Madness Redefined: Creativity, Intelligence and the Dark Side of the Mind

The notion of a “tortured genius” or “mad scientist” may be more than a romantic aberration. Research shows that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia correlate with high creativity and intelligence, raising tantalizing questions: What role does environment play in the path to mental illness? Are so-called mental defects being positively selected for in the gene pool? Where’s the line between gift and deficit? As studies mount supporting the storied link between special aptitudes and mental illnesses, science is reexamining the shifting spectrum between brilliance and madness.
This program is part of The Big Idea Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.
The World Science Festival gathers great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content that allows a broad general audience to engage with scientific discoveries. Our mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.
Subscribe to our KZbin Channel for all the latest from WSF.
Visit our Website: www.worldsciencefestival.com/
Like us on Facebook: / worldsciencefestival
Follow us on twitter: / worldscifest
Original Program Date: May 31, 2012
MODERATOR: Cynthia McFadden
PARTICIPANTS: James Fallon, Kay Redfield Jamison, Susan McKeown, Elyn Saks
Disordered Minds: Edgar Allen Poe, Virginia Woolf,
John Keats, Emily Dickinson 00:00
Cynthia McFadden's Introduction 4:55
Participant Introductions 6:15
Is there a scientific base to the madness and creativity link? 8:03
Spatial contrast and artistic frequencies. 12:08
Elyn Saks and her history of schizophrenia. 17:02
What has brain imaging shown us on the connection of madness and creativity. 24:54
Philosophers think what schizophrenics live. 32:27
James Fallon on the mental state of the criminal mind. 40:08
A CEO is 4 times more likely to be a sociopath. 48:32
Has the link to creativity changed the stereotypes of schizophrenia? 57:08
Most serial killers have had a past experiences that determine the present. 1:04:40
Can you recognize when your illness is in control and not you? 1:12:08
The medical model of understanding these illness. 1:18:49
"Singing in the Dark" a performance by Susan McKeown. 1:20:13

[@WorldScienceFestival]

Hello, KZbinrs. The World Science Festival is looking for enthusiastic translation ambassadors for its KZbin translation project. To get started, all you need is a Google account. Check out Madness Redefined: Creativity, Intelligence and the Dark Side of the Mind to see how the process works: kzbin.info_video?v=sPiah-8pCQk&ref=share To create your translation, just type along with the video and save when done. Check out the full list of programs that you can contribute to here: kzbin.info_cs_panel?c=UCShHFwKyhcDo3g7hr4f1R8A&tab=2 The World Science Festival strives to cultivate a general public that's informed and awed by science. Thanks to your contributions, we can continue to share the wonder of scientific discoveries with the world.

[@kenos20]

I would like to try typing some English subtitles for you but how do I find out which videos are already done? The link provided does not indicate which videos are being worked on. Thanks

[@rydermcdermott1973]

Is it possible to get a word for word transcript or a copy of the screen play of this film?

[@kenos20]

Hi Jude, sorry I don't know, I wrote to them but they haven't replied. I will contribute a little from time to time but it looks like this video hasn't had much done on it yet.

[@rydermcdermott1973]

Thanks Keno 👍😁

[@achatinaslak742]

I am not a fast typer, but I can translate the laughter in this video....HAHAHA....HAHA...hahahahahaha...

[@TheIAMINU]

If you don't hear the voices in your head , it means they're silently judging you...

[@theboss-vr1jj]

+TheIAMINU lol x

[@sharps8726]

Gold

[@hebam81]

TheIAMINU I've always felt the same way about that! the voices are always there judging and arguing with u... its just not auditory to them or they r so far gone they cant decipher their true thoughts n feeling from this external source silently telling them what to think and how to feel

[@franciscusbaars1014]

I completely agree It also means that the bias in the observations of the first two speakers (perhaps the presentation chairlady!) is age-old judgemental view of the non-mad of us mad. I am treated bipolar scientist and can easily prove that the bias of onservation is unfair. I have met and smelt my own multiple symptoms amongst the huddles of hundreds of friends and anons in the web and milieu of 'normal' life. The scientific literature that I have read copiously clearly indicates that the undetected sample of afflicted, non-treated and non-normal 'normal' voice hearers causes the bias that maintains prejudice in close to medieval levels. Hear the voices, speak back to them, but don't obey them if they are mis-behaving. If you don't need to hear, then don't.

