ADHD 'can help creative genius flourish'
Kurt Cobain, who was prescribed the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin as a child, had an amazing ability to focus on writing music
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Thursday, 04, Feb 2010 12:01
By Alex Steger.
A leading psychiatrist has claimed in a new report attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may help creative genius flourish.
According to Professor Michael Fitzgerald, who made the claims speaking at the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculty of Academic Psychiatry on February 4th, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, and Kurt Cobain may have suffered from the condition.
Prof Fitzgerald's research links ADHD with creativity, novelty seeking, and risk. He has examined the lives of a number of notable achievers including Mark Twain, James Dean, Picasso, and Che Guevara, and concludes that they had or displayed symptoms of ADHD.
Commenting on the research he said: "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."
Prof Fitzgerald did stress though that ADHD is no guarantee of genius merely that the focussed work rate it produces may enable genius to flourish.
There is stigma attached to the condition, for which children are often prescribed Ritalin, due to the disruptive behaviour of sufferers. However, according to this research, in the right circumstances, ADHD can be "a fertiliser helping to generate a seed of untapped potential in a person".
Prof Fitzgerald argues: "The best evidence we have suggests that Lord Byron had ADHD. He had a turbulent life, at school he was often in trouble, and as an adult he engaged in criminal activities and was eventually forced to flee the country. But he was also the greatest lyric poet in the English language.
"Similarly, Sir Walter Raleigh was a reckless character. But his insatiable quest for new stimulation and risk-taking behaviour also made him a famous soldier, adventurer and explorer."