Genius or Madness? Tendency Toward Mental Illness May Share Genetic Roots with Creativity

By Christina Lavers

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

There has long been an association between creative genius and madness. In many respects this apparent relationship is not surprising since both involve a deviation from what is described as a ‘normal’ approach. The ability to think outside the box involves the adoption of perspectives that might not appear obvious to the average person.

Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, Beethoven, Kurt Cobain and Robin Williams are just a few of the many creative geniuses who are believed to have suffered from some form of mental illness. When we examine the intense beauty and power of their creations, and the epic lives many of these individuals led, it can be almost instinctive to want to romanticize aspects of mental illness as it is often seen as the key to their genius. However, anyone who has experienced mental illness, either first-hand or through a loved one, knows that there is nothing romantic about the associated suffering.

Over the years mounting evidence has shown a significantly higher proportion of people who suffer from various forms of mental illness within the creative industries. One study examined 300,000 people who suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or unipolar depression, and their relatives, and found a distinct over-representation in creative professions for those diagnosed with bipolar disorder as well as undiagnosed siblings of those with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Recently researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, further explored this relationship. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience in 2015, was designed to establish whether genes linked to creativity could increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Though other studies have found a link between creativity and psychiatric disorders, it had previously never been established whether genetics were responsible for this association, or whether environmental or socio-economic factors were the cause.

Researchers discovered that genetic risk scores for both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were significantly higher in individuals defined as creative by the parameters of the study. Creative types who exhibited no symptoms of mental illness tended to have genetic risk scores that fell approximately halfway between those with disorders and the general population.

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Editor’s note: It is important to note that, while genuine mental illness unquestionably exists, due to conflicts-of-interest within the psychiatric and pharmaceutical industries the rates of diagnosed and medicated illnesses today far exceed the rates of genuine illness. For more information, please see the following articles:

• Breaking Through the Stigma of Depression and Mental Illness
• The Fictions Surrounding ADHD and the “Chemical Imbalance” Theory of Mental Illness
• Brave New Medicated World: Free-Thinking and Non-Conformity Now “Illnesses”

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