265 lines
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265 lines
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(word processor parameters LM=8, RM=78, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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July 9, 1990
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CREATIVITY AND THE TROUBLED MIND
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by Constance Holden
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PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, April, 1987
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text file courtesy of Double Helix BBS at 212-865-7043
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"The mind is its own place, and of itself
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Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
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So wrote John Milton in PARADISE LOST. Whether or not he suffered
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from an emotional disorder, Milton sounds like a man who knew firsthand
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the torments and elations of severe mood swings. If so, he was not
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unusual.
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Speculation on a connection between art and madness has gone
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on since the ancient Greeks. Now, a small handful of modern studies
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indicates there may be something to it. In particular, they indicate a
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striking association between creativity and manic depression, or
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bipolar illness. The phenomenon appears especially pronounced among
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writers, particularly poets.
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Twentieth-century American poets have supplied poignant evidence
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for this. Some of the best known -- Robert Lowell, Delmore Schwartz,
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Randall Jarrell and Theodore Roethke -- were diagnosed as manic-
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depressive or had histories of such behavior. Quite a few, including
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John Berryman, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, committed suicide.
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Full-blown cases of manic-depression are characterized by episodes
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of uncontrollable hyperactivity, often accompanied by grandiose
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delusions, and longer periods of incapacitating, and often suicidal
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depression.
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The genetic component is strong: Among identical twins, whether or
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not they were raised together, if one twin has the illness, the other
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is 80 percent likely to suffer from it. Manic depression afflicts at
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least 1 percent of the population, and, in contrast to most mental
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illnesses, the rate is considerably higher in the upper social and
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economic classes.
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Psychiatrist Nancy C. Andreasen of the University of Iowa College
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of Medicine is the first investigator to have used modern psychiatric
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diagnostic criteria to explore the relationship between mental illness
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and creativity.
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In the early 1970s, Andreasen completed a study of 15 topflight
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American writers at the prestigious University of Iowa Writers'
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Workshop and compared them with others matched for age, education and
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sex. Ten of the writers had histories of mood disorders, compared with
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only two from the comparison group. Two of the 10 were diagnosed as
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manic-depressive, and almost all reported mood swings, including manic
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or hypomanic (mildly manic) states.
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Page 1
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Andreasen has continued the study during the past 15 years,
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expanding the sample of writers to 30. According to a recent report,
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the proportion of writers treated for mood disorders has increased to
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80 percent, compared to 30 percent of the comparison group.
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Forty-three percent of the writers had some degree of manic-
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depressive illness, as compared with 10 percent of the others.
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Alcoholism, which is very high among sufferers of manic-
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depression, afflicted 30 percent of the writers and 7 percent of the
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comparison group. Two of the 30 committed suicide during the 15 years
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of the study. "Issues of statistical significance pale before the
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clinical implications of this fact," Andreasen says.
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The data on the writers lend weight to the finding of a 1983
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investigation conducted in England by psychologist Kay R. Jamison of
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the University of California, Los Angeles. Jamison surveyed 47 of the
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top British artists and writers, questioning them about their mood
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states and their treatment history.
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Thirty-eight percent of the total had sought treatment for mood
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disorders -- a rate of about 30 times that of the general population.
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Writers experienced the most problems, and of these, poets topped the
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list -- with half od them reporting psychiatric intervention (drugs
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and/or hospitalization) for depression and/or mania.
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Almost two-thirds of the playwrights had been treated for mood
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disorders, mainly with psychotherapy. The rate for biographers was 20
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percent, and for artists the incidence was 13 percent.
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One-third of the 47 reported that they suffered from severe mood
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swings, particularly the poets and novelists. Jamison reports that the
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biographers, the least likely to be associated with "creative fire,"
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reported no history of mood swings or elated states.
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More data on contemporary artists may be forthcoming from a study
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being conducted in Paris involving exhaustive personal interviews with
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about 50 artists, writers and musicians.
