TY - JOUR
T1 - Mood Disorders and Patterns of Creativity in British Writers and Artists
AU - Jamison, Kay Redfield
N1 - Funding Information:
Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The research was supported by the Institute for Scientific Information (Philadelphia) and Frances Lear. The author is indebted to Professor Eugene Paykel (Cambridge University) and James Henderson (Oxford University) for providing research facilities, to Dr. Richard Jed Wyatt for particularly helpful suggestions concerning the manuscript, and to the superb writers and artists who gave valuable time to participate in this study.
PY - 1989/5
Y1 - 1989/5
N2 - Extremes in mood, thought and behavior-including psychosis-have been linked with artistic creativity for as long as man has observed and written about those who write, paint, sculpt or compose. The history of this long and fascinating association, as well as speculations about its reasons for being, have been discussed by several modern authors and investigators, including Koestler (1975), Storr (1976), Andreasen (1978), Becker (1978), Rothenberg (1979), Richards (1981), Jamison (in press) and Prentky (in press). The association between extreme states of emotion and mind and creativity not only is fascinating but also has significant theoretical, clinical, literary and societalethical implications. These issues, more thoroughly reviewed elsewhere (Jamison et al. 1980; Richards 1981; Jamison, in press), include the understanding of cognitive, perceptual, mood and behavioral changes common to manic, depressive and creative states; the potential ability to lessen the stigma of mental illness; effects of psychiatric treatment (for example, lithium) on creativity; and concerns raised about genetic research on mood disorders. The current study was designed to ascertain rates of treatment for affective illness in a sample of eminent British writers and artists; to study differences in subgroups (poets. novelists, playwrights, biographers, artists); to examine seasonal patterns of moods and productivity; and to inquire into the perceived role of very intense moods in the writers’ and artists’ work. One of the major purposes of this investigation was to look at possible similarities and dissimilarities between periods of intense creative activity and hypomania. Hypothesized similarities were based on the overlapping nature of mood, cognitive and behavioral changes associated with both; the episodic nature of both; and possible links between the durational, frequency and seasonal patterns of both experiences.
AB - Extremes in mood, thought and behavior-including psychosis-have been linked with artistic creativity for as long as man has observed and written about those who write, paint, sculpt or compose. The history of this long and fascinating association, as well as speculations about its reasons for being, have been discussed by several modern authors and investigators, including Koestler (1975), Storr (1976), Andreasen (1978), Becker (1978), Rothenberg (1979), Richards (1981), Jamison (in press) and Prentky (in press). The association between extreme states of emotion and mind and creativity not only is fascinating but also has significant theoretical, clinical, literary and societalethical implications. These issues, more thoroughly reviewed elsewhere (Jamison et al. 1980; Richards 1981; Jamison, in press), include the understanding of cognitive, perceptual, mood and behavioral changes common to manic, depressive and creative states; the potential ability to lessen the stigma of mental illness; effects of psychiatric treatment (for example, lithium) on creativity; and concerns raised about genetic research on mood disorders. The current study was designed to ascertain rates of treatment for affective illness in a sample of eminent British writers and artists; to study differences in subgroups (poets. novelists, playwrights, biographers, artists); to examine seasonal patterns of moods and productivity; and to inquire into the perceived role of very intense moods in the writers’ and artists’ work. One of the major purposes of this investigation was to look at possible similarities and dissimilarities between periods of intense creative activity and hypomania. Hypothesized similarities were based on the overlapping nature of mood, cognitive and behavioral changes associated with both; the episodic nature of both; and possible links between the durational, frequency and seasonal patterns of both experiences.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0024515105&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0024515105&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1521/00332747.1989.11024436
DO - 10.1521/00332747.1989.11024436
M3 - Article
C2 - 2734415
AN - SCOPUS:0024515105
SN - 0033-2747
VL - 52
SP - 125
EP - 134
JO - Psychiatry (New York)
JF - Psychiatry (New York)
IS - 2
ER -