Can the individual with very special qualities, the creative individual who brings into being something new and thus who is different, make a continuing satisfying adaptation to his physical and social surroundings? Perhaps when we first ask this question we have in mind the gifted artist who feels he has to live as a hermit or the gifted writer who spends most of his life in a mental hospital or the gifted musician who is most difficult to live with. Perhaps we have in mind the gifted people we have known -- their peculiar ways, peculiar interests, inability to get along with others. Perhaps we have in mind the patients in mental hospitals who could write, paint, imagine, or compose. Perhaps it was such outstanding examples that have suggested the thought that the line between genius and insanity is but a thin one or even that neuroticism is essential for creativity. The correlation between intelligence and adjustment as measured in a variety ways is not too high. "Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide."

However, the well-known fact that many creative thinkers, writers, artists, and scientists were able to make a reasonable adaptation to their physical and social world suggests that creativity and mental health are not always incompatible. It seems to me that there are too many examples of creative individuals who were no or did not become obviously neurotic or psychotic to conclude that neuroticism is essential to creativity. It appears, therefore, that our question is, in those cases in which a creative life was beset with mental illness rather early in its course, were there any indications as to what factors may have operated? From our experimental work to date in human development do we have any suggestions as to whether there is any hope of providing experiences for the creative and different individual so that hi mental health may be maintained and enhanced?

Interpersonal Relations Crucial

The vast majority of stresses in our culture arise from interpersonal relations. To show how such stresses operate, we may use a simple example. Suppose we have a child who fights a great deal. Among our first reactions to such a child is to reject him, to ostracize him or to attempt to beat him down. We don't like the individual who is always creating a disturbance.

It has been demonstrated, however, that "fighting a great deal" may indicate an underlying insecurity or inadequacy. If such a person is rejected or ostracized this tends to make the insecurity or inadequacy more intense. If such a child is blocked at home, at school, and in his play group, the mental strain may become very intense. These blockings may be produced by a parent, teacher, or citizen who misunderstands the child. Block strong motivations over along period of time -- that is, make it difficult for the individual to achieve a measure of self-respect, security, activity, sexual expression, personal significance -- and we have the beginnings of intense mental strains which may lead to breakdown.

We can thus make a first approach to our question by asking, in those cases in which individuals with creative talent succumbed rather than early in life to mental illness or behavior disturbances, were there any indications of environmental stresses that may have played a part?

Some Famous "Case Histories"

We will have time to examine several cases chosen more or less at random. The first is that of a young creative medical investigator. The Hungarian Semmelweis was a young professor of obstetrics when he observed that the mortality from puerperal or childbed fever in some clinics was appreciably higher than in others. He collected some statistics to verify his point.

Semmelweis soon had proof for his claims sufficient to have stimulated other investigators to check them. But the chief of his department refused to consider his ideas and professional jealousy did the rest. in 1857 Semmelweis published his major work, The Prevention of Childbed Fever. But opposition became so strong that he was forced out of his job. In 1863 observable symptoms of insanity appeared.

Although in an example of this type taken from the past it is difficult to be certain of all factors that were operating, nevertheless it appears that interpersonal relationships produced unnecessary stresses for this creative investigator, and we can only ask what might have been the contributions to our understanding of disease if this creative mind had been encouraged and stimulated to make the most of his abilities. I am not implying that the quality of interpersonal relationships is a factor of one side of the quarrel only -- there is some evidence that Semmelweis had not learned to make adaptations to others -- but the unnecessary mental strains produced by the "inhumanity of man to man" cannot be waved aside.

The second example is that of the painter Van Gogh. Van Gogh was a short, ugly appearing man who was quite sensitive and had difficulty in developing close friendships, although he yearned for friends and companions.

His love for other human beings was shown in his plan to study the ministry. But here again he could not conform and after several very unhappy experiences abandoned this career. Van Gogh committed suicide at 37, unwilling to continue a life which he thought was becoming a burden to others.

When we look more closely into Van Gogh's experiences we find he was the second child of a domineering and highly emotional mother. Her first child -- a boy -- had died a few weeks after birth, and it is reported that she constantly reminded the second Vincent who came along a year later that he was not what the first Vincent would have been. There is some evidence that Van Gogh felt guilty and unwanted. There is evidence that along with this feeling of being unwanted and perhaps because of it, he felt a desperate need for companionship -- for someone who cared about him. When Ursula, whom he loved dearly, refused to marry him, this added another "deep-cutting" experience of being unwanted. His numerous subsequent and unhappy love affairs further suggest an almost desperate hunt for "Someone who cares."

