Royal College of Psychiatrists: Link between creativity and psychiatric disorder 'not a myth'
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Thursday, 21, Feb 2008 12:00
The relationship between creativity and psychiatric disorder is not a myth, according to Professor Michael Fitzgerald, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin, and the author of a new book, Genius Genes: How Asperger Talents Changed the World.
Enoch Powell and Charles de Gaulle, for example, had Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism), while Kurt Cobain was diagnosed in childhood with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Speaking at a meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Academic Psychiatry conference, Prof. Fitzgerald said that there is compelling biographical evidence for the link between mental illness and creativity. Research already exists to show the association between bipolar disorder (which used to be called manic depression) and creativity.
The relationship between autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is, however, much less discussed. People with autism have a very narrow focus in their work, are very persistent, and have particular gifts in the fields of mathematics, engineering and physics.
Prof. Fitzgerald describes how Charles de Gaulle's Asperger's syndrome was critical to his success as a politician. De Gaulle saw himself as representing his country. He said, "I am France."
He was aloof, had a massive memory, lacked empathy with other people, and was extremely controlling and dominating. He also showed signs of autistic repetitiveness, and was similar in many respects to other great leaders with Asperger's syndrome, including Professor Thomas Jefferson in the USA and Enoch Powell in Britain.
Another famous Briton with Asperger's syndrome was the writer H.G. Wells. He found it difficult to relate to other people, and was a workaholic and an incessant writer. Although fascinated by science, he found it difficult to separate fact from fantasy.
In school he had just one friend. He was a gawky student, who was socially insecure and spoke with a high-pitched tone of voice. He was also excessively controlling and dominating, although deep down he was a very lonely man.
In predicting the future, he was not unlike another person with Asperger's syndrome, the writer George Orwell. H.G. Wells adored encyclopaedias, and spoke in a monologue. Ultimately, he was a naive and immature personality who suffered a great deal of depression.
Prof. Fitzgerald uses case histories from biographies of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein to show how these famous scientists displayed all the characteristics of Asperger's syndrome. He also illustrates the link between the musician Kurt Cobain's childhood ADHD and his later creativity.
"Psychiatry tends to focus almost exclusively on the negative side of different forms of mental illness," says Prof. Fitzgerald. "I want to show that psychiatric disorders can also have positive dimensions."
For further information contact Prof. Michael Fitzgerald.
Tel: 00 353 868597547, work number 00 353 (1) 8211796
E-mail: fitzi@iol.ie
www.professormichaelfitzgerald.eu
Genius Genes: How Asperger Talents Changed the World is published by Autism Asperger Publishing Company: Kansas, USA
For further information please contact Deborah Hart or Thomas Kennedy in the External Affairs Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 127 or 154
E-mail: dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk or tkennedy@rcpsych.ac.uk.
Mr Thomas Kennedy
External Affairs
The Royal College of Psychiatrists
17 Belgrave Square
London
SW1X 8PG
T: +44 (0)20 7235 2351 Extension: 154
F: +44 (0)20 7235 1935
E: tkennedy@rcpsych.ac.uk
W: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk