A labor of love poised to materially move the needle on understanding the link between bipolar disorder and creativity.
Why is bipolar disorder (and a family history of the condition) relatively more common among people in creative occupations?
Is this correlation clinically significant or merely a coincidence?
Are those attracted to creative occupations psychologically less desirous of rigid structures and so prefer pursuits that uncompromisingly dovetail with their divergent outlook?
Are bipolar individuals (or those with a family history of the condition) relatively more creative and creatively accomplished?
Is the degree of creative ability and accomplishment the same among bipolar individuals regardless of the form the condition may take?
Do all bipolar individuals see themselves as at least potentially creative?
Which aspects, if any, of the condition contribute to the bipolar individual's creative (divergent) thinking and ability?
Is there a correlation between bipolar disorder and creativity or creative ambition?
What is the perception among bipolar individuals of the role of symptoms and treatment in the context of their creative pursuits?
How central is creativity to a bipolar individual's personal identity as well as in treatment and the reduction of stigma?
Are naturally creative individuals more vulnerable to the disorder?
These are the kind of questions that form the bases of the research (and projects) The Fund supports.
WHAT WE’VE ACHIEVED
In 2018, The Fund sponsored CREST.BD's research study, 'Do Ambitious and Exploratory Behaviors Drive Creativity in Bipolar Disorder?: The Quest for a Mechanism'.
Recruitment for the study closed on January 28, 2019.
CREST.BD—the Collaborative RESearch Team to study psychosocial issues in Bipolar Disorder—is a collaborative network of multidisciplinary researchers and healthcare providers, bipolar individuals, and family members & supporters of people living with the condition.
Read about the study in the words of a partner of ours, who is not only a Bipolar Disorder II individual herself but also celebrates the creative side of her personality:
The Fund has also inspired a two-study research project—which was led by American, Australian and Canadian researchers—that explored the link between ambition, creativity and bipolar disorder. The project's research report, 'Creativity is linked to ambition across the bipolar spectrum', was published in a 2015 edition of the Journal of Affective Disorders.
Besides research, The Fund sponsors events that spotlight bipolar disorder and the people directly/indirectly affected by the condition. In 2013, for instance, we hosted the 'Beautiful Minds Lecture Series: The Impact of Bipolar Disorder on Loved ones' at Emory University. Besides a psychiatrist (a bipolar expert) and a psychologist (the then president-elect of the American Psychological Association), the panel included parent of a child and creatives themselves diagnosed with the condition.
The Fund's scientific committee chair, Professor Greg Murray, has authored or co-authored several articles exploring the link between creativity and bipolar disorder: