Why Genius and Madness Related?

A number of artists who became legends of the world's so-called mentally ill. For example, the painter Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo or writer Virginia Woolf and Edgar Allan Poe. 

Vincent van Gogh's "Self-portrait with bandaged
ear," painted in 1889, shortly after he cut his
own ear off. (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/)

Now, the link between genius and madness is no longer merely anecdotal. A study showed the two extremes of the human mind is completely intertwined. The research was presented before a panel of experts at the World Science Festival in New York on the fifth week. 

Kay Redfield Jamison, a clinical psychologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the findings showed 20 to 30 scientific studies support the notion of the "tortured genius." 

Of the many types of psychosis, creativity seems to be most associated with mood, particularly bipolar disorder. This conclusion refers to studies that tested the intelligence of 700 thousand citizens of Sweden who was 16 years old. 

A decade later, most of them suffering from mental illness. "People who excel at the age of 16 years, was four times more likely to develop bipolar disorder," said Jamison, who presented a study published in 2010. 

Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings between extreme happiness (known as mania) and severe depression. The question is, how could this lead to a brutal cycle of creativity? 

The answer lies in the study presented another panelist, James Fallon. "People with bipolar tend to be creative when they get out of severe depression," said Fallon, a neurobiologist from the University of California-Irvine. 

How to translate brain patterns into mind? Elyn Saks, a professor of mental health law University of Southern, California, explains that people with psychosis do not filter the stimulation of others. Instead, they can entertain contradictory ideas simultaneously. In addition, they get into your subconscious and annoying. "It's a very creative," said Saks. 

A study asked participants to list all the words that came to mind, with the stimulus word (like "tulip"). Apparently, patients who have mild bipolar mania can produce three times more than citizens of most of the association said. *** [LIVESCIENCE | KORAN TEMPO 3901]

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