Rates of mental illness were examined in 30 creative writers, 30 matched control subjects, and the first-degree relatives of both groups. The writers had a substantially higher rate of mental illness, predominantly affective disorder, with a tendency toward the bipolar subtype.
There was also a higher prevalence of affective disorder and creativity in the writers’ first-degree relatives, suggesting that these traits run together in families and could be genetically mediated.
Both writers and control subjects had IQs in the superior range; the writers excelled only on the WAIS vocabulary subtest, confirming previous observations that intelligence and creativity are independent mental abilities.
…The present investigation attempted to answer some of these questions by systematically evaluating a sample of creative writers at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. The workshop is the oldest and most widely recognized creative writing program in the United States. Students and faculty have included such well-known writers as Philip Roth, Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving, Robert Lowell, Flannery O’Connor, and John Cheever. Since well-known writers are brought in for a semester or two each year as visiting faculty members, they represent a reasonably valid cross-section of contemporary American writers.
…Contrary to some previous speculations about a relationship between schizophrenia and creativity16, 17, these results suggest a strong association between creativity and affective illness instead. Schizophrenia was conspicuous by its absence, while the rate of affective disorder (ie. manic-depressive illness) was strikingly high. 80% of the writers had had an episode of affective illness at some time in their lives, compared with 30% of the control subjects. A surprising percentage of the affective disorder was bipolar in nature; 43% of the writers had had some type of bipolar illness, in comparison with 10% of the control subjects. Both of these differences were statistically-significant. In addition, the writers had statistically-significantly higher rates of alcoholism (30%, compared with 7% in the control subjects).
…2⁄3 of the ill writers had received psychiatric treatment for their disorders. Further supporting the clinical importance of these affective disorders in writers is the fact that two of the 30 committed suicide during the 15 years of the study. Issues of statistical-significance pale before the clinical implications of this fact.
…The total number of creative relatives was statistically-significantly higher for the writers, and it is particularly noteworthy that, when all relatives were pooled together, the difference was contributed primarily by the number of relatives who were in the creative++ category. Most of the difference between the writers and the control subjects was contributed by the siblings; 41% of the siblings of the writers displayed some creativity, compared with 18% of the control siblings. The rate for parents was 20% versus 8%; while the rate among the parents of writers was higher, the difference did not achieve statistical-significance. Table 4 portrays the intertwining of creativity and affective illness in the family members, showing the rates of creativity and illness in the families of each of the writers and control subjects. It indicates clearly that the families of the writers were riddled with both creativity and mental illness, while in the families of the control subjects much of the illness and creativity seemed to be randomly scattered.
…Overall, this investigation indicated that there is a close association between mental illness and creativity, as assessed in a sample of creative writers. Contrary to earlier hypotheses about a relationship between creativity and schizophrenia, the type of mental illness was predominantly affective disorder, with a possible tendency toward the bipolar subtype. Earlier hypotheses about a relationship with schizophrenia were based on the recognition that schizophrenia often leads to unusual perceptions, which could predispose to creativity; in most instances, however, perceptions in schizophrenia tend to be more bizarre than original, and many schizophrenic patients suffer from cognitive impairments that are likely to inhibit creativity (1974).