The alleged linkage between bipolar disorder and creativity is not a new concept. It has preoccupied public discourse and aroused scholarly interest for many centuries. Biographical accounts of various artists have in recent scholarship formed the fundamental basis for these arguments. Indeed, the biographical accounts of eminent personalities such as Faulkner, Dickens, Handel, O Neill, Lord Byron, Coleridge, Dickeson, Munch, Pollock, Plath, Rachmaninoff, Ives, Mingus, Fitzgerald, and Woolf have all suggested some form of mental illness including bipolar disorder. But even before these recent figures, earlier thinkers juggled with this question (Santosa, Strong, Nowakowska, Wang, & Ketter, 2007) .
Historical Perspectives
Plato thought that a poet could not compose ‘before he takes leave of his senses and abandons reason.’ Plato’s description of the origins of poetic power as of the canonical thinkers in western philosophy is arguably what injected this thinking into western thought. This argument has since continued to pervade the interests of subsequent scholars (Ludwig, 1992) . It is also perhaps the reason behind the seemingly swift adoption of the bipolar creativity nexus in contemporary scholarship. Renewed interest in this topic is of seminal importance. First, an affirmation that there is truly a linkage between bipolarity and creative output would significantly improve public perceptions of mental disorders. Beyond influencing public perceptions, this focus could greatly help in therapeutic procedures and outcomes (Merikangas & Pato, 2009) .
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Definition
It is worthwhile to offer a brief conceptualization of bipolar disorder as well the commonly applied indicators of creativity. There is no universally accepted definition of bipolar disorder largely owing to differences among scholars. Though this question is an ongoing debate, it is still possible to offer some fundamental insights on the condition especially based on a symptomatic approach. In fact, most forms of bipolar disorder are commonly defined by virtue of their symptoms (Richards & Kinney, 1990) . The general symptoms include excessive irritability and happiness, racing thoughts, decreased need for sleep, over confidence, psychomotor agitation and engaging in activities without regard for the consequences. Bipolar disorder I is commonly defined on the basis of at least a single maniac episode while hypomanic and depressive episodes are termed as bipolar disorder II. Cyclothymic disorder, on the other hand, is characterized by the constant recurrence of low and high mood states that are not to the level of depressive episodes (Akiskal & Akiskal, 1988).
Most conceptions of creativity, on the other hand, emphasize originality, novelty, and balance against utility. Creativity can be understood to mean the development of workable and novel solutions. There is, however, no universally agreeable definition. Most attempts, however, connote the distinctiveness and strength of such solutions. Creativity must however not be misconstrued for recognition of creative output. Recognition of creativity is not necessarily the same as creative thought since the processes of acquiring recognition may be a far cry from creative outcome itself. In other words, the creative outcome may not lead to its recognition (Richards & Kinney, 1990) . This should however not hinder or blur examination of less pronounced creativity. To attain fame, individuals will require the motivation and drive as well as resources and opportunities that are crucial to advertising their work. The dominant approach to the creativity of individuals has been to examine the personal and social predictors of a lifetime of creativity (Torrance, 1990) .
Researchers have also attempted laboratory tests to find out the ability of individuals for creative thought and solving problems. Broadly, tests to examine convergent thinking involve administering questions with only a single correct answer. Divergent thinking, on the other hand, involves questions with no particular answer but aim at testing the ability of the respondent to give diverse and unique answers. Such questions are aimed at testing the capacity for creative thought. These tests underscore Mednick (1962) view that creative thinking is all about the ability to marry conceptually distinct elements in a novel fashion. Rosch (1975) thought that creative thinking is the willingness of an individual to consider atypical associations. Put briefly, unusual and atypical combinations are at the core of creativity. Other characterizations of critical thinking check the levels of fluency, originality, and flexibility. In appreciating the diverse paradigms and approaches to the question of creativity, it is worth pointing out that some of the features considered at the time have limited correlation. For instance, the creativity measures tested in divergent thinking may be quite distinct from those tested by teachers or peer reviews as indicators of creativity. This phenomenon presents a problem for analysts of creativity and often demands that multiple studies are conducted to cater to the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches.
Before poring through the existing research framework, it is important to start by appreciating views that contradict the standard view that psychopathology encourages creativity. Some scholars have suggested that creativity and creative works predispose one to mental disorders instead of mental disorders stimulating creativity. Kaufman and Baer (2006) concluded that professions like poetry and craft tend to attract individuals predisposed to mental disorders in the first place.
