3. Authors believed to have
manic episodes (from Jamison, 1993)
Hans Christian Andersen Joseph Conrad (SA)
Honore de Balzac Charles Dickens
William Faulkner (H) Isak Dinesen (SA)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (H) Ralph Waldo Emerson
Herman Melville
Graham Greene Eugene O'Neill (H, SA)
Ernest Hemingway (H, S) Francis Parkman
Hermann Hesse (H, SA) John Ruskin (H)
Henrik Ibsen Mary Shelley
Robert Louis Stevenson
Henry James August Strindberg
William James Leo Tolstoy
Samuel Clemens (Mark Tennessee Williams (H)
Twain) Virginia Woolf (H, S)
Emile Zola
18. Biographical studies of
famous artists
Study Sample Rates of mania
Ludwig, 1992 1005 recognized artists, 8.2% had some history
writers, actors of mania, compared to
2.8% of non-artists
Wills, 2003 40 famous Jazz Bepop 28.5% some form of
musicians mood disorder
Czeizel, 2001 Famous Hungarian 67.5% had some form of
poets bipolar disorder
Jamison, 1989 47 British 18th century 26% elated moods, 6.5%
writers treated for mania
Juda, 1994 113 highly creative No diagnosable bipolar
artists disorder, but 22% of
offspring had bipolar
spectrum traits
20. Iowa Writers Workshop
(Andreasen)
Highly prestigious writers’ workshop
43% met criteria for some form of
mania:
30% bipolar II disorder
13% bipolar I disorder
21. Bipolar Disorder relates to
creative eminence
Problem:
Eminence and fame might relate to social and
personal resources other than creativity.
22. What about samples
that aren’t famous and eminent?
Studies of artistic samples
Akiskal (2005) Artists and those in non- 43% of artists endorsed
artistic occupations cyclothymic traits,
compared to about 10%
of controls
Colvin (1995) 40 conservatory GBI mania and
students; 40 students in cyclothymia scores were
non-creative areas higher among the
conservatory students
23. Conclusion 2.
AMONG CREATIVE
PEOPLE,
MILD FORMS OF
BIPOLAR DISORDER
ARE OVER-
REPRESENTED.
24. A different sampling approach
AMONG THOSE
WITH BIPOLAR
DISORDER, HOW
MANY ARE
CREATIVE?
25. Preferences for Complex
Stimuli—a marker of creativity
Study Sample Findings
Santosa et al., 2007 Diagnosed with bipolar +
disorder
Simeonova, Chang, Diagnosed with bipolar +
Strong, & Ketter, 2005 disorder
Strong et al., Diagnosed with bipolar +
disorder
Simeonova, Chang, Offspring of those +
Strong, & Ketter, 2005 diagnosed with bipolar
disorder
Rawlings & Georgiou, Students at risk for +
2004 mania
Schuldberg, 2001 Students at risk for +
mania
26. Conclusion 3.
MANY PEOPLE
WITH SOME
FORM OF
BIPOLAR
DISORDER
PREFER
CREATIVE
STIMULI.
27. If people prefer complex stimuli,
DOES THAT GET
EXPRESSED IN
CREATIVE
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AND PURSUITS?
28. Among those with BP,
how common is it to be an artist?
Tremblay et al. (2010) 13,700 participants in Creativity ratings of
the ECA study (84 with occupations were higher
DSM-IIIR diagnosis of among those with
bipolar I disorder) bipolar disorder(4.54)
than those without
bipolar disorder (3.07)
30. Conclusion 4.
CREATIVE
PURSUITS AND
ACCOMPLISHMENT
ARE ENHANCED
AMONG THOSE
WITH MILDER
FORMS OF
BIPOLAR
DISORDER.
Carrie McGrath
31. Self-Ratings of Creativity
Study Sample Findings
Furnham et al. (1988) Students at risk for mania +
Schuldberg, 2001 Students at risk for mania +
Shapiro & Weisberg, 1999 Students at risk for mania +
Frantom et al., 1999 Risk for mania among No effect
graduate students and
faculty studying art
Frantom et al., 1999, Family history of mania +
second analysis
Santosa et al., 2007 People diagnosed with No effect
bipolar disorder
32. Conclusion 5.
THOSE WITH
MILDER FORMS
OF BIPOLAR
DISORDER SEE
THEMSELVES
AS CREATIVE.
33. Creative persons?
Creativity paradigm Bipolar I Bipolar Family Risk for
disorder spectrum members mania
Biographical studies of + + +
eminence
Interview studies of famously + + +
creative persons
Lifetime creative - + +
accomplishment
Occupational choice + + +
Preference for complex + + + +
(creative) stimuli
People with bipolar disorder are to be likely to be creative.
Particularly true for milder and at-risk variants.