[@rustic35]

If you don't hear the voices in your head, you're provably speaking them allowed.

[@erinprather3793]

I knew a father who hated his son's creativity in the arts. He crushed that shit like a bug. He had money, and sent his kid to a reform camp. They put a shovel in his hands and worked him 14 a day. He is still artistic, but refuses to do it out of fear that was drummed into him as a kid. He is now a drunk, and two of his kids showed signs of non conformity and he slapped them around for it. His dad created a monster cause his dad was a monster too.

[@oUncEblUnt420]

Useful, thank you

[@matthewnelson4298]

Sounds familiar

[@dionysusthemadgod]

“There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness.” -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

[@richardbedford6657]

I worked in a hospital. We had a fellow come to us in a manic state. He was so wild we had to seclude him. After a day or 2 he calmed down. I told him it's good to see you up and around, He replied it's "nice to be down and around"".

[@stuartlawler2411]

I'd rather be schizophrenic than be so petty and unforgiving that I come to the comments and complain about this woman's laugh, rather than just watching something else without being so nasty.

[@robinhuizing4406]

realistically, it's a flat affect and an symptom of her mental illness- specifically schizophrenia.

[@wishaalkhalid4414]

Elyn Saks seems so cool. When she said in the middle of an episode "it takes all your energy to be contained." i really felt the gravitas in her voice. What a brave woman.

[@vailryan5682]

I've always said that it takes all my energy to appear normal.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

creativity arising from depression is exactly my experience; you gotta go to the deep waters to catch a big fish. There's also creativity going into depression but is blurrier and it burns faster

[@johngoldsworthy7135]

credit david lynch

[@zthetha]

As good old Krishnamurti rightly said, "Thought is the pollutant." The rational mind - so prized in our day - is a good tool but a bad master. To get stuck in the thinking function (Jung classified four functions - thinking - feeling - sensing - intuiting) is to become unbalanced by definition. Artistic genius brings all these to a high degree of perfection which sees the world clearly in all its madness, brutality, corruption and stupidity. The prospect of this may lead to a breakdown of some sort. Edvard Munch, a painter of genius, had such a breakdown and sadly fell into the hands of the electric shock medics who cured him of his 'madness' and alcoholism... and also his genius. Now he was officially 'sane' his paintings became banal and unimaginative and ordinary. But then that's what the medics want - for you to be as ordinary as them. So called madness may be the reaction of a sane person to a mad world where psychosis is a safe place to hide.

[@kahlread5537]

And to think they translated Cogito ergo sum as... I THINK therefore I am. How sick is that?

[@FethiKaratas]

Alan Watts alert!

[@bobaldo2339]

That foolish dualistic statement of Descartes has caused nothing but trouble for centuries, Kahl.

[@ichheieelsenorandorayashi4824]

Thank you, I'm autistic...

[@myfragilelilac]

Let's just face it, normal people are not interesting.

[@james12erby43]

Lol .. Right!!!!!

[@ms.q7445]

What is normal? Our species is knowingly destroying the air we breathe--and a significant percentage of the global population (including USA) lives under pathocracy (governments ruled by sociopaths)--THAT is insanity.

[@ichheieelsenorandorayashi4824]

Would you choose to be psychopath and dementia? I choose the polar opposite, I chose autism and cancer It's easier 'cause I'm already really autistic

[@PolaOpposite]

Normals: Stephen Hawking, Miles Davis, MLK, Malcolm X, Bach, Kobe Bryant, Chet Atkins, Niels Bohr, Jimmy Stewart, FDR, Eddie Van Halen, Paul McCartney, Babe Ruth, Emmanuel Kant, Lao Tzu, George Gershwin, Leonard Nimoy... I'd say they're a pretty interesting lot.

