On Creative Madness

The affiliation of insanity and genius can be traced back earliest to the Greeks, where individuals considered to be gifted in some respect attributed it to possession by an inspirational “demon ” which served as an intermediary with the gods. This attitude is at odds with the perception of genius during the Enlightenment period as being the epitome of rational judgment. During the Renaissance, however, the idea of a “mad” genius returned as a self-established reputation invented in order to break away from cultural norms by establishing genius as being directly linked to imagination. This departure from genius as rationality led to the association of originality with some form of mania, which had the desirable connection of distinguishing the artist from the average person, and elevating them to a unique, set apart position [1]. As psychology advanced, there was effort to establish scientific evidence in favor of the association between creativity and some form of abnormal brain activity. However, this was difficult for a number of reasons. A consistent definition of creativity and categorization of “mental illness ” was rarely well established. Many studies between 1925 and 1994 which claimed to have confirmed a link between mental disorders an