Book chapter: Pathological creativity: How popular media connect neurological disease and creative practices

Review by Stephanie Zhu

The connection between neurological conditions, creativity, and artistic ability has frequently been portrayed in fiction and television shows, significantly influencing the public’s understanding of neurological diseases. In the ABC-produced TV series Black Box (2014), the main character is a world-famous neurologist who carries a secret of having bipolar disorder. The show attempts to capture the duality of altered mental states in neurological conditions. The main character’s maniac symptoms enabled her to experience the world differently and unleashed her creative potential, but her hallucinations nearly caused her to fall off a building. This is just one example, and similar storylines have appeared in other popular TV shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy (2005-).

In their book chapter, Peter Bengtsen and Ellen Suneson described three predominant narratives used by popular media to link neurological disease and creativity:

1. Neurological disease is used as an explanation of creativity.
2. The artist suffers from but also benefits from the mental illness.
3. The neurologist is portrayed as an art critic who studies the art expression of a patient to determine its neurological origin.

As the authors pointed out, the idea of a direct link between neuropathology and artistic ability can be problematic. This idea overlooks the social and environmental factors that play into creative expression. For example, Vincent van Gogh is always brought up as an example of an artist with a mental illness. While his mental condition may have influenced his artistic expression, his art was also shaped by the social context of his time, a period when styles like Post-Impressionism and Expressionism started to emerge. Attributing artistic ability or creativity solely to brain pathology ignores the complexity of an individual’s experience.

As popular media simplifies the link between neurological conditions and creativity, it depicts a “creative brain model”, where an altered mental state produces creativity in a person. I kept thinking about the “violent brain model” in parallel to this, and I see a dichotomy in how psychological conditions are portrayed. In the context of artistic expression and creativity, mental illnesses are sometimes romanticized, in which they benefit the individual and promote their creativity. This perspective also rationalizes suffering and can discourage individuals from seeking help. Alternatively, in the “violent brain model”, neurological conditions are pathologized and seen as risk factors for violent or criminal behaviors. Individuals with psychological conditions are viewed as threats to public safety, influencing public policy to control and institutionalize them.

Notably, there is a disparity in how symptoms are perceived or framed. When searching “artists with mental illnesses”, the top results are all white, male artists. In contrast, symptoms of mental illness in racial minorities are often seen as threatening, resulting in disproportionately harsh responses from law enforcement and the criminal justice system. This disparity also exists in educational settings. When a student exhibits behaviors that deviate from the norm, racial bias could steer them onto completely different trajectories – being seen as disobedient and disruptive, leading to exclusion from education through suspensions or expulsions, or being seen as needing support, which leads to accommodations and resources.

Both romanticization and criminalization of psychological or neurological conditions oversimplify the complex realities each individual is facing by ignoring the influence of social and environmental factors. Future approaches to representing psychological conditions should recognize the complexity of individuals’ experiences. Moreover, efforts should be made to make complex ideas more accessible and engaging to the general public to promote a deeper and more compassionate understanding of these conditions.

 

Citation:

Bengtsen, P., & Suneson, E. (2017). Pathological creativity: How popular media connect neurological disease and creative practices. In K. Hansson, & M. Idvall (Eds.), Interpreting the brain in society. Cultural reflections on neuroscientific practices (pp. 29-47). (The Pandora Series; Vol. 25). Arkiv förlag. https://www.academia.edu/35238705/