This is interesting. Seems fairly obvious that a mind supercharged with hypomania will be more creative than a more typically "dull" one. That Van Gogh was a manic depressive seems like it might be a reliable diagnosis-at-a-distance, but that doesn't mean he wasn't also a great painter anyway, oh no. The guy was a genius too. His radical blend of impressionism and elements taken from Japanese painting coupled with an observant eye for nature and knowledge of the ultimately pointless and ephemeral nature of life and his belief in social justice made him a radical figure and not much understood in his day.
But would he have been more successful if he'd been "normal"? There's no way to know. But a soul on fire looks at the world in a different way and doesn't just accept it. To feel the world's pain as well as your own isn't everyone's lot in life - fortunately for them - but it does give the sufferer/blessed a perspective that makes everyone else confront something they hadn't seen. Drugs are another way of breaking the chain of social conditioning. It's hardly any wonder there was a massive cultural revolution when the CIA stopped trying to brainwash people with LSD and gave it to a young writer called Ken Kesey. The rest is (or should be) history. So yes, I'm firmly in the camp that thinks breaking down internal barriers sets you free to create the sort of things you actually want to create rather than the ones the birth-school-work-death-world wants you to choose from. New study claims to find genetic link between creativity and mental illness http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/08/new-study-claims-to-find-genetic-link-between-creativity-and-mental-illness http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/08/new-study-claims-to-find-genetic-link-between-creativity-and-mental-illness New study claims to find genetic link between creativi... http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/08/new-study-claims-to-find-genetic-link-between-creativity-and-mental-illness Results imply creative people are 25% more likely to carry genes that raise risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. But some argue the evidence is flimsy View on www.theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/08/new-study-claims-to-find-genetic-link-between-creativity-and-mental-illness Preview by Yahoo
