What do Kurt Cobain, Lord Byron and Sir Walter
Raleigh have in common?
According to psychiatrist Professor Michael
Fitzgerald, they all had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) – and it was this disorder that allowed their creative
geniuses to flourish.
Professor Fitzgerald, of Dublin’s Trinity
College, will speak today at the annual meeting of the Royal
College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Academic Psychiatry about
ADHD, creativity, novelty-seeking and risk.
Professor Fitzgerald, in his recent book of
the same title, has examined the lives of notable achievers
including Thomas Edison, Kurt Cobain, Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron Jules
Verne, Che Guevara, James Dean, Clark Gable, Picasso, Mark Twain
and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Based on historical research, the professor
believes all these high-achievers had or displayed symptoms of
ADHD.
Professor Fitzgerald says: “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.”
Professor Fitzgerald continues: “People with
ADHD have symptoms of inattentiveness, but they often also have a
capacity to hyper-focus on a narrow area that is of particular
interest to them. Clearly ADHD is not a guarantee of genius, but
the focused work rate that it produces may enable creative genius
to flourish. For example, Kurt Cobain – who we know was prescribed
the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin as a child – had an amazing
ability to focus on writing music.”
Professor Fitzgerald’s research has led him to
identify ADHD as a recurring factor in the creative genius of many
historic figures. He 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.”
Professor Fitzgerald concludes: “There is a
considerable stigma surrounding ADHD, and people tend to focus on
the negatives of the disorder. But we should balance this by
remembering that ADHD can, in the right circumstances, be a
fertiliser helping to generate a seed of untapped potential in a
person.”
For further information, please
contact:
Liz Leicester
or Deborah Hart in the Communications
Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Academic Psychiatry, Keele University, 4 February 2010