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Mental illness and creativity are popularly considered to be related, particularly in the case of bipolar disorder. Although the association between bipolar disorder and creativity first appeared in the literature in the 1970s, the idea of a link between "madness" and "genius" is much older, dating back at least to the time of Aristotle, and reinforced by the views of the Romantic movement.^[1][2] Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... A mental illness as defined in psychiatry and other mental health professions, is abnormal mental condition or disorder expressing symptoms that cause significant distress and/or dysfunction. ... Look up Creativity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Manic Depression redirects here. ... Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ...

Creativity and bipolar disorder

There is a common belief, although without empirical basis, that many famous historical figures gifted with creative talents have been affected by bipolar disorder.^[1] Many of these have been retroactively "diagnosed" as suffering from bipolar disorder after their deaths based on letters, correspondence, contemporaneous accounts, or other material, most notably in Kay Redfield Jamison's book Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament.^[3]. Touched With Fire presents the argument that bipolar disorder may be found in a disproportionate numbers of people with creative talent such as artists, comedians, musicians, authors, performers, poets, and scientists, and some credit the condition for their creativity. Kay Redfield Jamison (born October 14, 1946) is an American psychologist and science writer who is an expert on bipolar disorder. ... Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament is a book by the American psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison that examines the relationship between bipolar disorder and artistic creativity. ... Look up artist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... The performing arts include theater, motion pictures, drama, comedy, music, dance, opera, magic and the marching arts, such as brass bands, etc. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Look up Creativity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Several recent clinical studies have also suggested that there is a correlation between creativity and bipolar disorder, although it is unclear what the relationship is between the two.^[4][5][6] Temperament may be an intervening variable.^[5]

See also

• List of people believed to have been affected by bipolar disorder

This is a list of people accompanied by verifiable source citations associating them with bipolar disorder. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Dean Keith Simonton (June 2005). Are Genius and Madness Related? Contemporary Answers to an Ancient Question. Psychiatric Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
2. ^ Allan Beveridge (2001). A disquieting feeling of strangeness?: the art of the mentally ill. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
3. ^ Kay Redfield Jamison. Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. ISBN 978-0684831831. 
4. ^ Santosa et al. Enhanced creativity in bipolar disorder patients: A controlled study. J Affect Disord. 2006 Nov 23; PMID 17126406.
5. ^ ^{a b} Rihmer et al. Creativity and mental illness. Psychiatr Hung. 2006;21(4):288-94. PMID 17170470.
6. ^ Nowakowska et al. Temperamental commonalities and differences in euthymic mood disorder patients, creative controls, and healthy controls. J Affect Disord. 2005 Mar;85(1-2):207-15. PMID 15780691.