Internet and Psychiatry
  • Home
    • Editorials
    • Research news
    • Research papers
    • Interviews with eminent psychiatrists
    • Ten years ago
    • Fifteen years ago
  • Topics
    • Alcohol and Drug Abuse
    • Anxiety Disorders
    • Biomedical Science
    • Compulsive gambling
    • Disaster Medicine
    • Education
    • General Medicine
      • Acupuncture
      • Physical medicine and Rehabilitation
    • Human Rights
    • Interviews with eminent psychiatrists
    • Mood Disorders
      • Bipolar Disorder
      • Depression
      • Seasonal Affective Disorder
    • Neurological Disorders
    • Other Psychiatric Disorders
    • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
    • Sexual Behavior
  • Books
    • Comorbidity of Depression and Alcohol Use Disorders
    • “Immigration and Mental Health” chapter abstracts
    • “Internet and Suicide” chapter abstracts
    • “Neurobiology of PTSD” chapter abstracts
    • “Suicidal Behavior in Alcohol…” chapter abstracts
    • “Suicide in the Military” chapter abstracts
    • “Terror and Suicide” chapter abstracts
    • “War and Suicide” chapter abstracts
  • Editors
    • Leo Sher, M.D.
    • Alexander Vilens, M.S.
  • Guests
    • Distinguished Guests
    • Our Contributors
  • Reflections
    • Poetry
    • Quotes

Other Psychiatric Disorders

Creativity and Mental Illness

December 14, 2008

Researchers have long studied the link between creativity and mental illness, and the lines between the two are often blurred. Research suggests that creative people often share more personality traits with the mentally ill than “normal” people in less creative pursuits. One study compared patients with bipolar disorder with a group of healthy people. It was found that graduate students in creative disciplines shared more personality traits with the bipolar patients than with their healthy but less creative peers.

Strong CM, Nowakowska C, Santosa CM, Wang PW, Kraemer HC, Ketter TA.
Temperament-creativity relationships in mood disorder patients, healthy controls and highly creative individuals. Journal of affective Disorders, 2007;100(1-3):41-8.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate temperament-creativity relationships in euthymic bipolar (BP) and unipolar major depressive (MDD) patients, creative discipline controls (CC), and healthy controls (HC).

METHODS: 49 BP, 25 MDD, 32 CC, and 47 HC (all euthymic) completed three self-report temperament/personality measures: the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), the Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A), and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI); and four creativity measures yielding six parameters: the Barron-Welsh Art Scale (BWAS-Total, BWAS-Like, and BWAS-Dislike), the Adjective Check List Creative Personality Scale (ACL-CPS), and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking–Figural (TTCT-F) and Verbal (TTCT-V) versions. Factor analysis was used to consolidate the 16 subscales from the three temperament/personality measures, and the resulting factors were assessed in relationship to the creativity parameters.
RESULTS: Five personality/temperament factors emerged. Two of these factors had prominent relationships with creativity measures. A Neuroticism/Cyclothymia/Dysthymia Factor, comprised mostly of NEO-PI-R-Neuroticism and TEMPS-A-Cyclothymia and TEMPS-A-Dysthymia, was related to BWAS-Total scores (r=0.36, p<0.0001) and BWAS-Dislike subscale scores (r=0.39, p<0.0001). An Openness Factor, comprised mostly of NEO-PI-R-Openness, was related to BWAS-Like subscale scores (r=0.28, p=0.0006), and to ACL-CPS scores (r=0.46, p<0.0001). No significant relationship was found between temperament/personality and TTCT-F and TTCT-V scores.
CONCLUSIONS: Neuroticism/Cyclothymia/Dysthymia and Openness appear to have differential relationships with creativity. The former could provide affective (Neuroticism, i.e. access to negative affect, and Cyclothymia, i.e. changeability of affect) and the latter cognitive (flexibility) advantages to enhance creativity. Further studies are indicated to clarify mechanisms of creativity and its relationships to affective processes and bipolar disorders.

Related Posts

Other Psychiatric Disorders /

Gender differences in the clinical characteristics and psychiatric comorbidity in patients with antisocial personality disorder

Other Psychiatric Disorders /

Prevention of homicidal behaviour in men with psychiatric disorders

Other Psychiatric Disorders /

Forensic psychiatric evaluations: an overview of methods, ethical issues, and criminal and civil assessments

‹ Science Declares Happiness is Contagious › Adolescence and Alcohol. An international perspective

Editorials

  • Navigating ethical dilemmas in genetic testing for Huntington’s Disease
  • Loneliness: Surgeon General Dr. Murthy’s warning
  • Intranasal esketamine ought to be more widely available
  • Kratom – what ?: another widely available opioid… should it be ?… should it be regulated ?… what to do?

Research Papers

  • COVID-19 mortality in Europe and the ’Iron Curtain’ between East and West
  • Examination of depressive signs and symptoms among 803 University students in seven Universities and Colleges. Hungary, Romania, Serbia.
  • Examination of spirituality and the dimensions of spirituality among 803 students in seven different Universities. Hungary, Romania and Serbia.
  • Examination of depressive signs and symptoms among 932 students in eight different secondary schools in Hungary

Research News

  • Age and antisuicidal effect of lithium
  • Obesity is associated with increased risk for psychiatric disorders
  • The effect of multivitamin supplementation on memory in older adults
  • Vitamin D serum levels, supplementation, and suicide attempts and intentional self-harm among Veterans

Latest News

  • Suicide rates in the United States in 2022
  • Suicide rates in the United States in 2001-2021
  • Leading world experts on suicide. Expertscape, the January 9, 2023, report
  • Best universities in the world

Interviews with eminent psychiatrists

  • Interview with Professor Shih-Ku Lin
  • Interview with Professor Masahito Fushimi
  • Interview with Professor Maurizio Pompili
  • Interview with Professor Marco Sarchiapone

Ten Years Ago

  • Plasma testosterone levels in bipolar suicide attempters
  • Teaching medical professionals and trainees about suicide prevention
  • Suicidal ideation in depressed patients with or without comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
  • Treatment of suicide attempters with bipolar disorder: a randomized clinical trial

Back to Top

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Copyright © 2023 AVCalc LLC. All rights reserved worldwide.