Research
The commonest approach to the study of bipolar disorder and creativity, as earlier mentioned, is to examine famous personalities and the creativity of their works. Statistics indicate that about one thousand artists whose biographies got a review in the New York Times between 1960 and 1990, at least 8.2% had a history mania compared to 2.8% of non-artists (Ludwig, 1992). Mania was most prevalent amongst those successful in architecture, theater, musical performance and the arts. Another study found that of the 40 well-known Jazz bebop musicians, 28.5% suffered from a mood disorder. In a study of Hungarian poets, it was established that 67.5% of the most famous had a bipolar disorder of some kind.
The Ludwig study was notable for its comprehensiveness and size. It suggested, together with other similar studies, that creativity was more likely to be amongst people with a mild form of bipolar disorder or those from families with such a history as opposed to those who suffered full blown bipolar disorder. These studies seemed to suggest that those at risk or predisposed to the disorder had some degree of creativity despite not exhibiting any severe symptoms of bipolar disorder (Johnson, Carver, & Siegel, 2011) .
It is worth observing that even though most studies testing creativity have found particular susceptibility or diagnosis of the condition, the levels of association seen in these samples have had dramatic variance (Akiskal & Pinto, The Evolving Bipolar Spectrum, 1999). One potential explanation for this heterogeneity is the kind of diagnostic criteria employed by the researchers in the face of inadequate or inconclusive biographical data. For instance, some studies discovered abnormal levels of psychosis amongst the creative artists sampled, most of who would meet the criteria for bipolar disorder had there been a further date. Furthermore, biographical accounts may suffer from biases since those with such disorders are more likely to write their biographies in particular mood shifts or their biographers may suffer from such prejudice. That is, symptoms are likely to feed into the availability as well as the quality of biographical accounts available (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) . In light of these bias and reliability concerns, biographical studies can only be considered with a pinch of salt.
Some researchers have sought to circumvent these challenges by applying more careful techniques to examine the presence of bipolar disorder such as employing standardized questionnaires and interviews to assess symptoms amongst pre-eminent samples. Using a well-structured diagnostic interview to find out the possibility of bipolar disorder from amongst the attendees of the prestigious Iowa Writer’s Workshop, it was discovered that at least 43% exhibited a spectrum of bipolar disorders as opposed to 10% that constituted the non-creative group (Johnson, Carver, & Siegel, 2011) . It was also found that the levels of depression in these participants were relatively mild giving credence to the view that milder forms of depression are particularly beneficial in the emergence of creativity. In parallel findings, it was found that accomplished musicians tended to have more predispositions to cyclothymic and manic temperament than the more severe types of bipolar disorder (Torrance, 1990) .
In a nut shell, there is a considerable representation of bipolarity amongst eminent samples especially when the condition is benign. These findings appear to repeat themselves even with the employ of somewhat different methodologies. The studies also suggest a prevalence of less severe forms of the disorder than the more severe ones. These findings give little credence to the creative potency of severe bipolar illness. However, few paradigms seem to have examined the creativity outcomes of these individuals before and after full episodes of bipolar disorder. In other words, accomplishment fluctuates over time as symptoms of bipolarity mellow or become more severe (Johnson, Carver, & Siegel, 2011) .
Creative eminence entails more than just the creative potency of individuals. It involves personal and social resources that often transcend capacities for creative thought (Rosch, 1975) . For instance, some individuals will attain fame not so much due to their potent creativity but rather because they are compelling and interesting persons or because they possess exceptional drive. It would, therefore, be important to pay some attention to the relationship between bipolar disorder and creative pursuits as opposed to merely concentrating on the achievement of fame, no matter how alluring this might be (Merikangas & Pato, 2009) .
An equally fundamental question, therefore, is whether bipolar disorder manifests itself in creative occupations. Some researchers have examined this likelihood. Ludwig (1992) used interviews and questionnaires to assess mood disorders amongst 59 fiction writers attending a major writer’s conference, and a control group made up of non-writers categorized according to their education, paternal occupational status, and age. The findings indicated that the writers had considerably higher levels of mania (19%) and depression (56%) as compared to those of non-writers that stood at 3% and 14% respectively. Consistent with the notion that family history of mental disorder can confer creative benefits, the study reported that 10% of the writers hailed from families with similar conditions compared to 5% reported amongst non-writers (Ludwig, 1992) .
