Psychological Reports, 1992, 70, 228-230.
@ Psychological Reports 1992
CREATIVE PERSONALITY IN SCHIZOPHRENIFORM DISORDER' MARVIN GOLDWERT New York Institute of Technology
Summary.-This paper sets forth the contention that a schizophreniform disorder can enhance creativity. Given the usual brief duration of no more than six months, this disorder may enable the resilient ego of a creative person to descend temporarily into the symbolic sea of the unconscious. With such broadening of the person's symbolic experience in the unconscious, in the postpsychotic period the person may be able to forge symbols into novel concepts through a cohesive ego restored to homeostasis.
The schizophreniform disorder is similar to true schizophrenia except its symptoms tend to be resolved and there is a return to homeostasis, often lengthy, within a period of six months (Kaplan & Sadock, 1788). The relative novelty of the schizophreniform designation affords an opportunity to break new ground on the subject of the relationship between emotional illness and creativity. For a creative person, the brief duration of the schizophreniform disorder would be crucial. It is, most significantly, an indication of high resiliency of the person's ego. Such an illness permits a creative person to venture painfully but briefly into the symbolic sea of the unconscious-and to return to an homeostasis of longer duration during which the ego can sort out creatively the meaning of the personal voyage. More than in a true schizophrenia, there is, for a schizophreniform patient, "an ego remnant which approximates the former ego of the patient . . ." (Benedetti, 1987, p. 59). Therefore, the aim of the patient-therapist alliance should be to address "this healthier part of his ego . . ." (Benedetti, 1987, p. 59). The therapeutic process seems akin to constructing a work of art, with both parties seeking to bring together the fragments of the ego, while relating the process to both emotional and intellectual change of the creative patient. For no experience, no matter how painful and traumatic, needs to go amiss for a creative person. In long-term treatment of a patient, a therapist must remember that a creative person may be a schizoid individual even before his voyage into schizophreniform disorder. Creative activity may be one way whereby the schizoid person adapts to and expresses his psychological conflicts. Storr (1988) had formulated the concept of "the schizoid dilemma" in creative patients, especially pointing to the experience of Kafka: "One of the most 'Please address correspondence to Marvin Goldwert, Ph.D., School of Humanities, New York Institute of Technology, 1855 Broadway, New York, NY 10023.
CREATIVE PERSONALITY IN SCHIZOPHRENIFORM DISORDER
229
characteristic traits of the people whom psychiatrists label schizoid is their inability to make close relation&ips with people without feeling threatened. The typical schizoid dilemma is a desperate need for love combined with an equally desperate fear of close involvement. . . . Kafka's fear was that close involvement would threaten the one thing that kept him sane; his ability to keep the conflicting parts of his personality together by means of writing" (pp. 101, 104). As may be anticipated, a schizoid person, who may be moving toward schzophteniform disorder, may find in creative activity an outlet which gives real meaning to life. Moreover, creative work is solitary, removing the necessity for close interpersonal relationships. Alone at his desk or in his laboratory, a creative person may feel a sense of omnipotence, which is not present in his social life. Furthermore, creativity emphasizes the 'inner world' and its power to mold the outer through science or art. Finally, creativity acts as the schizoid person's defense against the meaninglessness of the world (Smith, 1982). Hence, the therapist must seek to modify but not remove the which supports the life-style of the schizoid creative personality. Long ago, Kraepelin noted in schizophrenics "the contrast between the most bizarre delusions and an often clear or superior intelligence . . ." (Havens, 1987, p. 224). I n creative persons, such superior intelligence is often most intensely expressed, and so the person may use the schizophreniform disorder to broaden intellectual experience, paving the way to heightened creativity. Indeed, upon return to homeostasis, a schizophreniform creative person does so with a new armory of symbols which are "pictorial antecedents of concepts" (Koestler, 1964, p. 324). It is then that his restored ego forges these symbolic antecedents into novel concepts. If the creative person is a poet, "the metaphorical language . . . lends itself equally well to poetry and to the schizophrenic psychoses" (Ostwald, 1978, p. 185). As Arieti has written (1974, p. 370), "the similarity between his (the poet's) poetry and schizophrenic productions are impressive." O n the difference between the creative artist and the psychotic person in a functional sense, Johnston and Holzman declare (1979, p. 17): "A crucial parameter in the differentiation of creative production from psychotic ravings is that of voluntary control and purposefulness. The schizophrenic patient seems to be driven by his thoughts; the artist orders them. The patient's thoughts are peremptory and insistent; the artist's are formed and modulated." These polarities, I argue, merge in the postpsychotic egostrength of the schizophreniform creative personality, capable of emerging from psychosis into a lengthy, often permanent, homeostasis. A psychotherapist should, of course, encourage creative responses by a schizophreniform patient but should be alert to two effects of the creative act, namely, guilt and anxiety. For, since every act of creativity is also a