Again we raise the question, was this tragic shortening of life essential? Could an appreciation of the nature of his feeling of loneliness by his associates, by his community and by Van Gogh himself have helped him to achieve more satisfying interpersonal relationships? If he had been helped in the early years to find his talents and to appreciate some of the factors involved in building satisfying relationships, could this life have been lengthened to provide more opportunity for this artist's creativity?

The Mad Musician

The third example is that of the musician Beethoven -- who as you know came to be known among his associates as "the mad musician." Beethoven was the second child in a family haunted by poverty and misery. He had a father who had both an insatiable appetite for drink and an ambition to make his another prodigy such as Mozart. One or two incidents from Beethoven's early life must suffice here. At nine the father had his "friend-in-drink" help him give the young Beethoven music lessons. They would often reel into the house in the small hours of the morning, pull "Sprangy," as son Ludwig was nicknamed, out of bed and give him a piano lesson that lasted until dawn. Often the lessons were accompanied by severe blows.

At sixteen his mother dies. Ludwig had the experience of seeing his father immediately sell her clothes to peddlers to obtain money for more drinks. He saw his mother's clothes "hawked about in the market-place" -- the clothes of his mother to whom he had developed a rather close attachment.

When Ludwig left his home he was fortunate in receiving encouragement and help from numerous friends including no less a fellow musician than Haydn. But the early experiences had apparently left their mark, for he was described as morose, irritable and suspicious.

At 28, he noticed that something was wrong with his hearing. He reacted in a way often characteristic of a personality faced with a problem it cannot solve. His first impulse was to give way to despair. Then he resolved to do battle. He kept his secret for a few years, but at 31, he felt the need of a confidant so he wrote to an intimate friend who lived some distance away.

As his trouble grew worse he turned more and more to his brothers for help, but they only exploited him and alienated his friends.

There is also some evidence that there were strong sexual impulses. Ludwig had many love affairs, but none of them for long. He was unable to develop continuing, satisfying human relationships.

Is Mental Stress Essential to Creativity?

Beethoven's experiences and contributions raise the very important question as to whether poverty, hardship and difficulty in life are necessary to stimulate the creative mind. Must there be mental stress before the creative mind is stimulated to achieve its best? We will never know what Beethoven would have accomplished if he had not suffered his hearing loss. Neither will we know what heights his art may have reached if he had been able to develop a happy and beautiful relationship with a wife and companion. Some of the greatest music and other art have come from such relationships.

In Beethoven's life we can see many rather overwhelming stresses. What can a young boy do when two men set upon him or when the friends he trusts exploit him?

We have considerable reason to ask in the light of our present knowledge of human behavior whether the irritability, the suspicious attitude toward the world, the difficulty in getting along with others, the quarrels with his brothers and nephew need have developed to the intensity they did. We have evidence from laboratory studies in human behavior that experiences similar to those Beethoven suffered in his early years can produce some of these characteristics. We can therefore ask, could energy thus spent have been preserved for the pursuit of his art?

Can Social Forces Be Taught?

When we consider the resources which an individual can us in working his way through the situations life presents, it is pertinent to ask whether or not we can teach the individual as he grows up to understand and appreciate something of the forces operating in his social environment just as we teach people now about the forces operating in the physical environment. Can we teach him something of how individual differences develop and what some of the probable potentials of individual differences are? Can we teach him something of the nature of the feeling that men experience when strong motivating forces are blocked? can we teach him the differences between action on the first impulse when confronted with a problem and thinking of alternatives and probable consequences and in the light of such data plan what to do? Can we teach him to find alternative and constructive ways of developing his own security and adequacy so that he is more emotionally free to accept differences in others and does not have to depend on depreciating those who are different in order to enhance his own security and adequacy? If we taught these things to our children would they be able to develop more satisfying and constructive interpersonal relationships? Would they be able to appreciate differences among individuals in terms of their potentials?

We have been investigating some of these questions in our Preventive Psychiatry Research Program. We have evidence that we can teach the child a more causal orientation toward his social environment, and it appears we can begin this in the early years. Furthermore, when we equip the individual with these additional resources with which to meet his daily situations, some interesting results appear. For example, when teachers, learned to appreciate some of the forces operating in the behavior of pupils, conflicts between pupil and teacher tended to decrease. When fourth, fifth and sixth grade children were helped to take the first steps in learning a causal orientation to the social environment in contrast to the more usual arbitrary judgmental approaches, they evidenced fewer anti-democratic tendencies and appeared more willing to recognize individual differences when compared with equated control groups taught the usual content. Children in our experimental groups revealed more ability to react logically to ambiguous situations, and they tended to do so with less anxiety.

