The creative writer: Psychiatric symptoms and family history

Abstract

A group of 15 successful creative writers was found to differ significantly from a group of 15 noncreative controls when both were examined for psychiatric symptoms and family history using a structured interview and specifically defined diagnostic criteria. Seventy-three percent of the writers suffered from some form of psychiatric disorder, as compared with 20% of the controls. The most common illness was affective disorder, which occurred in 67% of the writers and 13% of the controls. The two groups also differed significantly in family history. The primary relatives of writers had a 21.4% prevalence for any type of psychiatric illness, as compared with 4.4% among the relatives of controls. Morbid risk for depression was 19% among the primary relatives of writers and 2% for primary relatives of controls. In addition to an increased risk for psychiatric illness, relatives of writers also had a higher incidence of creativity; 23% of the primary relatives of writers were creative, while only 7% of the primary relatives of controls were similarly creative. These data suggest a familial association between creativity and affective disorder. © 1974.