230
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destroyer of other forms and concepts, these emotions are ubiquitous in the artist or scientist (May, 1976). F i n d y , perhaps these remarks will stimulate thinking about a new dimension to the long-standing debate on the relation between emotional illness and creativity. The recent categorization of schizopheniform disorder, as stated at the outset of this paper, enables us to ponder even more deeply the fate of a creative artist or scientist in grappling with the problems of their lives. REFERENCES
Amn, S. Interpretation of schizophrenia. (2nd ed.) New York: Basic Books, 1974. A m n , S. Creativity: the magic synthesis. New York: Basic Books, 1976. BENEDET~I, G . Psychotherapy and schizophrenia. New York: New York Univer. Press, 1987. HAVENS,L. Approaches to the mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer. Press, 1987. P. S. Assessing schizophrenic thinking. San Francisco, CA: JosJOHNSTON, M. H., & HOLZMAN, sey-Bass, 1979. KAPLAN,H. I., & SMOCK,B. J. Synopsis of psychia~y.(5th ed.) Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins, 1988. KOESTLER, A. The act of creation. New York: Macmillan, 1964. MAY, R. The courage to create. New York: Bantam, 1976. OSTWALD,P. F. Language and communication problems with schizophrenic patients. I n W. E. Fam, I. Karacan, A. D. Pokorny, & R. W i a m s (Eds.), Phenomenology and treatment of schizophrenia. New York: Spectrum, 1978. Pp. 163-191. SMITH,A. C. Schizophrenia and madness. London: Allen & Unwin, 1982. STORR,A. Solitude: a return to the self. New York: Free Press, 1988.
Accepted January 7, 1992.
@ Psychological Reports 1992
CREATIVE PERSONALITY IN SCHIZOPHRENIFORM DISORDER' MARVIN GOLDWERT New York Institute of Technology
Summary.-This paper sets forth the contention that a schizophreniform disorder can enhance creativity. Given the usual brief duration of no more than six months, this disorder may enable the resilient ego of a creative person to descend temporarily into the symbolic sea of the unconscious. With such broadening of the person's symbolic experience in the unconscious, in the postpsychotic period the person may be able to forge symbols into novel concepts through a cohesive ego restored to homeostasis.
The schizophreniform disorder is similar to true schizophrenia except its symptoms tend to be resolved and there is a return to homeostasis, often lengthy, within a period of six months (Kaplan & Sadock, 1788). The relative novelty of the schizophreniform designation affords an opportunity to break new ground on the subject of the relationship between emotional illness and creativity. For a creative person, the brief duration of the schizophreniform disorder would be crucial. It is, most significantly, an indication of high resiliency of the person's ego. Such an illness permits a creative person to venture painfully but briefly into the symbolic sea of the unconscious-and to return to an homeostasis of longer duration during which the ego can sort out creatively the meaning of the personal voyage. More than in a true schizophrenia, there is, for a schizophreniform patient, "an ego remnant which approximates the former ego of the patient . . ." (Benedetti, 1987, p. 59). Therefore, the aim of the patient-therapist alliance should be to address "this healthier part of his ego . . ." (Benedetti, 1987, p. 59). The therapeutic process seems akin to constructing a work of art, with both parties seeking to bring together the fragments of the ego, while relating the process to both emotional and intellectual change of the creative patient. For no experience, no matter how painful and traumatic, needs to go amiss for a creative person. In long-term treatment of a patient, a therapist must remember that a creative person may be a schizoid individual even before his voyage into schizophreniform disorder. Creative activity may be one way whereby the schizoid person adapts to and expresses his psychological conflicts. Storr (1988) had formulated the concept of "the schizoid dilemma" in creative patients, especially pointing to the experience of Kafka: "One of the most 'Please address correspondence to Marvin Goldwert, Ph.D., School of Humanities, New York Institute of Technology, 1855 Broadway, New York, NY 10023.