Such data suggests that the resources which in individual possesses at any given moment are not fixed. He can add to them in what appear to be significant dimensions. Acquiring an appreciation of the forces that operate in the social environment is one of these. The possibilities of human growth appear extensive when imagination and intelligence are applied to the task of providing experiences through which man can learn.

Are creativity and mental health incompatible? In a culture that does not teach its members an appreciation of wide differences in human abilities, it would seem that they are. It the budding artist, the creative engineer or the highly intellectual child is not appreciated in a community which values athletic ability or physique or conformity above all else, and if he is given no help in understanding how these forces came about and how to react to them constructively, there will be many threats to adequacy and security and much difficulty in adjustment. If children and teachers in elementary school have difficulty in accepting the child with peculiar or different interests or different ideas, such children with highly special abilities, will have a difficult time. If schools and universities give more credit to conformity then they do to originality, new ideas, unusual sensitivities or insights, then creativity and mental health are incompatible. If the older order changes yielding place to a new that is as inflexible and fixed as the one it displaced, again creativity and mental health arc incompatible.

We Must Accept Differences

But it appears from our present data that such conditions need not exist. We can teach ourselves and our children to make a more causal approach to our, social environment. When we do that we tend to take a different attitude toward individual differences. We tend to see some of the possibilities in these differences., We tend to be more sensitive to the situations which people of differing abilities face. We will also tend to be more sensitive to the difficulties, the irritations, the joys that the individual, unusually gifted in one or another area, experiences.

And not only will we be able to empathize more, we can apply intelligence and imagination to devising ways through which the status and security of all individuals however different can be met so that each is emotionally free to use his abilities.

We can develop for ourselves ways of meeting our status, sense of importance and achievement so that we do not have to depend on such methods as blocking the capable or different individual. Rather we can find joy -- our fulfillment -- in our accomplishments and the accomplishments of the creative mind. The accomplishments of others become a part of us. "Ask not for whom the bell tolls."

If it seems very unreal or fantastic I would like to remind you that we are living in a culture that is rather non-causally oriented. In our studies we have found it necessary to take time out to train teachers, for example, to unlearn the arbitrary judgmental way of considering children and substitute a more causal approach. We have to do the same with parents. Our culture teaches the child early to attempt to deal with human behavior without trying to understand it and this tends to be continued into adulthood.

If being different is not approved -- if new ideas, even those demonstrated. get one into trouble -- how can such a culture stimulate creativity?

It appears, however, that as man develops a basic causal orientation to his social environment, creativity and mental health will not only be compatible but they may be mutually reinforcing. There can be joy in achieving, in creating. and there can be fun in making the attempts. We may realize more clearly that for man "it's not so much the gold he's been wanting as just finding the gold."

Man may rind a way of living that will provide each person with rich opportunities to build his security, self-respect and personal worth and at the same time find his fulfillment in encouraging the uniqueness of every individual to make his full contribution to the enterprise of man. We are a long way from that now. There are at present in our culture, as we have seen, many potential, blocks to the full flowering of individual potentialities. And I am not sure that man will grow fast enough in his ability to apply his creative potentials to human interrelationships so as to make them more true and beautiful and thus avert catastrophe. But this points up the importance of the problem that faces us. We need the full creative potential of every man so that life may continue in becoming.

Anyone who thinks of genuinely new idea is always at first a minority of one. Scientific evidence indicates that extremely few people can tolerate being a minority of one, even when they know that they are "right." Since creatively gifted children have many new, original ideas. they inescapably experience difficult problems of adjustment. Such children must either repress their creativity or learn to cope with the tensions that arise from being so frequently a minority of one. Repression of creative needs and abilities,. if prolonged and severe, may lead to actual personality breakdown. Their expression, however, also leads to loneliness, conflicts, and punishment. Let us look briefly at the first of these problems.

PROBLEMS IN MAINTAINING CREATIVITY

Sanctions Against Divergency

Society exercises negative sanctions against almost all kinds of divergent behavior, even outstanding performances in socially approved areas of behavior. If one is too honest, too altruistic, too independent, or too intelligent, he is ridiculed and punished to influence him to be less honest, less altruistic or creative.

