Link Between Mental Illness And Creativity

Madness and mental illness is one of the most common themes used in literature. Many literary pieces, both modern and classic, had been focused on this topic, whether to discuss a social issue, or to criticize a political problem in certain society, or even just to discuss the mental state of some protagonist or a character. To mention some of these literary pieces, there are Catch-22, Heart of Darkness, Sophie’s Choice, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and many other great, unforgettable literary pieces.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness a mental illness can be defined as “a condition that impacts a person 's thinking, feeling or mood and may affect his or her ability to relate to others and function on a daily basis.” Mental illness can be the result of multiple factors such as lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and genetics. There are a few mental illness that we primarily associate with people that commit these malicious acts such as; Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Dissociative Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Schizophrenia.

Aristotle famously asked why is it that all men who have become outstanding in philosophy, poetry and arts are melancholic. This question remains unanswered today. Bipolar disorder is one of the most distinctive conditions in psychiatry. Many famous musicians, writers, and leaders of society have had bipolar disorder. Many of these people — and some of their physicians — have been concerned that the pharmacologic treatment of their mood swings might

Mental illness refers to many disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behaviour. There are many different types of mental illnesses with different severities such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addictive behaviour. Having a mental illness is so common in Canada, 1 in 5 people encounter some degree of it. Many of your friends and family may be suffering from some form of mental illness without you knowing it. This can be because it is at a very early and week stage, they are on their medication, or they are doing a good job at hiding it from you. People often hide their illness to prevent being judged and treated differently from their loved ones. This can be a problem as their illness could worsen and cause long term irreversible damages. Some of our society doesn’t respect people with mental illnesses as before, people with this illness were called crazy and they were told they had a disease. This may be a reason people still don’t feel comfortable telling people close to them.

I have read an article called "Mental Illness: The New Cancer." this articles the writer told us three sad stories about how Mental Illness has killed people he loved.

One reason for a character in a story having a particular disorder would be that the author has real life experience with it. Such is the case with Edgar Allen Poe and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Poe most definitely suffered from what would now be considered a form of manic-depression disorder. During his final year on Earth, he showed signs of mania, constantly relocating to various cities (Meyers 244). Also during this year, he is reported as saying to a friend named Frederic Thomas: “You will be pleased to hear that I am

In the experiment, Understanding Creativity in Bipolar I Disorder, the experimenters hypothesized that bipolar I disorder would be related to elevations of and greater variability in lifetime creative accomplishment and divergent thinking In this experiment, there were two groups which were the bipolar I disorder group and the control group. The experimenters examined if divergent thinking within the bipolar group was related to positive affectivity, ambition, medication, or depressive and manic symptom severity. They also examined if trait like levels of positive affectivity, neurocognition and ambition were related to either divergent thinking or lifetime creative accomplishment within bipolar disorder.

For years the nurture versus nature debate has been argued by people around the world. Mental disorders are one of the main topics discussed among these people. Mental disorders apply to many mental health conditions that can affect someone’s emotions, logic, and attitude. According to The Kim Foundation, 26.2 percent of Americans who are 18 or older suffer from

    There are many disorders that people carry around their lives with them. Depression is a disorder in which a person is persistently in a upset mood and loses all interest in activities that they had once enjoyed. According to statistics, over 300 million people have been diagnosed with having depression. Bipolar depression is another common disorder. A person who has been diagnosed with depression has constant mood swings that range from depression low to manic high. Statistics show that 5.7 million carry this disorder and that it can be a genetic based disorder. Another disorder is Schizophrenia and it is not as common as other disorders, it can still occur. Some children have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. This disorder affects the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of a person. 3.2 million people around the world have been affected by this disorder and it can be found to be a genetically based disorder but not only diagnosed with genetics.

I had previously believed that they loved other people differently but less due to the “easily addicted and compulsive” nature of those with mental illness. I asked her out six times in thirty seconds. She said yes… but none of them felt right so I had to keep going.” The shows that do to being compulsive people with mental illness actually love more that “normal” people. The poem OCD by Neil Hilborn was responsible for this change. “How can it be a mistake when I don’t have to wash my hands after I touch her?” This illustrates how people with mental illness are willing to fight their compulsions for the people they love. However, they create an attachment deeper than those of normal people because “I can’t go out and find someone new because I always think about her”. Their compulsion and strong dislike of change means that make deep seated connections with the people they love. Poetry is a means of expressing the overflow of powerful

Before the age of eighteen nearly a fourth of all young persons will deal with mental illness (Shirk and Jungbluth 217). Only around a third of these children will receive professional treatment (United States Public Health Service qtd. in Shirk and Jungbluth 222). Because of the risk of suicide in mentally ill young people, it is crucial that mental health services are readily available to our youth in school settings. Therefore, schools should administer mandatory mental health screenings because mental illness often affects academic performance, and the majority of young persons that commit suicide have a treatable illness.

Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence--whether much that is glorious--whether all that is profound--does not spring from disease of thought--from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect. Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night - Edgar Allen Poe

Charlotte Waddell, in March 1998 stated “creativity and mental illness have long been popularly associated and until recently, few studies have examined this purported association using scientific methods. Recent articles, review of studies concerning mental illness by prominent, creative individuals, have inspired new scientific interest in possible associations between creativity and mental illness”.

The wethered issue of genius and madness has induced a long blank and a clinical hobby among researchers. Although amiableness has a different meaning than creativity when established in a social environment, it is difficult to imagine a non-creative genius (Fink et al 1-10). creativity of two oddities and the result is the key to pleasantness (Cropley 2-14). The thought of a relationship amid creativity and prosperity of mentally diseased has mostly been maintained with rare stories of incredible art use when involved people fought against the discouragement or liquor ill-use. Previous studies that focused primarily on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have given some experimental evidence of the relationship between creativity and psychopathology.

Mental illness is a disorder that is considered to be a type of interruption in a person’s emotions, thoughts, or behavior. Mental illness signifies to a wide variety of disorders which can range from mild distress to impairing a person’s ability to function in daily life. Signs and symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on the particular disorder, circumstances and other factors. Whether a behavior is considered normal or abnormal varies on the person’s situation surrounding their behavior. Throughout history there’ve been three overall beliefs for the causes of mental illness. These three theories are known as supernatural, somatogenic, and psychogenic. Each one of these stands for how one is viewed when seen as having a mental illness.