[@robertimmanuel577]

Honestly, anything that isn't normal is interesting.

[@jitrulz1]

Bad Hostesses. She turned all 3 participants into patients she is interviewing. If it was some other host it would have been better discussion where they talk as experts/doctors/professors rather than like a patient.

[@cosmicflowstudio]

Agreed, I felt this convo needed to be much more empowering towards the guests (especially given their rank) we know nothing about the host and she came off as pretentious and judgmental . This could have been handled in a much more empathetic and equatable way.

[@crazyeyedme4685]

I used to resent that saying about "speaking to yourself is the first sign of Madness" because it reinforces ones belief that they're "bad". Just the word schizophrenia gives of a stereotype😔 Someone with schizophrenia can do bad things but the illness shouldn't be portrayed so constricted. There are some very sweet and strong people who overcome their living nightmares and go on to do plenty of positive things. I think schizophrenics brains have opened up more doors in their minds than neurotypicals. Ppl with the problem can have a wide spectrum themselves. Some can cope, some cant. In tribal cultures schitzophenics* are the members who become medicinemans or shaman. I thought this was very interesting.

[@invalidusername8279]

recognizing im mad in a world gone mad seems sane to me

[@Lu11abi]

A thought that helped me level with life: only one who cannot function in a depraved world stands a chance of being a good person. Justifying failure. No regrets. 👍🏻

[@vailryan5682]

Those women, alarmingly and comfortingly, confirmed so many things I feel and experience.

[@christopher5151]

i must be going crazy , i keep hearing that fucking laugh in my head now over and over

[@Stroheim333]

+Chris Topher A lot of commenters in this discussion field say the same, and I don't understand people like you. Is it really more important to be irritated because someone have a bad laugh, instead of listening to what she and others really says -- and make comments on _relevant_ things? I am here because I want to learn things, so a bad laugh is only a thing to ignore.

[@damonsantori8817]

that laugh is truely annoying

[@KeinSinn]

+Stroheim333 while i do agree with you on that this should not be relevant. Many people - myself included - try to listen and follow the speakers train of thought. A distracting laugh like this in combination with bad sound mixing creates an acoustic environment that makes it hard to follow the conversation. So while you might be able to "tune this out" others might just not be able to. The topic and speakers are very interesting but i had to stop half way through...

[@Stroheim333]

Hurr Durr There is no problem at all to hear what they say, even for people with hear impairment. You only turn up the volume.

[@KeinSinn]

The issue with just turning up the volume would be that you'd make the laugh louder aswell... Also it is not a problem of acoustically undertanding! It's an irritating sound like someone honking a horn everytime to keep you from concentrating. Just throws me off completely and i dont seem to be the only one.

[@curtiburm5442]

insanity is fun, well... its fun when your able to control it with your consciousness. Delusions of grander where you are a god within your own mind able to create and destroy entire worlds in the blink of an eye, having full scenarios play out in front of you based on subconscious instinct reacting to thought at a moments notice, like dreaming while wide awake as your body goes on auto pilot for what seems like mere moments but in reality is hours on end. Insanity while losing awareness on the other hand is a bit more frustrating and annoying. seeing things that aren't there, monsters and figures in the corners of your eye morphing back into every day objects when you turn to look at then, voices screaming in your ear for only a second before disappearing, images flashing before your eyes as your thoughts become a jumbled mess and you begin to feel yourself losing control and wanting to close your eyes and give in to the dizzying weight of sleep closing in on you as you try to stay awake, and time begins to slow to a crawl while appearing to stand still.

