The 19th century composer Robert Schumann created scores of
musicalmasterpieces, all the while enduring bouts of manic-depression
that repeatedly drove him to attempt suicide. Some researchers argue that
Schumann's mental illness--particularly his manic periods--enhanced his
creative powers.
But does madness really heighten creative genius in artists,
musicians, and writers? Not at all, says Temple University psychologist
Robert Weisberg, Ph.D.
From a bountiful paper trail of letters and medical records,
Schumannologists have indeed linked the composer's most productive
periods with his manic intervals. One dramatic example: The composer
completed four works in 1839, when he was depressed--and 25 the following
year, a period of mania.
But quantity is one thing and quality's another. Weisberg's twist
was to rate the caliber of the music Schumann composed while in each
mental state. For it is excellence, he points out, that is the hallmark
of genius. As a measure of compositional caliber, he counted how many
recordings were available of a given work.
Weisberg's finding: While the quantity of Schumann's compositions
swelled during his manic years, the average quality of his efforts didn't
change. When mania struck, Schumann wrote more great pieces--but he also
churned out more ordinary ones.
Mania "jacks up the energy level," explains Weisberg, "but it
doesn't give the person access to ideas that he or she would not have had
otherwise."
If madness doesn't enhance creativity, how to explain the high
rates of mental disorders among artistic geniuses? One possibility is
that we've had the equation backwards: Perhaps artistic genius
contributes to mental illness, contends Weisberg. A creative lifestyle
hardly provides emotional stability, and many artists struggle against
poverty, public indifference, and--if they finally manage to create great
works--the overwhelming pressure to live up to prior successes.
What's more, creative types often romanticize mental illness. For
many artists "it's almost like a badge that makes your work more valid,"
notes Weisberg. That makes them more attuned to symptoms of mental
illness, and boosts the likelihood that researchers will detect it in
artistes.
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robert weisberg,
temple university,
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