35. Measures of Divergent
Thinking
Study Sample Findings Score
Card
Furnham et al., Students at risk for Higher scores on the +
2008 mania Unusual Uses Test
Santosa et al., Diagnosed with No differences from controls -
2007 bipolar disorder on the Torrance verbal or
nonverbal creativity subtests
Dickstein et al., Diagnosed with Poor performance on -
2007 bipolar disorder attentional set-shifting
Pine et al. Children diagnosed Poor performance on -
with bipolar attentional set-shifting
disorder
36. Conclusion.
CREATIVE THOUGHT IS OBSERVED IN
THOSE AT RISK FOR THE DISORDER, BUT
NOT WITHIN BIPOLAR I DISORDER– AT
LEAST WITHOUT CONSIDERING MOOD.
37. Measures of Divergent Thinking
And Mania
Study Sample + Findings
Levine et al., 1996 11 persons hospitalized for Persons who were manic
mania compared to groups with were more fluent– they
schizophrenia, schizoaffective provided 25 word
disorder, depression, and associations compared to
healthy controls 12 in the other groups
Henry et al., 1971 Persons with bipolar disorder Fluency (word
tested during manic and associations) tripled
asymptomatic periods during mania
Kocsis et al., 1993 Persons with bipolar disorder Fluency was higher when
before and after lithium people stopped lithium
discontinuation
Shaw et al., 1997 Persons with bipolar disorder Fluency was higher when
before and after lithium people stopped lithium
discontinuation
Andreasen & Persons hospitalized for mania Creative and manic
Powers, 1975 compared to those with persons had high scores
schizophrenia, and a highly on a conceptual over-
creative control sample inclusiveness scale
38. Measures of Divergent Thinking
And Mania
Study Sample + Findings - Findings
Levine et al., 1996 11 persons hospitalized for Persons who were manic
mania compared to groups with were more fluent– they
schizophrenia, schizoaffective provided 25 word
disorder, depression, and associations compared to
healthy controls 12 in the other groups
Henry et al., 1971 Persons with bipolar disorder Fluency (word The greater fluency was
tested during manic and associations) tripled entirely due to “incorrect”
asymptomatic periods during mania associations
Kocsis et al., 1993 Persons with bipolar disorder Fluency was higher when
before and after lithium people stopped lithium
discontinuation
Shaw et al., 1997 Persons with bipolar disorder Fluency was higher when
before and after lithium people stopped lithium
discontinuation
Andreasen & Persons hospitalized for mania Creative and manic The broad
Powers, 1975 compared to those with persons had high scores categorizations made by
schizophrenia, and a highly on a conceptual over- the bipolar group were
creative control sample inclusiveness scale largely errors.
40. Could milder mood changes
be more beneficial?
In interviews with eminent artists,
high moods, energy, and less need for sleep
contribute to mania,
other symptoms were not seen as helpful
Jamison (1989)
Energy, enthusiasm, and less need for sleep on
the GBI correlate with self-rated creativity
Other symptoms did not
Shapiro & Weisberg (1999)
41. Summary
Substantial evidence: bipolar disorder is
related to being a “creative person.”
Particularly true of milder forms of bipolar
disorder, and even vulnerability to the
disorder.
42. Summary
Less is known about the “creative process”
that supports this pattern.
Some early evidence suggests that mood
plays a role.
Moods that are too high might interfere with
creative accomplishments.
Happiness might bolster fluency and
divergent thinking.
Peak lifetime levels of accomplishment were higher among 33 persons with bipolar disorder than among the 33 controls with no history of mood disorders or schizophrenia. Consistent with the idea of milder forms of disorder being beneficial, the 16 persons with milder forms of bipolar disorder (cyclothymia) were rated as having greater accomplishments than the 17 persons diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. Indeed, those with bipolar I disorder obtained scores that were nonsignificantly lower than those obtained by the healthy controls. Beyond assessing those affected by the disorder, 11 unaffected family members of bipolar probands were interviewed, and they received higher lifetime creativity scores than did those diagnosed with bipolar disorder (Richards, Kinney, Lunde, Benet, & Merzel, 1988).
, Santosa and colleagues (2007)
a
Andreasen and Powers (1975) used an object sorting task to measure conceptual over-inclusiveness, defined as the tendency to allow a broader range of concepts into a given category. Conceptual over-inclusiveness levels were as elevated among 16 people hospitalized for mania as those observed among a highly creative sample, and scores for both groups were higher than for persons hospitalized for schizophrenia. The bipolar group was distinguished from the highly creative sample, though, by a higher rate of atypical and idiosyncratic categorizations.
Andreasen and Powers (1975) used an object sorting task to measure conceptual over-inclusiveness, defined as the tendency to allow a broader range of concepts into a given category. Conceptual over-inclusiveness levels were as elevated among 16 people hospitalized for mania as those observed among a highly creative sample, and scores for both groups were higher than for persons hospitalized for schizophrenia. The bipolar group was distinguished from the highly creative sample, though, by a higher rate of atypical and idiosyncratic categorizations.