Creativity and mental health

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven may have had bipolar disorder.[1][2]

Links between creativity and mental health have been extensively discussed and studied by psychologists and other researchers for centuries. Parallels can be drawn to connect creativity to major mental disorders including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, OCD and ADHD. For example, studies[3][4] have demonstrated correlations between creative occupations and people living with mental illness. There are cases that support the idea that mental illness can aid in creativity, but it is also generally agreed that mental illness does not have to be present for creativity to exist.

  1. ^ Martin Mai, François (2007). Diagnosing Genius: The Life and Death of Beethoven. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 978-0773578791. There is a strong possibility that he had recurrent depressive episodes, and it is also likely that he had what would now be called a bipolar disorder.
  2. ^ Goodnick, Paul J. (1998). Mania: Clinical and Research Perspectives. American Psychiatric Pub. p. 15. ISBN 978-0880487283.
  3. ^ Kyaga, Simon; Landén, Mikael; Boman, Marcus; Hultman, Christina M.; Långström, Niklas; Lichtenstein, Paul (January 2013). "Mental illness, suicide and creativity: 40-year prospective total population study". Journal of Psychiatric Research. 47 (1): 83–90. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.09.010. ISSN 1879-1379. PMID 23063328.
  4. ^ Musgrave, George; Gross, Sally Anne (2020-09-29). Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition. University of Westminster Press. doi:10.16997/book43. ISBN 978-1-912656-62-2. S2CID 224842613.