For generations creative people have dealt with the stigma of mental disorder often attributed to them. The "mad" scientist, frenzied artist and profoundly intense writer; all have been common judgments of these professions for years. Despite the prevalence of these beliefs, psychological studies in this field have been sparse and often inadequate. To fill this investigative void, Ruth Richards and Dennis Kinney, Nancy Andreasen, and Kay Jamison developed studies to examine the link between creativity and mood disorders more completely and accurately.

Early studies of this social stereotyping phenomenon were largely anecdotal, relying on the unconfirmed psychological diagnosis of creative individuals post-mortem. Examples of this include William Blake, Lord Byron, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson who were suspected to have had radical mood swings. Painters like Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O'Keeffe, Charles Mingus, and Robert Schumann were similarly afflicted. Modern writers' mental states have also been studied with the...