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in a study of more than 1,000 men and women conducted at the university of kentucky in lexington, researcher arnold m. ludwig, m.d., found that poets, writers, artists, musicians and others in creative professions were more likely to exhibit a tendency toward madness than others in supposedly less creative professions--people who were public officials, in business and were military officers.

those in the theater demonstrated higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse, manic episodes, anxiety disorders and suicide attempts. writers were more inclined toward depression and alcohol. artists had more alcohol-related problems, depression, anxiety and adjustment difficulties. musicians and composers were more likely to be depressed. poets were more prone to alcohol and drug abuse, depression, mania, suicide and psychosis in general.

the tendency toward madness in creative people seems clear until you consider a couple of points, as dr. ludwig does in his study. first, the demands on those in the more creative professions may be more likely to aggravate already existing problems. if you were genetically predisposed to depression, for example, a career in the theater might push you over the edge into depression, while a career as a banker might not.

a second point is that since our culture expects its writers and artists to be weird and its military officers and bankers to be stable, professions such as music and art may simply attract people who are predisposed to excess, while professions such as banking and the military attract people who are more likely to be stable.