Teachers, parents. and classmates feel threatened when highly creative children express original ideas. Some may encourage and reward elaboration or fanciness but not originality. Adults usually do not know how to evaluate unusual ideas or respond-to provocative questions. Creative behavior may be erroneously interpreted as aggressive or even hostile and it soon becomes just that, if ideas and questions arc rejected. A major problem then is to help the creative child maintain his aggressiveness without being hostile.

Many creatively gifted children learn quite young that the use of their creative talents alienates them from their friends. Such children, however, seem to have a strong desire for warm and close personal relationships, to share their ideas with others, to discuss problems, and to find alternative viewpoints. Frequently it is only with another creative child that such a relationship can be achieved.

Lack of Well-Roundedness

Many creatively gifted children lag in some aspect of their development and do not exemplify the model of the well-rounded, all-American, boy or girl. Because such children manifest sparks of brilliance in one or two areas, peers and adults expect them to be outstanding in all areas and place pressure upon them to excel in areas where they have no interest and little ability to achieve success. For some, this is a severe problem of mental health.

Divergence from Sex Norms

Creative functioning, by its very nature, requires both sensitivity or openness and independence of thinking. In our cultures sensitivity is definitely a feminine virtue and is often regarded as a sign of softness. Independence is a masculine virtue and considered unbecoming in a girl. Thus, the highly creative boy tends to appear more effeminate than his masculine peers and the highly creative girl tends to appear more masculine than her feminine peers. Children may sacrifice their creativity to maintain their "masculinity"' or "femininity." Since this places off limits vast areas of awareness and experiencing, it is bound to take its toll on the creative functioning of both boys and girls.

Preference for Learning on One's Own

Most creatively gifted children prefer to do much of their learning on their, own, but schools have been quite slow in providing such opportunities. Excessive homework and busy work in the classroom make it still harder for the creatively gifted child to find the opportunity to learn on his own. If he rebels ,and goes ahead and learns, on his own, he is punished and regarded as a failure, even though his actual achievement may be outstanding.

Preference for the Difficult

A primary characteristic of creatively gifted children is their preference for difficult jobs, frequently too difficult. Such children may want to move ahead of their classmates. Frequently, their teachers feel that they are "not ready." Educators of gifted children, however, have gone a long way in modifying their ideas about what can be taught at various grade levels. If permitted to attempt difficult tasks, children will certainly experience some failures. Thus, they need to be taught the skills of coping with failure in order to maintain sound mental health.

Other Mental Health Problems

By their very nature, creatively gifted children bring upon themselves numerous other stresses that make the maintenance of sound mental health difficult. They tend to undertake dangerous jobs that involve risk. They test the limits of their abilities, the situation, and sometimes the patience of their parents and teachers. They search for purpose, frequently have high ideals, and may worry a great deal on account of their great concern about a problem. Many of these characteristics lead to psychological estrangement. Thus, it is important in helping creatively gifted children maintain their mental health to help them find a relationship in which it is possible for them to share their ideas,. discuss them, and find alternative solutions.

In recent years many people have assumed that all students, of above average intellectual ability not only graduate from high school, but go on to college. Such an assumption is incorrect. Recent studies indicate that eight to 11per cent of high school dropouts have IQ's of 110 or above. In a comprehensive study of Pennsylvania youth in 1964 - 65 we found more than 1800 high ability dropouts. Nearly 500 had IQ's of 120 and above and 80 had IQ's of 130 or more. These figures are impressive when it is recognized that Pennsylvania has one of the lowest dropout rates in the country.

Some frequently mentioned correlates of school withdrawal were not substantiated in the findings of this study of dropouts with IQ's of 110 and above. Noticeably absent from the dropout data are indications of frequent school transfers, early part time employment, unemployment upon ]caving school, generally low parental education, and lower parental employment status. What is noticed is that dropouts differ from "persisters" (students of the same age, IQ, neighborhood, and sex who were still in school in such areas as personality, interests, educational skills, and family orientation toward school processes.

The male dropouts, when compared with the persisters, were found to be more frank, uninhabited, and happy-go-lucky. Although they tended to be easy going, their actions were marked with, deliberateness. The male dropouts were more assertive, independent, unconventional, and rebellious than the persisters. Their overall response pattern, however, would suggest that they fell well within normal limits with regard to their mental health..

The girls dropping out of school for reasons other than marriage were very similar to the boys. However. two-thirds of the female dropouts in this study were pregnant, married, and/or planning to marry when they withdrew.

