Creative Genius and Depression

Have you ever wondered if there is a connection between creative genius and depression?

I always loved the music of Robert Schumann. His melodies and sense of fun appealed to me as a piano student. Schumann enjoyed painting pictures with his music and some of his intermediate piano works with names such as, “The Strange Man,” “Knight Rupert,” and “Hunting Song,” sing of 19th century European life situations that my youthful heart longed to see. I could imagine myself there simply by hearing the sound of his music played by my young hands.

When I was studying music history in college, I learned that Schumann had a very sad life. He struggled with mental illness and died in altogether unhappy circumstances. I remember thinking, “Why does it seem that so many creative people struggle with mental illnesses and depression? Am I just imagining that there is a correlation between the two things?”

Apparently, I am not the only one who has asked that question. An article published by Time Magazine (Amy Dickenson April 16, 2001) discussed a study that was performed by psychologist Kay Jamison at Oxford and London’s St. George’s Hospital. Ms. Jamison wondered if it could be proven that a higher percentage of creative people suffered from emotional disturbances such as depression. Kay studied forty-seven prominent British artists and creative writers who were all winners of major awards or were members of the Royal Academy of Arts.

It was discovered that 38% of the subjects had experienced mood disorders like depression, which is a rate much higher than the general population. One thing that seemed surprising to Jamison is that of the writers that had suffered with mental illnesses, most of these were poets. Jamison said that this makes sense “because the language of poetry is more akin to primitive thought processes and psychosis and because the nature of sustained work is probably different in the two kinds of writing.”

Jamison has stated that a person doesn’t have to be inflicted with a mood disorder (like depression) to be creative. In fact she has said, “A majority of creative people are not manic depressive. On the the other hand, a mood disorder can be exploited by artists to justify outrageous behavior. People like Byron used it to get away with all sorts of activity that wasn’t acceptable for someone who is normal.”

Most of the “‘normal” people in her study reported creative highs that are similar to the highs of manic-depression. During these “high” periods, forty-two of the forty-seven artists reported having periods, lasting about two weeks ” in which they were enthusiastic and had bursts of energy and and increased abilities to be creative. In fact, Jamison reports that some artists are reluctant to get help for their emotional disturbances because, “severe emotional swings are simply the price to be paid for being creative.”

So for many people, while the pain of the illness is not to be undervalued, they feel that the creativity that accompanies their mental illness is nature trying to make up for the pain being experienced by allowing the sufferer an increased ability to express what they are feeling.

Here is a partial list of creative geniuses who have suffered from depression. What do you think?