Bipolar affective disorder and creativity: implications and clinical management

Research on the relationship between creativity and mental illness is summarized, and studies documenting a relationship in writers between creativity and affective illness (particularly bipolar illness) are described. Writers have a high prevalence of affective illness, and both affective illness and creativity have increased frequency in their first-degree relatives. The clinical management of the creative individual is challenging. In general, creative individuals are most productive when their affective symptoms are under good control.