Many creative individuals in the world including, Edvard Munch, Vincent Van Gogh, and all of the artists today have suffered from some type of mental disorder in their lives. Research states that those artists may suffer from clinical depression, anxiety, anorexia and even schizophrenia. Also many creatives had an unusually high number of mood disorders which explains the ideas and thoughts that they were able to convey visually. Researchers say that there is a “Method to their Madness”, which would indicate their inner mental disorders distorting the life that they themselves see. A study was conducted on a million Swedes and their relatives suffering from a variety of different mental disorders. Scientists found that 8% of photographers, dancers and authors were more likely to live with bipolar disorder. 50% of writers were found to have a higher risk of suicide than the general population.
Schizophrenia has played a huge role in the creative mind dating back to the 1800’s when authors and artists were starting to strive in the society. Researchers linked this mental illness to creativity but they are still trying to figure out the details to how it does. Schizotypy, which is a less severe form of Schizophrenia was also found in many creative thinkers. The subjects were found unable to disregard details of everyday objects and analyzed them to their fullest extent. This is what caused them to think in detail and thus allowed them to create some of the most fascinating pieces of art in society today.