Читать книгу Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists - Part 4 - Группа авторов - Страница 11

From the time of Aristotle, many social critics have noticed that creative people are mentally unsound. Although creativity is obviously an essential element in many professions, the link between creativity and mental instability is more pronounced in the arts than in other fields [Angier, 1993]. Thus, authors working with creative people found such a high incidence and prevalence of psychiatric abnormalities as to suggest a causal nexus between creativity and psychopathology [Post, 1994]. In the same way, psychiatrists, neurologists and evolutionary geneticists have provided evidence that the relationship between certain mental disorders and artistic achievement is real [Angier, 1993].

A link between creativity and a tendency to affective disorders has become widely accepted [Post, 1994]. Several studies have shown that people in the arts suffer disproportionately high rates of mood disorders, particularly manic depression and major depression, this being up to 10–30 times greater as compared to the general population [Angier, 1993]. In this sense, a specific relationship between creativity and manic-depressive (bipolar) disorders has been proposed [Post, 1994], with the possibility of genetic links, the therapeutic effects of art making, and occupational hazards such as exposure to potentially toxic substances [Schildkraut et al., 1994].

Eminent artists and writers have described hypomanic symptomatology during intense creativity periods; and manics and hypomanics have attributed both immediate and lasting effects on creativity to hypomanic episodes [Richards, 1988]. The periods of either mania or depression are interrupted by long periods of normality in which the artists appear in control of their work [Angier, 1993]. Post [1994] showed that in 34% of patients, psychiatric illnesses had been clearly responsible for the interruption or cessation of creative work, for disruptions of life patterns, and sometimes of personal relationships. Regardless of the blockages and breakdowns which many had suffered, they were powerfully driven by the urge to create. The rapid thought, euphoria, and heightened energy that characterize hypomania enhance creativity [Richards, 1988]. The intense experiences of despair accompanying depressive states provide inspiration and material for creative expression [Schildkraut and Hirshfeld, 1995]. During either manic or depressive episodes, preliminary brain imaging studies indicate that different regions of the brain are perturbed, bolstering the idea that a bipolar mood disorder could be a global arouser of mental activity [Angier, 1993].

Jamison [1989] suggested that artists and writers represent a group at high risk for affective illness and should be assessed and counseled accordingly. Ideal treatment requires the following: a sensitive understanding of the possible benefits of mood disorders to creativity, as well as the severe liabilities, including the risk of suicide and of untreated depression and mania; use of available medications with awareness of side-effects potentially damaging to the creative process; minimization, whenever possible, of drug (especially lithium) levels; the recognition and sophisticated use of seasonal patterns in moods and productivity; and sensitivity to the possible role of alcohol and drugs in inducing, maintaining, or exacerbating mood states.

Post [1994] reported that despite the relationship with pathological matters, and the attempt to restore the balance, it is imperative to bear in mind that the subjects were, over and above their astonishing giftedness, admirable human beings.