Kurt Cobain, Lord Byron and Sir Walter Raleigh all had ADHD and that's what helped their creative genius flourish psychiatrist Professor Michael Fitzgerald will tell a Royal College of Psychiatrists conference today.
Professor Fitzgerald says: "The same genes that are involved ADHD can also be associated with risk-taking behaviour. While these urges can be problematic or even self-destructive - occasionally leading people into delinquency, addiction or crime - they can also lead to earth-shattering breakthroughs in the fields of the art, science and exploration."
Professor Fitzgerald continues: "People with ADHD have symptoms of inattentiveness, but they often also have a capacity to hyper-focus on a narrow area that is of particular interest to them. Clearly ADHD is not a guarantee of genius, but the focused work rate that it produces may enable creative genius to flourish. For example, Kurt Cobain - who we know was prescribed the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin as a child - had an amazing ability to focus on writing music."
It's good to hear about the positive side of particular mental health conditions, as the professor acknowledges:
"There is a considerable stigma surrounding ADHD, and people tend to focus on the negatives of the disorder. But we should balance this by remembering that ADHD can, in the right circumstances, be a fertiliser helping to generate a seed of untapped potential in a person."
Professor Fitzgerald continues: "People with ADHD have symptoms of inattentiveness, but they often also have a capacity to hyper-focus on a narrow area that is of particular interest to them. Clearly ADHD is not a guarantee of genius, but the focused work rate that it produces may enable creative genius to flourish. For example, Kurt Cobain - who we know was prescribed the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin as a child - had an amazing ability to focus on writing music."
It's good to hear about the positive side of particular mental health conditions, as the professor acknowledges:
"There is a considerable stigma surrounding ADHD, and people tend to focus on the negatives of the disorder. But we should balance this by remembering that ADHD can, in the right circumstances, be a fertiliser helping to generate a seed of untapped potential in a person."
Hi
In terms of creative mental health work look no further than http://www.youtube.com/user/IRIEMIND2#p/u/3/RxmioxbpJhA
About ADD / ADHD > open my site and scroll down to my Complamentary Links to ADD articles and interviews with Schwab Learning, McGraw Hill etc.
Thought you may be interested how I turned it around, and directed it for success.
Thank you for any feedback.
Robert