It’s more than a cliché, but many people tend to think that creative people and people with mental problems have a lot in common.

This article on FastCompany and a recent post by psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman at his Scientific American blog look for the evidence!

“Which brings us back to our list of eccentric artists through the ages. Perhaps genes contributing to mental problems have persisted across humanity in part because they also contribute to superior creativity. “Even though we know mental illness in and of itself is not conducive to survival of the individual, there may be aspects of mental illness that promote survival in the overall species,” Carson says. If that’s true, the idea that very creative people are also a little crazy will be around for a long time to come.”