by J.E.T.

Created on: April 07, 2010

                                                                   I’m not Crazy, I’m a Genius!

“Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide,” observed philosopher Aristotle, who was a strong believer that madness and genius were deeply connected. Does a person’s high intellectual ability and creativity ultimately mean that they are insane? In the world of art and literature, it has always been the stereotype for the artists to be mad or depressed. Throughout the history of literature, there has always been a link between madness and an abundance of intellectual ability. Over time, there has been lots of speculation as to what might be the cause of such “crazy” behavior patterns of artists.

Of course, not all creative people are insane. However, there has been lots of speculation that creative people are more likely to be suffering from some sort of mental illness. Perhaps in order for writers and artists to be as creative as they are, there must be some type of brain imbalance. This is what many psychologists have been researching. In the late 1980s, Johns Hopkins University psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison examined the link as well. She studied 47 painters, sculptors, and writers, all of whom had received high honors in their fields. Jamison found that 38% of the artists had been treated for a mood disorder. Only about 1% of people in the general population report manic-depressive episodes and about 5% report major depression at some point in their lives. Although only a small population was studied, these results make a very good point of showing that it is highly possible that creative people are more mentally unstable than the average person.

Furthermore, many scientists believe that the link between creativity and madness lies more in the communication of brain hemispheres. A more recent study shows that there is a fine line between insanity and creativity. There is a group of people known as “Schizotypes”, who have enhanced creativity due to using the right side of the brain much more than the average person. A Schizotype is

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>