Verbal creativity has been linked to personal and family histories of bipolar depression. The present studies investigated the relationship between creativity and atypical symptoms of bipolar depression such as seasonal mood variations. Although mote creative individuals, as measured by scores on the Remote Associates Test and a writing sample, perceived seasonal fluctuations in their creativity, no significant differences in performance were found.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndreasenN. C. (1987) Creativity and mental illness: prevalence rates in writers and their first-degree relatives. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 1288–1292.
2.
BeckA. T.WardC. H.MendelsonM.MockJ.ErbaughJ. (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.
3.
JamisonK. R. (1989) Mood disorders and patterns of creativity in British writers and artists. Psychiatry, 52, 125–134.
RichardsR.KinneyD. K. (1990) Mood swings and creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 3, 202–217.
6.
RichardsR.KinneyD. K.LundeI.BenetM.MerzelA. P. (1988) Creativity in manic-depressives, cyclothymes, their normal relatives, and control subjects. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 281–288.
7.
RosenthalN. E.SackD. A.GillinJ. C. (1984) Seasonal affective disorder: a description of the syndrome and preliminary findings with light therapy. Archives of General Psychology, 41, 72–80.
