The creativity–mental health story is more complicated than the myth
A large longitudinal twin study finds different relationships across artistic creativity, scientific creativity and mental-health measures, with shared genetic influences playing an important role.
Swedish twins included in the study’s longitudinal and genetically informed analyses.
Evidence is a useful antidote to romantic stories about suffering and creative genius.
The Story
A new study in Molecular Psychiatry examined creativity and mental health across 14,658 Swedish twins, using several measures of artistic achievement, scientific achievement, openness, divergent thinking and occupational creativity.
Its findings do not support a simple “creative people are unwell” narrative. Associations differed by domain, and shared genetic factors appeared to explain much of the relationship, with some evidence of bidirectionality rather than one clean cause.
For creative practice, the takeaway is humane and practical: protect wellbeing without turning struggle into a professional identity. A studio culture can value intensity, curiosity and ambition while still treating rest and support as part of the work. ([nature.com](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-026-03925-5?utm_source=openai))
Studio Wensday Angle
Creative identity should not depend on distress.