogne]], France.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://diagonaledelart.blogs.liberation.fr/2017/01/13/art-brut-20/|title=la Diagonale de l'art - ART BRUT 2.0|last=Godin|first=Philippe|date=January 13, 2013|website=[[Libération]]|language=fr|access-date=September 7, 2018|archive-date=April 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419101759/http://diagonaledelart.blogs.liberation.fr/2017/01/13/art-brut-20/}}</ref>
* [[Kanye West]] (born 1977)  is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and fashion designer who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. West has said on his disorder, "I can just tell you what I'm feeling at the time, and I feel a heightened connection with the universe when I'm ramping up. It is a health issue. This – it's like a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle. And if someone has a sprained ankle, you're not going to push on him more. With us, once our brain gets to a point of spraining, people do everything to make it worse."<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 30, 2019<!--, 1:25 PM-->|title=Kanye West opens up about his struggle with bipolar disorder: "It's like a sprained brain"|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kanye-west-opens-up-to-david-letterman-about-his-struggle-with-bipolar-disorder/|access-date=2020-10-05|website=www.cbsnews.com|language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Mad scientist]]
*[[Savant syndrome]]
*[[Tortured artist]]
* {{section link|Outsider art#Art of the mentally ill}}
* {{section link|Rainer M. Holm-Hadulla#Dialectical theory of creativity}}
* [[Sylvia Plath effect]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/plath The 'Sylvia Plath' effect] by Deborah Smith Bailey from American Psychological Association
* [https://keithsawyer.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/the-myth-of-the-mentally-ill-creative/ The Myth of the Mentally Ill Creative] blog entry about creativity and mental illness by a professor of psychology and creativity scientist Keith Sawyer
* [http://www.msmonographs.org/article.asp?issn=0973-1229;year=2011;volume=9;issue=1;spage=42;epage=53;aulast=Andreasen A journey into chaos: Creativity and the unconscious] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815063445/http://www.msmonographs.org/article.asp?issn=0973-1229;year=2011;volume=9;issue=1;spage=42;epage=53;aulast=Andreasen |date=2019-08-15 }} by Nancy C Andreasen, [[Mens Sana Monographs]], 2011, 9(1), p&nbsp;42–53.

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[[Category:Creativity and mental illness| ]]
[[Category:Bipolar disorder]]
[[Category:Concepts in aesthetics]]
[[Category:Concepts in social philosophy]]
[[Category:Concepts in the philosophy of mind]]
[[Category:Creativity]]
[[Category:Empathy]]
[[Category:Existentialist concepts]]
[[Category:Health risks of performing arts]]
[[Category:Mental health]]
[[Category:Psychological theories]]
[[Category:Quality of life]]
[[Category:Well-being]]