[@phillipcherry6670]

Got that right .. and this explains why I'm as crazy as a shithouse

[@jaybanksuniversal]

Check my video, I never make them, so it’s not very professional, but I kinda explained your first sentence in it. Peace and blessings

[@manojsinha3137]

My God!!! What a realistic explanation of the unreal...only if u could make money out of this process too...I hv taken a screenshot of ur idea....so similar to my own

[@jfinney225]

That introductory video - short film rather, as it was incredibly directed and shot - was amazing! I felt the madness and insanity in my chest and gut. I struggle with mental health (nothing this serious but still) and you guys recreated the human condition struggling with reality when everything in the brain tells someone reality is what is in fact not real so perfectly. Great job.

[@RumiSupertramp]

Spent some time in a mental hospital after a psychotic episode and met more intelligent and creative people inside the hospital than outside (the patients, not the staff, although i have to say the staff were some of the nicest people I've met)

[@michaelembree7491]

ART-----MY attempt to silence the storm within. Never stirred in tranquil thought. THE predawn awakens from its uneasy slumber, the quiet, the pallet , the paint, and the relief, alone within myself once again .

[@Branden923]

Screw the negative comments, I LOVED the laugh.

[@MSPWrit3r]

Thank you Elyn Saks for pointing out that we should not romanticize mental illnesses, and Kay Redfield Jamison for bringing up the study about how people who have mental illnesses find that they are more creative when medicated - I have a mental illness myself and while, yes, a lot of my emotional creativity comes from reflections after my own episodes of illness, there's still a lot of work that I have to do to remain emotionally and mentally healthy and it's really hard work. It's not like the illness makes you magically creative, and creativity can still exist in a person that's never experienced a mental illness. We should absolutely celebrate people like these two amazing women who have thrived and brought such great awareness to what it's like living with mental illness and how our experiences are different from neurotypical people. We're already doing hard work to be healthy; stigma only makes it harder, and I appreciate everyone that speaks out about their experiences because that makes it easier for those of us trailing behind when society gets much needed education on psychology.

[@WhitneyDahlin]

I know this is an old comment but I completely agree. I have all of these really great ideas but no follow-through. I have pretty severe phases where I'm really depressed and it's a chore to even leave the house. And even though I have these great ideas I don't have the focus or the follow-through without medication.

[@7deepbreaths.sounds]

This intro KICKS ASS. Kudos to the writers and actors and technicians that assembled that montage.

[@thetaeater]

Bipolar with schizophrenia = your ego, your body mind and consciousness all having conversations. I would say this is healthy. It is society that is ill.

[@Lu11abi]

it can be painful...but there used to be a place for us in societies...not as sideshows to be "aww-ed" at... Modernity is toxic to humanity, tho, yeah.

[@INNOCENTWIZZARDS]

Thank you for this incredibly important conversation.

[@NextWorldVR]

One of them has a Terrible Laugh... over and over and over hahaha hahaha hahaha hahah ugh...

[@keule6094]

+Robert England It is the woman on the far right.Awful laugh!

[@AlFrisby]

+keule The laughter is coming from the man...Hebephrenia.

[@AlFrisby]

+Robert England That is a typical Hebephenic laugh. " over and over and over hahaha hahaha hahaha haha" that's classic obsession.

[@michellejensen8424]

+AlFrisby Its the woman on the far right.. He's talking while shes laughing.. But Hebephrenia doesn't present in adults from what I could find.. And does it really matter?

[@tonyclark7882]

The terrible laugh is still present while Jim is talking, so it can't be him.

[@f.u.c8308]

I wish James Fallon would have been more clear about the fact he is a psychopath in order to dispel stereotypes about them, because people generally have a really poor understanding of what kind of person a psychopath is. Most people think of them as serial killers or people who want to kill, rather than understanding that psychopathy is defined not by a desire to kill but by a lack of empathy, which leads to the "bad" behavior Fallon admitted to. There is plenty of harm that can be done by people with a lack of empathy other than murder. I feel like his mental illness was danced around and glossed over. Then again, it is typical of them to misrepresent the truth in order to be more likeable.