CREATIVE PERSONALITY IN SCHIZOPHRENIFORM DISORDER
229
characteristic traits of the people whom psychiatrists label schizoid is their inability to make close relation&ips with people without feeling threatened. The typical schizoid dilemma is a desperate need for love combined with an equally desperate fear of close involvement. . . . Kafka's fear was that close involvement would threaten the one thing that kept him sane; his ability to keep the conflicting parts of his personality together by means of writing" (pp. 101, 104). As may be anticipated, a schizoid person, who may be moving toward schzophteniform disorder, may find in creative activity an outlet which gives real meaning to life. Moreover, creative work is solitary, removing the necessity for close interpersonal relationships. Alone at his desk or in his laboratory, a creative person may feel a sense of omnipotence, which is not present in his social life. Furthermore, creativity emphasizes the 'inner world' and its power to mold the outer through science or art. Finally, creativity acts as the schizoid person's defense against the meaninglessness of the world (Smith, 1982). Hence, the therapist must seek to modify but not remove the which supports the life-style of the schizoid creative personality. Long ago, Kraepelin noted in schizophrenics "the contrast between the most bizarre delusions and an often clear or superior intelligence . . ." (Havens, 1987, p. 224). I n creative persons, such superior intelligence is often most intensely expressed, and so the person may use the schizophreniform disorder to broaden intellectual experience, paving the way to heightened creativity. Indeed, upon return to homeostasis, a schizophreniform creative person does so with a new armory of symbols which are "pictorial antecedents of concepts" (Koestler, 1964, p. 324). It is then that his restored ego forges these symbolic antecedents into novel concepts. If the creative person is a poet, "the metaphorical language . . . lends itself equally well to poetry and to the schizophrenic psychoses" (Ostwald, 1978, p. 185). As Arieti has written (1974, p. 370), "the similarity between his (the poet's) poetry and schizophrenic productions are impressive." O n the difference between the creative artist and the psychotic person in a functional sense, Johnston and Holzman declare (1979, p. 17): "A crucial parameter in the differentiation of creative production from psychotic ravings is that of voluntary control and purposefulness. The schizophrenic patient seems to be driven by his thoughts; the artist orders them. The patient's thoughts are peremptory and insistent; the artist's are formed and modulated." These polarities, I argue, merge in the postpsychotic egostrength of the schizophreniform creative personality, capable of emerging from psychosis into a lengthy, often permanent, homeostasis. A psychotherapist should, of course, encourage creative responses by a schizophreniform patient but should be alert to two effects of the creative act, namely, guilt and anxiety. For, since every act of creativity is also a
230
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destroyer of other forms and concepts, these emotions are ubiquitous in the artist or scientist (May, 1976). F i n d y , perhaps these remarks will stimulate thinking about a new dimension to the long-standing debate on the relation between emotional illness and creativity. The recent categorization of schizopheniform disorder, as stated at the outset of this paper, enables us to ponder even more deeply the fate of a creative artist or scientist in grappling with the problems of their lives. REFERENCES
Amn, S. Interpretation of schizophrenia. (2nd ed.) New York: Basic Books, 1974. A m n , S. Creativity: the magic synthesis. New York: Basic Books, 1976. BENEDET~I, G . Psychotherapy and schizophrenia. New York: New York Univer. Press, 1987. HAVENS,L. Approaches to the mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer. Press, 1987. P. S. Assessing schizophrenic thinking. San Francisco, CA: JosJOHNSTON, M. H., & HOLZMAN, sey-Bass, 1979. KAPLAN,H. I., & SMOCK,B. J. Synopsis of psychia~y.(5th ed.) Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins, 1988. KOESTLER, A. The act of creation. New York: Macmillan, 1964. MAY, R. The courage to create. New York: Bantam, 1976. OSTWALD,P. F. Language and communication problems with schizophrenic patients. I n W. E. Fam, I. Karacan, A. D. Pokorny, & R. W i a m s (Eds.), Phenomenology and treatment of schizophrenia. New York: Spectrum, 1978. Pp. 163-191. SMITH,A. C. Schizophrenia and madness. London: Allen & Unwin, 1982. STORR,A. Solitude: a return to the self. New York: Free Press, 1988.
Accepted January 7, 1992.
