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One of the most debated topics in creativity research is whether creativity is associated with psychopathology. Many anecdotal reports and empirical studies have indicated an increased risk for psychopathology in at least abbreviated forms among groups or individuals deemed highly creative. However, other research suggests that creativity is associated with positive mental health and resiliency. In this chapter I review the evidence for a connection between creativity and a selected set of mental disorders. I then present a “shared vulnerability” model of creativity and psychopathology in which creativity and mental illness share certain neurocognitive mechanisms that affect attention, perception, and motivation. According to the model, creative individuals also possess protective mechanisms that allow them to take advantage of these shared vulnerabilities to produce novel and useful products and ideas. The shared vulnerability model can account for the increased risk for psychopathology among highly creative individuals while also accounting for the many creative individuals who are symptom-free and express optimum mental health.

The status of schizophrenia as a disorder has been controversial since its original description by Kraepelin and Bleuler. This chapter critiques a prominent theory of schizophrenia espoused by Meehl in 1962 that spurred a great deal of research into its genetic origins and subthreshold manifestations. In particular, a decade of findings on the meta-structure of mental disorders, the development and course of at-risk youth, and genetic epidemiology can be understood as direct challenges to the idea of a specific etiology for the disorder. Instead of a well-mannered diagnostic entity, schizophrenia and thought disorder more generally delineate a psychosis spectrum linked to a number of other psychiatric outcomes, including, but not limited to, bipolar affective disorder. In addition, studies of the cognitive impairments associated with the disorder show that a generalized deficit is a prominent behavioral feature of the disorder. This chapter concludes by noting that spectrum constructs do not preclude generating and testing falsifiable hypotheses. The use of a fault tree analysis, as employed in reliability engineering, may be helpful in delineating such hypotheses explicitly. This perspective gives rise to a new set of priority questions. Published in the Strungmann Forum Reports Series.