[@cosimoto1]

Yes... it took great effort and many years of both outwardly administered and inwardly practised therapy but in the end I was finally able to overcome the sanity that haunted me for so many years! Ms McFadden.. the host, received her Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia Law School in New York City in 1984. For those of us who are "crazy", that says enough!

[@brianbyrne2517]

I have always been mad. Never was a big issue for me People never ask me to prove I am mad People it seems only ask you to prove you are not In accepting my madness and all that goes with it I have noting it seems to prove to anyone. So embrace your madness Thank you for accepting my madness and all that goes with it

[@rachelroy4159]

Love this. As someone with bipolar, this definitely gave me some comfort. Thank you.

[@Mieze0503]

Hello. There is no option to show subtitles in your videos. For me the automaticly made subtitles would be helpful, because my english isn‘t very well (scientific words are even more difficult and less common). If you want to reach more people you should consider the subtitles. I would be thankful for the better if I could understand you better.

[@DoisKoh]

Coincidentally, I just finished watching Gattaca... and am now having some of the ideas in the film reinforced by this talk.

[@ozgurkuzu2202]

i dont know if bipolar makes me creative or not i am not sure about this ,and that laughing kills me :))

[@hackerhesays731]

darkest moments, gives such strength as you are drawn each new day weaker , weaker tears so heavy they pull down the inside of ones self lips, sound, and voice fall into the wastelands. there is nothing you can convey. nor anyone around that cares to hear one bit of your pain in anything you might say.

[@mmyers5873]

Orlando: perhaps you're right. Some people have such terrible thoughts about themselves they need kind, outside voices to teach them those thoughts aren't true..But even the most balanced person - at some point - needs those around them to help them see the the truth.

[@smitihanda1944]

This made me cry

[@Lu11abi]

I've never heard of the voices being benevolent... YEARS of heroic shadow-work might do it, but they never start off trying to STOP people from killing themselves. Cute idea tho.

[@luciatilyard2827]

Love the song and singer.

[@rafaeltorres6644]

Excellent info.....now I know why I am mad with several theories that haunt me......

[@garethcarolan2220]

I say to the voices 'I am having mental health problems so to please keep quiet for a while as I sort this out.' ... and it works. This may be that in addressing them in this manner I am showing respect. Further, this may be a key to resolving this issue as this approach is far from the usual response that 'voices' are used to, i.e. extreme. Try it out. I would be interested to know of any results that have been obtained.

[@thesuicidegods8462]

what is madness for one, is genius for another and enlightenment for another

[@Ethercloud]

The Suicide Gods just as everyone is an individual, interpretation is different for each, but it's overlapped with social consciousness of acceptance, creating a minority group stigmatized. All genius's are tortured, pain and suffering (everywhere, soak it in) facilitate (as a teacher) and signal growth(adaptation organized). Adaptation is anything but painless, change has to be accepted not rejected or you suffer a mental breakdown. Cumulative educational growth will create birthing pains for a new mind. Every year my intellect grows exponentially (it's painful, it's lonely, without self-discipline it's nightmarish for some) but certain concepts are best left alone(deep math, existentialism, religion, and conspiracy theories, avoid logic bombs), fixation is slowing to growth, but too much at once can break your mind. Keep changing, bravery is altruistic but is preferable to indolence or willful ignorance, understanding is dire misery, that misery is motivation to more growth ^^ observe, absorb, organize, adapt, change, and repeat.

[@curtiburm5442]

so did homicide or a god complex inspire your name? i mean no disrespect, but your name can be interpreted as synonymous with the term angel of death so i was curious and decided ask

[@BeckyBoop]

Excellent, excellent video. Fascinating stuff

[@veronicaalessandrello1022]

Genius, outside of the box thinkers, experiencialists, will always be labelled or dismissed as ‘mavericks or nutters. Only those who experience real consciousness, presence, high intensity attention to detail, those who have the privilege to experience moments of total freedom and uninterrupted concentration can dance the music other distracted minds can’t even hear.

