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Article: Are creatives more prone to mental illness?
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I didn't read the article…but I did read everyone's posts. As a doc student in psychology, this is definitely an interesting post. I think the topic of this article brings the nature/nurture debate into question…which is really what most things, in terms of epidemiology, boil down to. As someone already mentioned, there is are biological and environmental triggers to all mental illnesses (and behaviors, and personality traits); some have more hereditary components but are may not be "activated" until something in the environment triggers it (e.g., a person may have a family history of schizophrenia but shows no signs of it…until, one day, the person encounters some trauma…then the person's coping and resiliency may be lowered and the predisposition to schizophrenia takes over…then the person starts exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia). It is my personal belief that people are predisposed to behave in a certain way, but that behaviors and many facets of people can change based on the environment and environmental influences (e.g., families).
Also, like Rune said, you aren't considered (at least by DSM and clinical standards) to have a mental illness as long as you can function in your day-to-day life. That is one criteria that all adult diagnoses have in the DSM…that the behavior or emotions must interfere with at least one aspect of the person's functioning (e.g., academic, work, social).
So, to speak directly to the idea that creative people are more likely to have mental illnesses…not necessarily. However, in some psychological and developmental theories, we have a certain genetic predisposition to seek out certain environments, so if someone is generally creative, that person will likely seek out creative environments, thus reinforcing that they are creative people (almost circular in nature). Also, people who are creative tend to be more emotional (even PET scans of brains show more activation for these people in different areas of the brain)…further, many people with mental illnesses have emotional dysregulation…so if you consider these factors, it is not unlikely that someone who is more creative may be more disposed to developing a mental illness…however, it is also not causal.
And, of course, engaging in artistic endeavors or behavioral activation (such as dancing, exercise) are coping mechanisms…so maybe, people who are creative are creative because they are using various outlets to help cope with their emotionality and ward of potential mental illness. Just some silly psychological hypothesizing. Anyways, this forum is super interesting to me and you all have some really great thoughts and points on the issue!
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@Charley >> Post Reply To: Article: Are creatives more prone to mental illness?
Well, directly from your article, it states: "As a group, those in the creative professions were no more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders than other people."
However the depth that creative people are more intimately connected to their heartstrings, as compared to the general population at large, makes me believe that the outside world might very well, more easily attach such a misguided label to creative type folks.
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Piggybacking off the above…
I think Creatives tend to be very in-touch with their emotions, because emotion often fuels creativity. Just think of how you dance when you're in a great mood, vs. a so-so mood, vs. all PMS-y and/or grumpy. So for Creatives, the impetus for action comes from the heart (so to speak). For non-Creatives, like engineer/scientist types, I think they're more in-tune with their intellect than with their emotions; the impetus for action comes from the head, not the heart.
Which is of course not to say that engineers can't be creative (in fact, I'd say that solving engineering problems requires a lot of creativity – just not "artsy" creativity) or that Creatives aren't intellectual. My husband doesn't come across as a Creative right away, but his favorite hobby is homebrewing, which demands creativity (in creating and modifying recipes) as well as technical knowledge of the process.
Back to my point, though…Going on the theory that Creatives are intimately connected to their emotional state, they're more sensitive to variations, dips and surges, in that emotional state. And without the proper tools to handle certain emotional extremes, I think in some cases, mental illness can develop out of them like an infection on an untreated wound. Unchecked sadness leads to depression, unchecked fear leads to anxiety/paranoia, unchecked anger leads to violent/aggressive mood swings. (Obviously this doesn't apply to all mental illnesses, there are plenty that don't arise from emotions but from deep-seated physiological or chemical influences.)
As for famous "crazy" Creatives like Van Gogh or Poe, just remember there was a lot of substance abuse going on with them too. Poe, at least, was a drunk, and I think Van Gogh was no stranger at the neighborhood pubs either. Oscar Wilde was a terrific writer, an opium hound, and (for his time) a sexual deviant. So it sort of becomes a chicken-and-egg scenario: Did the substance abuse create the mental disorders? Did the mental disorders push the people to substance abuse? Did the substances bring out latent creativity? Did the creativity open the door for mental illness? Etc.
I guess what it's most important to remember, though, is the golden rule of statistics: Correlation does not equal Causation. So while there may be a higher correlation between creativity and mental illness, that's not necessarily an indication that Creatives are naturally predisposed to developing mental illnesses.
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