History is replete with examples of creators who suffered from psychosis. A new study shows the connection between the gene that increases the chance of having a mental illness and creativity
Miriam Dishon-Berkowitz Galileo
We all know people who we would define as geniuses, some of them bordering on psychosis. History is replete with examples of artists suffering from psychosis, such as Van Gogh who cut off his ear and later shot himself after a seizure.
Previous studies have raised the possibility that there may be a connection between psychosis and creativity, which explains the fact that genes related to psychosis have been preserved in the general gene pool of the population. However, so far no empirical research has been conducted that directly examined the relationship between creativity and psychosis in the general population.
The Hungarian psychiatrist Szabolcs Kéri picked up the gauntlet, and the results of his research are published in the journal Psychological Science. Keri focused on a gene called neuregulin 1. This is a gene that, as usual, has a role in a wide range of brain processes, including the development and strengthening of communication between neurons. One of the variations of this gene was found to be associated with an increased risk of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar personality (bipolar; mania-depression).
200 healthy participants with high intellectual and academic abilities participated in the study. Participants were recruited for the study through advertisements in the local press (in Hungary) and through an e-mail to students at Semmelweis University in Budapest. In an appeal to them, it was said that anyone who feels that he is particularly creative, or who has achieved impressive results in the field of science or art in his life, is invited to participate in the research.
And if the clouds had strings?
All participants were Hungarian, and their families originated in Central Europe. Each participant underwent a psychological interview according to accepted criteria for testing mental disorders, and all study participants were diagnosed as free of psychological or neurological disorders. The participants answered the IQ test, and the questionnaire measuring socioeconomic status.
Also, the participants answered the questionnaire that tests scientific and creative achievements achieved in the past, and the questionnaire that tests the level of creativity. For example, the participants were asked to answer the question: "Suppose the clouds had strings that tie them to the ground. What do you think would have happened"? Finally, blood was taken from the subjects, for the genetic test.
The analysis of the research findings indicates the existence of a distinct relationship between the neuregulin 1 gene and creativity. Participants who had the unique variation in this gene were more creative (that is, scored higher on the creativity test and reported more achievements in creativity and science) than participants who did not have this variation in the gene.
This is the first study of its kind to suggest that a gene variation linked to psychosis may have benefits. It is possible that different characteristics at the gene level, which are also loosely related to mental illness, but are also found in healthy people, have an advantage, in that they allow us to think more creatively. The results of the study explain why, from an evolutionary point of view, certain genetic variations associated with severe health problems, nevertheless continue to exist in the population - because of the advantages they may confer.
Dr. Miriam Dishon Berkowitz is a psychologist and organizational and marketing consultant.
26 תגובות
Does this mean that the genes are so similar that anyone who reaches a level of creative genius beyond what is expected must be psychotic?
Crazy who is not crazy
I forgot the "d" in section 22...facts
Until then I think you are both right
Both opinions are right and if you look at it you are also "sick" in creativity there are thicknesses and there are beliefs and sometimes beliefs also lead to facts but until then
To Anonymous Concerned:
If you want to tell me something - why don't you say it?
Even if it's complete nonsense - don't be ashamed!
To Michael, I want to say, your problem is that you don't understand reality, if you were aware of what is really happening in the world today, maybe you too would have abandoned our life all the way
What creative nonsense is not necessarily related to art
And scientists also need a lot of creativity
I'd say it's more about thinking outside the box
Creativity is a myth...
Social dictation
All in all, you have to come up with something random from other things that lots of people will like and that's "creative".
Not to your level, literally
By the way, next time you'll give up on the stupid addition
It's not up to you
Of course it's true
And the fact is that there are sick people who live normally with cognitive therapy and without drugs
Of course there is the biological side but it is together
""
To describe a situation as if he abandoned (voluntary action) the "ordinary life" is to say that he decided on this abandonment of his own accord - which is clearly not true.
""
not of his own free will
creative:
A person does not choose to be psychotic.
It happens to him and he suffers from it.
To describe a situation as if he abandoned (voluntary action) the "ordinary life" is to say that he decided on this abandonment of his own accord - which is clearly not true.
Also casting doubt on the logic and correctness of "ordinary life" is a mental defect and this is exactly the defect I described when I talked about a person who is unable to differentiate between imagination and reality.
Michael, Raul:
Indeed, Albert Camus explored the same absurdity in reality that I was referring to. Calling it absurd or not is not the point right now.
Michael's hypothesis regarding the distinction between a realistic and an imaginary world sounds logical to me, but I was probably referring to a different class of mental illnesses.
In order to live a normal, non-psychotic life in our world, a person must ignore the non-existence of answers to existential questions and even absurdities (in the sense of logical contradictions) that exist in the normal lives of human beings. (Those who don't understand what I'm talking about are welcome to read "The Myth of Sisyphus" or ignore my hypothesis)
According to me, creativity causes a person to imagine other realities, and by comparing them with the "reality of ordinary life" to arrive at reflections on their logic and therefore the correctness of this ordinary life. Which in certain and rare circumstances may cause a person to abandon the normal way of life and be defined as psychotic.
Raul:
Even if he meant it (and I don't think so) - his words are pointless.
He spoke of the "absurdity that in reality” and not about her feel that for some reason people without sense attached the name to her"feeling The absurd" (as if there are no words to describe such feelings and there is no escaping the use of the word "absurd" which is intended to describe something that is logically impossible)
But it has nothing to do with creativity
Michael: He's talking about it I guess
http://www.e-mago.co.il/Editor/philosophy-135.htm
http://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=10135
indeed. In theory, I would like to bring all the news every day, but a quick glance at sites like Science Daily, which organize material in English from all the academic institutions in the world and all the scientific journals, shows that this is not practical, and that even if you only take the pearls, I would have to hire a team of 10 people to translate. In the worst case if something is important and we didn't get on it in time, there are always the content partners who can fix the situation even if not in real time. In the end, a very high percentage of the visits to the website are for over 11 archive pages and whoever searches for the topic in a year or in 20 years doesn't care if it came up in September or December.
What you said above is also true for your website?
Don't forget that a printed monthly has a much longer response time than a website or blog. But it has added value in the direction of deepening.
The story above was published by Gali Weinstein already two months ago on the very day the study came out:
http://www.notes.co.il/gali/61038.asp
Because this is a study from two months ago and they wrote about it in the psychology papers, including the story that the clouds had threads and the explanation about schizophrenia and genius. So does Mrs. Dishon-Berkowitz wander around Gali's website and read the articles in the field of science?
creative:
What absurdity are you talking about and how does it cause schizophrenia or bipolar disorder?
general:
The truth is that the wording of the article is incorrect.
In fact, it does not explicitly state that the same variation that increases the chances of psychosis is also found in creative people.
Obviously, this is the impression they were trying to create, but the fact that they did not write it explicitly raises some suspicion here that they may have preferred the scoop to the truth.
Assuming the finding is correct, I would tend to explain it like this:
Creativity is the human ability to create imaginary worlds.
A person who is able to differentiate between reality and imagination knows how to use this ability to identify things that are not currently in reality - but should be. In that case he is a creative person.
A person who is unable to differentiate between reality and imagination becomes psychotic precisely because of that ability of his imagination.
I would say that creative people have a harder time ignoring the absurdity of our reality and are therefore less immune to mental illness.
We can also talk about gardens...
If nebulae were connected, we could reach the moon! 😛
If the clouds today are tied to the ground with strings, it would be possible to cut the string and take a cloud for a walk 🙂
When the network is more flexible, more dynamic and moves between over-generalization and over-specification, it is likely that we will find creativity there.