[@samuelralphallen7450]

I have always said, "My insanity is the bane of my genius that I must bear such that I might be allowed to explore beyond the boundaries of the scientifically empirical."

[@robertjmccabe]

She misrepresented Josh Nash when she said that he was hesitant to take medication because it would stifle his mathematical creativity. She got this from the movie which was highly inaccurate. From the book “The Beautiful Mind” he did his best work before he got sick. In his later years, when he went through remission, he said that his schizophrenic years were marked by an absence of rational thought.

[@themousejamhouse3828]

Love the music at the end

[@rubberbumm]

This was highly interessting

[@annamarie9936]

Brilliant Utterly BRILLIANT !

[@timothybrannigan]

Thank you

[@fracturedreality88]

Its not madness is perception from a different wavelength. Your brain is what tell you what you see but those that argue based on only their own perception are truly the mad ones.

[@ivyleague10]

Very inspiring.

[@ThatsWhenItkickedin]

i was touched.

[@albatrossmariner1984]

The world needs to listen to all of us ancient mariners who accidentally shot the bird of good omen....our sane and rational mind. Psychiatrists and psychologists need to be humble, talk to us, listen to us and truly learn from us. Not as lab specimens, but to listen to our learned wisdom regarding insanity. If they actually realise we have alot to teach them, not from imaging our brains, but listening to our story. People with mental illnesses are the experts on the matter, not the psychiatrists, this is the next level of understanding that needs to occur for the mind sciences to make real progress. It's not good to have a top-down approach to knowledge on the matter of the mind. The so-called experts are useless practitioners on the whole. There is something wrong fundamentally with the paradigm they operate from. They focus way too much on the hardware of neurons and neurotransmitters. But that is only one aspect of our mind. We need to treat people at the level of the human being, not at the level of the brain. We need to treat people at the level of lived experience, and how people truly view themselves and their life, not at the level of neurotransmitters, which is too simplistic. Psychiatrists need to come out of their ivory towers and realise they are failing. A paradigm shift is absolutely necessary. No other field of medicine has been allowed to get away with being so ineffective. The only advance in psychiatric treatment has been better drugs with less side effects. But this is ultimately the achievement of drug companies more than that of your average psychiatrist. Of course a big problem is that society refuses to fund mental health adequately. But it is up to the psychologists and psychiatrists and the social welfare field to lobby for more funding, force governments to adequately fund mental health. But they also need to step up their game, even if they can't get any more money. The field of mental health suffers from denial. It cannot see how drastically it is failing. If the medicine of treating the body was as incompetent as the mental health field, every doctor would be broke from being sued and in jail for malpractice. It is completely amazing that psychiatrists seem to be above the law, because they essentially operate from a modus operandi of malpractice. They get paid an enormous amount to spectacularly fail in treating mental illness.

[@albatrossmariner1984]

They have sold themselves as knowing more than they do, and as being more effective than they are. Psychiatry and psychology are very powerful institutions. Society has believed their PR. Psychiatrists are as powerful and in some cases, more powerful than judges. I think it is a fundamentally corrupt institution...psychiatry and psychology. I have a BA in psychology. And know the system from a patients view as well. I have also seen the power of psychiatrists in a court of law. It all seems to be quite corrupt.

[@DivineMoment]

LIQUID M.D. Guys, guys, listen to lecture by Alan Watts on youtube titled "The Value of Psychotic Experience", I think it's highly related to what you guys are talking about and it's a great talk, Watts was very fascinating speaker.

[@ebannaw]

LIQUID M.D. Indeed, it reminds me distinctly of the Socratic assault on sophists, where these days we pay "experts" tremendous sums of money for their "wisdom" their "advice" their "knowledge" their "help". A rather clever, albeit banal evil.

[@Free2BeYou]

ebannaw agreed; yet not banal - get'em off 'me!!! Oy.