The girls, who withdrew because of pregnancy and, or marriage were far less socially oriented than the persisters; they were less prone to seek social recognition. These girls could be described as tending to be shy and retiring. Their personality pattern would indicate reason to suspect proneness to poor social adjustment in junior and senior high school.

Seldom did dropouts express attitudes which were opposite to those of persisters. The differences found were generally a matter of degree. Both the male dropouts and persisters, for example, believed that their parents considered school to be important; the dropouts were not as implicit however. Male dropouts did not demonstrate a truly negative attitude toward the schools. They did point to a number of areas which they found to be difficult to accept. They often expressed concern that schools are not preparing students for the '"real" world. There also appeared to be an emotional gap between the male dropouts and their teachers. The dropouts were not inclined to describe their teachers as being well prepared, knowledgeable with regard to subject matter, or concerned about the feelings and needs of the students. "Favoritism" was a problem listed by a number of dropouts. Dropouts tended to complain about the strong forces within the schools to conform. More than did the persisters, they expressed the importance of being able to be an individual. The attitudes of the unmarried female dropouts were similar to those of the boys. They also expressed the notion that school training did not meet their needs as related to their vocational or professional goals. Although these girls also appeared to be estranged from their teachers. there was little reference made to unfair treatment or favoritism.

The married female dropouts were more similar to persisters than to unmarried female dropouts in their attitudes. They did not appear to feel as if teachers were partial in their treatment of students nor were they unhappy with their courses. They did, more so than the persisters or unmarried female dropouts, feel as if their parents weren't satisfied with the school setting.

The complete research report upon which this article is based is available from ERIC under the title EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS OF HIGH ABILITY and was performed pursuant to a contract (OE.5-85-029) with the Office of Education. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Contractors under Government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment in the conduct of the project. Points of view or opinions stated do not. therefore, necessarily represent official Office of Education Position or policy.

Special Appreciation it expressed to Dr. Bartell W. Cordon, executive officer for the project. and to research assistants George Zurick,. John Bonfield. and Kenneth Satir.

For Your Professional Library

THE JOURNAL OF CREATIVE BEHAVIOR. new quarterly, published by the Creative Problem-Solving Institute of the State University of New York at Buffalo. Subscriptions are $8.00 per year for four issues. Address is 92 Hayes Hall,, State University of New York. Buffalo. N.Y. 14214.

COUNSELING-INSTRUCTION PROGRAMS FOR INTELLECTUALLY GIFTED STUDENTS. Published by California Project Talent. Single copies may be requested from: Bureau of Educationally Handicapped and Mentally Exceptional Children, Division of Special Schools and Services. Calif. State Department of Education. 721 Capitol Mail. Sacramento. Calif. 95914

Many educators are using AC'CENT ON TALENT in staff meetings. inservice workshops, panel discussions, and curriculum planning sessions. For additional copies (there will be a small charge for handling and postage) write to Charles E. Bish. NEA. 1201 Sixteenth SL. N.W.. Washington. D.C. 20036.

This publication. developed with the financial support of the Carnegie Corporation and the National Education Association. is sent to approximately 89,100 schools (elementary, secondary, independent, public and parochial) throughout the United States.

Selected 16-MM Films

UNDERSTANDING THE GIFTED. Uses students to point up four primary traits common to the gifted. 1965. Color. 33 min. Churchill Films. 66" N. Robertson Blvd.. Los Angeles. Calif.

RAFE - DEVELOPING GIFTEDNESS IN THE EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED. Portrays a disadvantaged child in three environments - home. school and neighborhood. 1966. Color. 21 min. Bailey Films. Inc.. 6,509 De Longpre Ave.. Los -Angeles. Calif.

HELPING OUR EXCEPTlONAL CHILDREN,. Three psychologists tell how parents can help children who are gifted, handicapped or exceptional in other ways. 1963., B & W. 29 min. Film Labs. Inc.. 1161 N. Highland Ave.. Hollywood, Calif.

THE GIFTED ONES. Presents the views of two prominent educators on the education of gifted children. 1959. B & W. 22 min. International Film Bureau.,332 South Michigan Ave. Chicago, Illinois.

For further information on film, write to distributors.

National Education Association
1201 Sixteenth Street. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Room 314

In This Issue

RALPH OJEMANN
"Creativity, Mental Health and Social Pressures"

E. PAUL TORRANCE--
"Creative Functioning and Mental Health"

Also French, Hollister and
Teachers' Strategy Sheet