Also consistent with prior research and literature, it was found that those with mild forms of mania were more likely to join artistic occupations than those with extremely severe forms. In another study, up to 43% of the sampled artists expressed cyclothymic conditions, a rate four times higher than that present in non-artistic disciplines (Santosa, Strong, Nowakowska, Wang, & Ketter, 2007) . Other studies have found substantially higher levels of mania and cyclothymia amongst forty students training to be soloists compared to a control experiment of forty students training for other professions. In general, there appears to be pattern suggesting that bipolarity or risk of bipolar disorder is heavily represented in creative professions (Richards & Kinney, 1990) .
However, overrepresentation of bipolar disorder in creative activities does not tell us the proportion of people with this condition who are truly creative. In other words, investigators are yet to determine whether creativity is constrained to a small subset of individuals or whether it is normative. In a study conducted amongst psychiatric patients, it was established that out of 750 patients, 8% exhibited mild bipolar disorder and at the same time demonstrated tremendously higher levels of creativity relative to the 1% that were diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and unipolar disorder. Therefore, and as earlier suggested, creativity may be more pervasive amongst those individuals with more benign forms of bipolarity. It also appears that most individuals with bipolar I diagnosis have limited levels of creativity (Akiskal & Pinto, 1999).
Nevertheless, psychiatric samples may suffer from biases especially if compared to community sampling. It would thus be worth to examine epidemiological studies relating to creativity which offer a more representative account of community settings. In a study on occupational creativity within an epidemiological catchment area, a sample of 13,700 persons had 84 people who exhibited a past of bipolar I disorder. Creativity in areas such as painting, writing, and lighting was rated on a scale of 0 to 100. The mean creativity score of those diagnosed with bipolar I disorder was significantly higher (4.54) than those with no past of bipolar disorder (3.7) (Merikangas & Pato, 2009) . These findings importantly suggested that a considerable number of people with bipolar disorder are not engaged in creative activities. Put simply, there is a positive correlation between bipolar disorder and choice of creative occupation, but there is substantial variability when it comes to bipolar individuals ultimately pursuing creative professions. Other studies have suggested that greater participation in daily creative activities is influential in determining the success of bipolar individuals in long term creative activities (Akiskal & Akiskal, 1988).
If indeed bipolar disorder is influential in determining participation in creative activities as suggested in the aforementioned research framework, then the next pertinent question is whether bipolar disorder is an adequate predictor of creative achievement. In his study, Richard et al., conducted interviews to assess creative accomplishments in the life time of specific target group. Accomplishments here understood to mean original but also recognizable meaningful contributions (Johnson, Carver, & Siegel, 2011) . The interviews covered domains such as plays, music and visual arts. The peak lifetime accomplishments, the study established, was amongst persons with bipolar disorder than amongst those who took part in the control experiment that had no history of schizophrenia or mood disorders (Rosch, 1975) .
Congruent with prior findings, the persons suffering from cyclothymia were rated as having performed better in lifetime accomplishments than those suffering from bipolar I disorder. In fact, in this particular study, those diagnosed with bipolar I disorder performed no better than the healthy controls. Interestingly, bipolar probands unaffected by the condition but with history in their families exhibited higher levels of creative accomplishments than even those suffering from various forms of bipolar disorder. The accomplishments of those diagnosed with cyclothymia were associated with occupational efforts and not avocational activities and were spread across many areas including the sciences, humanities, the arts and the social sciences (Santosa, Strong, Nowakowska, Wang, & Ketter, 2007) .
If indeed bipolar disorder predisposes one to a degree of creativity, active participation, and creative accomplishment, then it would be necessary to consider whether those suffering from this condition know or consider themselves to be creative. Scholars have also given this question a degree of attention through examination of how people with this disorder rate the creative prowess most notably through the creative personality scale or the person am I scale (Merikangas & Pato, 2009) . The former asks from people, through a set of adjectives, to rank their submissiveness, originality and inventiveness. The latter scale is much broader in the array of traits as it investigates thought to be integral to creativity such as self-confidence, acceptance of authority, awareness of others, lack of or acceptance of authority and disciplined imagination. It was found that there is a positive correlation between positive self-ratings and risk for mania. The study also suggested that the risk for mania was much more important in positive self-ratings than that of impulsiveness or depression. In fact, only one study disagreed with the correlation between mania and self-rated creativity, and as some have rightly observed, the sample in this study was not inclusive since it was made up of only artists (Johnson, Carver, & Siegel, 2011) .
