Creative minds are vulnerable to mental illness – but magicians escape the curse

Are you able to consider a comic, actor, poet or author who suffered from psychological sickness? Perhaps the actor Robin Williams or comic Stephen Fry got here to your thoughts. Maybe it was the author Virginia Woolf. All three have had well-documented struggles with bipolar dysfunction.

Psychological sicknesses have been related to inventive considering for a very long time. For example, mathematician John Nash’s battle with schizophrenia was immortalised within the movie A Stunning Thoughts (2001).

Analysis helps this hyperlink, exhibiting that individuals with psychological sicknesses reminiscent of schizophrenia usually tend to work in inventive jobs. It additionally reveals that inventive teams, together with stand-up comedians, artists and scientists, are sometimes extra prone to face challenges with their psychological well being.

However are all inventive individuals created equal? Our new examine aimed to discover whether or not a novel inventive group that had by no means been studied earlier than – magicians – exhibited related proclivities to some psychological sicknesses reminiscent of schizophrenia. We additionally checked out whether or not they have been extra prone to have a neurodivergent distinction, reminiscent of autism.

Many researchers consider that each psychological sickness and neurodivergence can improve inventive considering. Scientist Temple Grandin is a well-known instance of this. She credit her expertise of being on the autism spectrum for the event of a hug machine that helps deal with livestock in a extra humane approach, and was later adopted by different autistic individuals.

Psychological well being situations might vary from nervousness or melancholy to character problems or psychosis. When somebody experiences psychosis, it’s measured on a continuum, with solely these experiencing sure patterns and episodes being identified with schizophrenia.

Individuals not clinically identified with schizophrenia, for instance, reminiscent of these with fewer episodes or much less intense signs of psychosis, typically expertise thoughts wandering and disorganised considering. This may be difficult for focus however could also be useful for fostering creativity.

Magicians are distinctive in that they each create their very own reveals and carry out them. On this sense, they’re much like comedians. Most different inventive teams both create or carry out however not each. Nonetheless, in contrast to comedians, there’s rather more at stake in a magic efficiency. If a comic’s joke falls flat, it could be disagreeable, nevertheless it’s unlikely to smash your entire present.

With a couple of good jokes that make the viewers snort, the comic can get again on observe. In distinction, one failed magic trick might be disastrous and alternatives to recuperate throughout the act might be few and much between.

Magicians, subsequently, have to be extraordinarily exact of their efficiency and possess extremely technical abilities, all whereas entertaining the viewers concurrently. This distinctive work setting and talent set make them an intriguing inventive group to check. We carried out our personal analysis with the help of knowledgeable magician.

Magical considering

Our examine included 195 magicians, primarily from the UK and the US, with a mean of 35 years of expertise in performing magic. This included close-up magicians, mentalists, card specialists and large-stage magicians. The magicians accomplished questionnaires assessing their tendencies towards autistic and psychotic traits. These have been then in comparison with a pattern of non-magicians with an analogous age vary and and gender distribution, in addition to different inventive teams reminiscent of comedians, poets, actors and musicians.

The magicians didn’t exhibit any predisposition for autistic traits, scoring equally to the overall inhabitants. Nonetheless, magicians scored decrease on practically each psychotic symptom in comparison with the overall pattern and different inventive teams.

Particularly, these magicians demonstrated a really excessive capability to pay attention, decrease ranges of social nervousness and fewer cases of surprising experiences, distorted ideas and hallucinations. All these traits are extremely advantageous for the work of magicians, as they allow them to focus and take note of their craft with out distractions.

The magicians we studied additionally didn’t show any tendency for anti-social behaviour and had good self-control. Whereas these traits are beneficial for a lot of inventive teams, reminiscent of artists and comedians, they’re much less crucial for a magic efficiency. Magic performances are social occasions, usually involving the viewers and typically utilizing assistants. So being pleasant and affable is a key ingredient for a profitable present.

On this regard, magicians are extra much like scientists who additionally rating low on psychotic signs. Each require excessive ranges of organisation and perseverance of their work. Furthermore, simply as scientists usually discover totally different options to the identical downside, magicians can carry out the identical magic trick in a number of methods.

Magicians differ within the stage of creativity of their performances. Whereas some magicians might be edgy and progressive (simply watch David Copperfield’s well-known flying phantasm beneath), many magicians can construct profitable careers by performing acquainted tips, typically with their very own tweaks, with out the necessity to create new tips.

In contrast to different inventive teams who’ve extra flexibility of their work and will improvise throughout their performances, magic reveals require self-discipline and have to be repeated precisely the identical approach for the tips to work.

The magician’s oath to not reveal the secrets and techniques behind the tips permits them to carry out the identical tips repeatedly with out the viewers becoming bored and likewise preserves the thriller of the act.

So in contrast to with different inventive endeavours, psychological sickness and developmental variations could also be counterproductive to magician’s work. It’s attainable that aspiring magicians with greater ranges of psychotic and autistic traits discover it very troublesome to reach this occupation.

In the end, our examine illustrates that not all inventive people are created equal, and the affiliation between creativity and psychopathology is extra advanced than beforehand thought.