Cubist Surrealism

The idea of the mad artist seems to be supported to some extent by research, as well as the experiences of mental health challenges for many creative people. 

The terms I chose for the title – mad and crazy – have been used for much of human history to “explain” creative people, or to discount, disparage and dismiss those who are psychologically different.
Not that we may not suffer from very real emotional and mental health issues, but what do psychologists and researchers say about how these issues can relate to creative thinking?


A related term is “neurotic” – which cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman addresses in an article, along with many other topics:
“While neuroticism has been associated with a host of negative outcomes (including imposter syndrome, stress, anxiety, impulsivity, depression, and impaired physical health) and even some positive outcomes (such as threat detection and increased vigilance), creative thinking doesn’t appear to be one of its correlates.
“There’s so much we still don’t know about the creative mind, but what we do know suggests that being highly neurotic is not the magic sauce of creativity.

“But still, belief in this magic sauce persists not only in popular media, but in the research community as well.”











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