Experts ponder link between creativity, mood disorders

[Dave Monroe]

Experts ponder link between creativity, mood disorders
By Elizabeth Landau
CNN

(CNN) -- The works of David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide
September 12, are famous for their obsessively observed detail and
emotional nuance.

David Foster Wallace reportedly battled depression for 20 years.

Certain characteristics of his prose -- hypersensitivity and constant
rumination, or persistent contemplation -- reflect a pattern of
temperament that some psychology researchers say connects mental
illness, especially bipolar disorder and depression, with creativity.

There have been more than 20 studies that suggest an increased rate of
bipolar and depressive illnesses in highly creative people, says Kay
Redfield Jamison, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University
and author of the "An Unquiet Mind," a memoir of living with bipolar
disorder.

Experts say mental illness does not necessarily cause creativity, nor
does creativity necessarily contribute to mental illness, but a
certain ruminating personality type may contribute to both mental
health issues and art....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/07/creativity.depression