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Psychiatrist Hagop S. Akiskal of the University of Tennessee is
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collaborating in this study, which will compare information from
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recognized creative individuals with that from a comparison group
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matched for age, sex, background and achievement in nonartistic areas.
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Akiskal has already looked at 750 of his patients in the U.S. who
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are diagnosed with depression, manic-depression and schizophrenia to
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see if any subgroups showed different levels of creativity.
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He found those with sever manic-depression showed high rates of
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antisocial behavior, including violent crimes. But among those with
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more moderate versions of the illness, he found that 9 to 10 percent
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were creative artists and writers.
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Although most investigators believe that creative achievement
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occurs despite, not because of, emotional illness, Jamison says that
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"intense creative episodes are, in many instances, indistinguishable
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from hypomania."
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The similarities suggest that mild mania can supply intense energy
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Page 2
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as well as a way of seeing reality that, filtered through a creative
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mind and a discerning intellect, can be highly conducive to artistic
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productivity.
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There are many elements that mood states have in common, sometimes
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including a sense of spiritual enlightenment that is reminiscent of
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certain mystical states. Some other commonalities are:
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EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY.
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Both artists and manic-depressives tend to be highly sensitive to
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stimuli both from the outside and from within. Andreasen calls this an
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"extremely fine-tuned" nervous system, sensitive to a wide range of
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stimuli, including pain.
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She has speculated that this results from "input dysfunction" or
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"a defect in the cognitive mechanisms which filter stimuli."
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DISINHIBITION.
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Psychologist Ralph Tarter of the University of Pittsburgh says a
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"fundamental breakdown in inhibitory mechanisms" is characteristic of
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most psychopathological conditions.
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This breakdown, which can also be stimulated by alcohol or drugs,
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leads to farfetched connections, and -- as is true in many artists --
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easier access to unconscious material. Manic thinking flows freely,
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and includes man loose and novel associations.
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ABSORPTION.
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Hypomania is associated with superior powers of concentration.
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Harvard neurologist G. Robert DeLong, who studies children with early
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signs of manic-depression, says that these children have significantly
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richer imaginations than most. They show an "unusual intensity of
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focus" when engaged in creative tasks, which results in impressive
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feats of memory and highly detailed drawings. They can become lost in
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fantasies for hours on end.
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What of the emotionally ill -- are they more creative than
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average? There is only one modern study that explores this connection,
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conducted in Denmark by psychiatrist Ruth L. Richards and psychologist
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Dennis R. Kinney of Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital.
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Richard's and Kinney's subjects were 17 manic-depressives, 16
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cyclothymics (who suffer from milder forms of the illness) and 11 of
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their relatives with no psychiatric history. Of 33 people studied for
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comparison, 15 were illness-free, while the other carried other
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psychiatric diagnoses. Creativity was assessed by evaluating
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individuals' jobs and avocational activities.
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The researchers found that creativity was significantly higher
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among the study subjects -- manic-depressives, cyclothymics and their
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relatives -- than among the comparison group.
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Cyclothymics and relatives of manic-depressives showed the highest
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levels of creativity. The researchers' conclusion: "Creativity can be
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enhanced, on the average, in subjects showing milder and perhaps
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'subclinical' expressions of potential bipolar liability."
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Page 3
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From these studies it appears that a tendency toward manic-
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depression may facilitate access, in creative individuals, to a
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richness and intensity of experience that is not shared by the rest of
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us.
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More systematic investigation into their mental troubles would
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perhaps give us a less romanticized view of geniuses, but it would add
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to our understanding of how the morbid and the extreme among us have
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enlarged our perceptions of reality.
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(Constance Holden writes for SCIENCE magazine. Some of the research
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mentioned here will appear in MANIC-DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS [Oxford
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University Press])
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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If you have comments or other information relating to such topics as
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this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the Vangard
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Sciences address as listed on the first page. Thank you for your
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consideration, interest and support.
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Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson
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Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet
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If we can be of service, you may contact
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Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 484-3189
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Page 4
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