Creativity and Mental Illness

James C. Kaufman is Professor of Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

• Preface James C. Kaufman; Part I. Creativity and Mental Illness: The State of the Field: 1. A socio-historical overview of the creativity-pathology connection from antiquity to contemporary times George Becker; 2. The mad (creative) genius: what do we know after a century of historiometric research Dean Keith Simonton; 3. Reviewing recent empirical findings on creativity and mental illness Melanie L. Beaussart, Arielle E. White, Adam Pullaro and James C. Kaufman; 4. Building connections on sand: the cautionary chapter Judith Schlesinger; Part II. Cognitive and Neuroscientific Perspectives on Creativity and Mental Illness: 5. Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying creative thinking: indications from studies of mental illness Anna Abraham; 6. The evolutionary genetics of the creativity-psychosis connection Aaron Kozbelt, Scott Barry Kaufman, Deborah J. Walder, Luz Ospina and Joseph Kim; 7. Non-linearity in creativity and mental illness: the mixed blessings of chaos, catastrophe and noise in brain and behavior James E. Swain and John D. Swain; 8. Artists' vulnerability to psychopathology: an integrative cognitive perspective Mark Papworth; Part III. Creativity and the Spectrum of Mental Illness: 9. Creativity and the spectrum of affective and schizophrenic psychoses Neus Barrantes-Vidal; 10. When good is bad and bad is good: mood, bipolarity, and creativity Geir Kaufmann and Astrid Kaufmann; 11. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and creativity: ever the twain shall meet? Dione Healey; Part IV. Creativity and Mental Illness: Possible Commonalities: 12. The shared vulnerability model of creativity and psychopathology Shelley Carson; 13. On the fragility of the artist: art's precarious triad Maja Djikic and Keith Oatley; 14. Creativity as 'compensatory advantage': bipolar and schizophrenic liability, the inverted-u hypothesis, and practical implications Dennis K. Kinney and Ruth Richards; Part V. Creativity and Mental Health: 15. Bringing the whole universe to order: creativity, healing, and post-traumatic growth Marie J. C. Forgeard, Anne C. Mecklenburg, Justin J. Lacasse and Eranda Jayawickreme; 16. Inspiration and the creative process Todd M. Thrash, Emil Moldovan, Amanda K. Fuller and John T. Dombrowski; 17. King Solomon and psychoneuroimmunology: creativity and life coping Michael J. Lowis; Part VI. Creativity and Mental Illness: What Now?: 18. Ruminating about mental illness and creativity Emily C. Nusbaum, Roger E. Beaty and Paul J. Silvia; 19. Creativity and mental illness: reasons to care and beware James C. Kaufman.

'What a joy to see top scholars seriously engage with this controversial topic. This book dispenses with simplistic myths, and stays grounded in scientific research. The result is a much more complex understanding of the links - and non-links - between creativity and mental illness. This book is required reading.' Keith Sawyer, Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill