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Abstract

Many researchers have explored the relationship between creativity and Bipolar Disorder using approaches ranging from case reports to MRI studies. While objection has been expressed to retroactive diagnosis of medical conditions in historical figures, nevertheless these descriptions have contributed to exploration of brain function and creativity. Multiple lists of exceptional artists, poets, musicians, mathematicians and scientists diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder are readily available. This paper explores the question of why some individuals are able to channel hypomanic energy into extreme creativity while others who are aspiring writers or artists, remain unfocused and disorganized. The name of Honor�© de Balzac, described as the greatest novelist of all time, appears on almost every list of artists and writers retrospectively described as meeting criteria for Bipolar Disorder. Reading eminent biographies through the diagnostic filters of the ICD-10 and the DSM-V, confirms that Balzacâ��s colorful life illustrates variations on the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Crucial clinical questions are raised by the parallel reading of Balzacâ��s life and accomplishments compared to case study vignettes of several creative individuals whose lives and sporadic work have not risen above a world of psychotropic medication, intense outpatient support, emergency room presentations or repeated hospitalizations. It is proposed that factors outside the established diagnostic criteria allowed Balzac to transcend the limitations so often seen in creative patients with Bipolar Disorder. An understanding of these factors offers direction for psychotherapeutic treatment to strengthen focus and to improve organization and satisfaction in the lives of creative clients and patients.

Biography

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