Other studies attempting to explain the origins of creativity amongst bipolar disorder victims, it was found that they tend to demonstrate higher performance in divergent thinking. Though few studies have paid attention to divergent thinking in bipolar disorder, the few that have suggested clear manifestation of divergent thought through high performance in unusual tests and flexibility of thinking. The notable study that disagreed with this proposition was that by Santosa et al. (2007). In a study that compared 49 persons with remitted bipolar disorder as well as a control group with no prior diagnosis of any disorder, it was found that they performed the same in divergent thinking tests. The mean score of those with bipolar disorder was in fact found to be between that of the control experiment and that of depressive disorder. In general, the divergent thinking was found to have a positive correlation with mania risk but no correlation with those diagnosed with bipolar disorder (Santosa, Strong, Nowakowska, Wang, & Ketter, 2007) .
Discussion
It has been demonstrated that most of the existing research framework gives credence to the view that bipolar disorder is linked to creativity. Most of the literature has submitted that famous musician, artists and authors have at one point suffered from bipolar disorder especially benign maniac symptoms. These are views largely backed by biographical accounts which have been a subject of keen interrogation. It has also been submitted that there is a variance in the degree of creativity across the spectrum of bipolar disorders. Also, a history of bipolar disorder in the family, without necessarily exhibiting symptoms of the disorder, has a bearing on the levels of creativity exhibited by the individual. Other studies have also suggested that people with subsyndromal manic traits and bipolar disorder tend to prefer complex stimuli which correlates with the view that on average, they tend to engage more in creative activities. Bipolar disorder has also been analyzed as a possible predictor of a lifetime of creative accomplishment though the need for a holistic approach to determining and investigating accomplishment has been noted to be crucial.
Discrepancies in various studies beyond matters of creative life accomplishment have been noted. Risks of mania have been found to be positively related to high ratings of self and the capacity to derive novel solutions, especially on laboratory creativity tasks. In contrast, individuals with bipolar disorder do not rate themselves highly on creativity scores or perform exceptionally in Torrance creativity tasks. They, in fact, demonstrate deficiencies in set shifting.
Conclusion
It has been argued, in light of prevailing research framework, that bipolar disorder is closely linked to individual’s levels of creativity. It has also been noted that creativity varies across the spectrum of bipolar disorder. The paper has made an attempt to explain the mechanism leading to creativity bipolar disorder nexus. Finally, it must be appreciated that further research would greatly enable the shedding of light to numerous areas such as the role of bipolar disorder in divergent thinking or set shifting which remain largely under researched.
References
Akiskal, H., & Akiskal, K. (1988). Reassessing the prevalence of bipolar disorders: Clinical Significance and Artistic Creativity. Psychiatrie et Psychobiologie .
Akiskal, H., & Pinto, O. (1999). The Evolving Bipolar Spectrum.Prototypes I, II, III and IV. The Psychiatric Clinics of North America , 516-527.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Vol. 4). Washington, DC.
Johnson, S. L., Carver, C. S., & Siegel, R. (2011). Social dominance among persons at risk for bipolar disorders: Motivation for dominance, perceptions of rank, and socially dominant behaviors. British Journal of Clinical Psychology .
Kaufman, J. C. (2006). Creativity and reason in cognitive development. Cambridge. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ludwig, A. (1992). Creative Achievement and Psychopathology: Comparison Among Professions. American Journal of Psychotherapy , 334-352.
Merikangas, K. R., & Pato, M. (2009). The epidemiology of bipolar disorder in adults and children: Magnitude, correlates and future directions. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice , 122-131.
Richards, R., & Kinney, D. (1990). Mood swings and creativity. Creativity Research Journal , 202- 215.
Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive representations of semantic categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology. , 194-231.
Santosa, C., Strong, C. M., Nowakowska, C., Wang, P. W., & Ketter, T. (2007). Enhanced creativity in bipolar disorder patients: A controlled study. Journal of Affective Disorders , 32-37.
Torrance, E. (1990). Torrance tests of creative thinking. Bensenville: Scholastic Testing Service.