[@yasminshwaiky6009]

+LIQUID M.D. listen i dont think that all of the psychiatrists in the world are the same ,, my biggest dream is to become a psychiatrist and i promise that i will not be the way you think of psychiatrists i dont know why i am telling you all this but i am 15 years old and i am going after that dream ,,, i hope we can meet sometime in the future ^^ pray for me and send me support and i promise i wont disappoint you :))

[@jastiksk8crw]

Cool stuff, half way through was fun.

[@emikarecords]

As an artist I can speak about creativity and destruction.. if creativity (feels like extra energy) isn’t channelled with an activity that has some kind of process.. journey.. discovery.. productivity.. it can go easily in a destructive direction.

[@suyapajimenez516]

Thank you to all panelists for an excellent presentation and overall for bringing your own life experience in this so hard subject that affect individually as well as families.

[@jsnedd66]

as a creative intelligent persons , this was profoundly insightful .

[@albertescamilla]

you guys should make a podcast version of these conversations so we can listen to them on the go.

[@illrateyoua5]

+Albert Escamilla you can get youtube videos as mp3s

[@Nairod2]

+Albert Escamilla you can download the video and convert it to audio. or type in google youtube MP3 stealer.

[@albertescamilla]

I already know about downloading videos and converting it to mp3 form, it's just much easier to have access to the audio without having to download each of them individually, that's what makes podcasts so convenient, especially if you're really busy all the time.

[@albertescamilla]

omg shut the fuck up, it was just a suggestion. I don't need anyone insulting me over it.

[@Nairod2]

1st think how irrational is to think a big channel will even bother to read the massive amount of comments on their videos. second, that wasn't a suggestion. but more of an excuse to complain about something that is nothing but a personal inconvenience. Instead of being such a winning little bastard be thankful for the free information the channel has provided.

[@andrewbarnett2761]

Normal society is trying to normalize a evaluationary thought process that causes a greater understanding of the world we live.

[@myfragilelilac]

I can relate to this a lot.

[@strongdan1]

Thanks ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@erictaylor5462]

Just think of the number of great artists in all fields who have been deeply troubled and dysfunctional.

[@fannysludge]

Human phycology . Nobody agrees with a genius .

[@siresquire9439]

----- Birds in a cage think flying is a mental illness.

[@timg6176]

Most people are 95% Ego, even though they don't know it, or are unwilling to admit it.

[@Ultamami]

*psychology

[@fannysludge]

@@Ultamami oh please don’t be a spell checker please 🙈. As long as people know what you mean that’s all that matters.

[@rachelroy4159]

Bipolar type 2 here! It’s the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me.

[@spiralsun1]

This is awesome 😎 I love how it shows how different our various world views can be in addition to the topics directly covered. Also, it’s important to see the idea that people in families where these disorders occur are more creative etc. because at least some of the selection pressures come from heterozygous -advantage-type effects. You can think of it as group selection but it can also be conceptualized as a body or brain developing in society-or those types of patterns. Since language is recent. It’s a 2 edged sword. Like sickle cell and malaria resistance.

[@mmyers5873]

Regarding improvements in treatment - Kay Redfern's answer very surprising. Sure, it's better than it was! But there are many people not being helped by current therapies.

[@richarddawkins3098]

I am addicted to mania. Still keep taking my antidepressants.

[@veronicaalessandrello1022]

The problem with labelling rare minds is that a generic establishment becomes ‘witch hunters’ instead of an open institution that’s capable of holding all form of resources. Like a book shop.

[@stephanieyeshuaislife7236]

I really want to watch this later, it looks interesting ~

[@Lu11abi]

how'd that go eh?

[@stephanieyeshuaislife7236]

@@Lu11abi I was mad, and never got around to it.

[@james12erby43]

This was published on my birthday interesting indeed.

[@Lu11abi]

careful with the solip...

[@zenmeister451]

One can only wonder at just how effective these personalities could possibly be as psychological 'aids' considering how self-absorbed the majority of them all seem to be with their own mental issues. I can't help but reference the classic notion that no one is in greater need of psychological help than those that go into the field of psycho-dynamics; their motivations are fueled by their own 'psycho-dysfunctions'. These people are the quintessential poster children that prove the point. Nevertheless, I find these sorts of discussions to be quite fascinating...

