An investigation of the link between creativity and mental illness

Often times, creative individuals are plagued with various psychological afflictions ranging from depression and autism spectrum disorder to conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. In fact, these afflictions have beset people such as Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Sylvia Plath, Earnest Hemmingway, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and many others. A combination of mental illness and creativity spans across many different media and its bearers personify the struggle that arises from straddling the line between genius and insanity. Yet it is this paradox that has produced some of history’s greatest innovations. Only now are we beginning to understand the underlying mechanisms behind what many may be defined as both a gift and a curse. In fact, there is a neurobiological and psychological link between creativity and mental illness that may begin to resolve the line between genius and insanity.