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Mental illness might be associated with creative achievement among highly functioning people, but with the mentally ill or with ordinary people, there might be a negative relationship. In Study 1, two measures of creativity (preference for complexity and writing stories rated for creativity) were administered to 37 psychotics. The psychotics were found to be less creative than the control group. Study 2 investigated physical illness and its effects on preference for complexity. People (N=80) diagnosed as having influenza decreased in preference for complexity, suggesting a decline in creativity. However, no significant results occurred with regard to complexity preference and diabetes or genital herpes. The results suggest that physical or mental illness may decrease creativity.
Russell Eisenman (Mon,) studied this question.