The “mad genius” is an archetype infused with the public consciousness and stands out as an iconic representation of society’s perception of creativity. The notion that a link exists between creativity and mental illness goes back to the time of Aristotle, when he wrote that eminent philosophers, politicians, poets and artists all have tendencies toward "melancholia." If we are to accept that there is a correlation between creativity (in this case creative writing) and mental ill health, which is the catalyst? Does mental illness facilitate the development of creativity? Does writing, and other pursuits of creativity, expose an individual to poor mental health? Should budding writers and those on the road to an artistic profession be wary of the dangers of their passion and creativity?
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Some of the most famous and in turn widely accepted findings on the topic were conducted by researchers such as Nancy Andreason, Kay Redfield Jamison and Arnold Ludwig. All these researchers agree there is a prevalence of mental illness in writers. But these studies are problematic. The earliest of these famous studies compared the rate of mental illness in writers and their families with that of a non-writer sample group. It was found that 80% of writers showed mood disorders, compared with only 30% of the non-writers (Andreason, 1987). That is a startling difference and at its time of publication this finding went “viral”. It was promoted as the incontestable truth regarding not only writers but creative people generally.
However Nancy Andreason’s 1987 study is worth looking at in more depth, particularly as the link between creativity and mental health seemingly cannot be investigated without encountering these findings. Even today, it is reviewed as one of the most conclusive studies on this topic (Schlesinger,
Some of the most famous and in turn widely accepted findings on the topic were conducted by researchers such as Nancy Andreason, Kay Redfield Jamison and Arnold Ludwig. All these researchers agree there is a prevalence of mental illness in writers. But these studies are problematic. The earliest of these famous studies compared the rate of mental illness in writers and their families with that of a non-writer sample group. It was found that 80% of writers showed mood disorders, compared with only 30% of the non-writers (Andreason, 1987). That is a startling difference and at its time of publication this finding went “viral”. It was promoted as the incontestable truth regarding not only writers but creative people generally.
However Nancy Andreason’s 1987 study is worth looking at in more depth, particularly as the link between creativity and mental health seemingly cannot be investigated without encountering these findings. Even today, it is reviewed as one of the most conclusive studies on this topic (Schlesinger,