Creativity and Madness: New Findings and Old Stereotypes - Softcover

Rothenberg MD, Albert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801849772 ISBN 13: 9780801849770

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Intrigued by history's list of "troubled geniuses,"Albert Rothenberg investigates how two such opposite conditions―outstanding creativity and psychosis―could coexist in the same individual. Rothenberg concludes that high-level creativity transcends the usual modes of logical thought―and may even superficially resemble psychosis. But he also discovers that all types of creative thinking generally occur in a rational and conscious frame of mind, not in a mystically altered or transformed state.

Far from being the source―or the price―of creativity, Rothenberg discovers, psychosis and other forms of mental illness are actually hindrances to creative work. Disturbed writers and absent-minded professors make great characters in fiction, but Rothenberg has uncovered an even better story―the virtually infinite creative potential of healthy human beings.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Psychiatry/Psychology --'In this excellent, concise volume, Rothenberg reports his current views on this fascinating subject...Well argued and judicious.... I Cannot recommend this book too highly.' Journal of the American Medical Association

About the Author:

Albert Rothenberg, M.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard University and director of research at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His books include The Emerging Goddess: The Creative Process in Art, Science, and Other Fields.

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0801849772
• ISBN 13: 9780801849770
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208