The Link Between Creativity and Mental Illness
Elaine Woo | Getty | 11th May 2023
As far back as Socrates there has been speculation that mental illness is associated with artistic creativity. Is it true? The masterpieces van Gogh produced while living in a psychiatric hospital reflect “lucidity of the highest order”. Mental illness may have “embellished his creativity … but it doesn’t explain his brilliance as an artist”. Whether a link exists or not, artists work “should be judged as art and not merely the results of art therapy”.