[@Ethercloud]

zenmeister451 Double-edged sword. Either full dive or fearfully hide to preserve blissful ignorance. Mental illness is an illusion, that can be overcome with self discipline and limited social exposure. (Predictable plebian drivel is best taken in small doses, don't project your expectations on them it's hypocrisy ultimately.)

[@Hassanthehorse]

They're self-absorbed for answering questions that were asked to them about their respective illnesses?

[@ShaeMacMillan]

I recommend nature as a salve to stressful states of mind. Seek help if gets worse x

[@LunaticTheCat]

Wise words

[@bangthehankers1985]

I think everyone mentally ill goes through what this woman describes at 53:00. After 5 years on medication, I spent about 2 years trying to cope with bipolar off the medication, trying to prove that I controlled the illness, not vice versa. What a disaster. My life is SO much better on regular medication and therapy.

[@irishchris5045]

understanding is sanity in today's society

[@billy-joes6851]

You gotta be insane to understand today's society.

[@idanceforthestars]

Bill Hampton facts

[@noahjaramillo4917]

@@billy-joes6851 perhaps the understanding doesn't determine madness, but the complacency in such madness.

[@MrTommy4000]

was the audio dialed in low so we could hear the voices more clearly ?

[@manaoharsam4211]

Bipolar Women have tremendous love for their husbands. Normal people cant love like that. My wife used to say we are not death do us apart but tied for ever.

[@billstokes5251]

Fix the volume please! With iPad speaker touching my ear I can barely hear this.

Outstanding presentation. I suggest read between the lines and try to avoid listen to much to "bipolar" word and take it as loose and uncontrolled neuro-plasticity. I'm not a doctor of course.

[@TravelNP]

Imagine a society where all states of mind were employed in the betterment of human life. Maybe then all the labeled mental states would prove beneficial to us all.

[@albatrossmariner1984]

It is really difficult to get good anti-anxiety drugs like opiates and barbiturates. Modern medicine has become so paranoid about addiction that many of us suffer unnecessarily. They would rather we suffer than be addicted to anti-anxiety drugs. Now that is an insane situation induced by so-called sane medical practitioners. Who cares if someone is addicted to a drug when the benefits far outweigh the negatives? Doctors who are content that we suffer every day of our lives. Medicine needs to be more concerned with alleviating suffering than being obsessed with the politically correct false notion that addiction is evil. It's a hangover of the war on drugs that has intruded on medicine. We let the American war on drugs interfere with good medicine, which in turn leads to mass suffering. American ideology, which is Extreme Christian nutcase ideology pollutes the world. Medicine has bowed to the will of the far right wing fascists. Now that is insane.

[@rdallas81]

LIQUID M.D. thaats a reason why so many are dope....heroin addicts! Doctors fear losing their "lifestyle" and cautiously write scripts! I been seeing the same doc for 6 years.....still get my meds, no problem....but I also never failed a drug test!

[@SaluranGelap]

LIQUID M.D. I totally understand and fully agree with your words. All the best to you.

[@deVon30241]

10 seconds in, and it seems these people are just actors doing everything way over the top.

[@torosalvajebcn]

I agree, it makes it ankward to watch.

[@TigburtJones]

I think these are just a group of talking heads talking all sciencey and smart like and then they give it a title and make it seem like it's actually about some topic. They should call these documentaries "psychosalesman: the symbolic symposium simulating systems of sick minds"

[@onenotused9327]

O.m.g. 24 minutes in that laugh made me feel crazy as a loon!

[@BJ-bi9xv]

…i want to listen and i tried to listen, but that laugh is driving me insane!!!!

[@EDUARDO12348]

Bruce RanSone I scrolled through the comments wondering if somebody was going to say something... yes I agree

[@fighterabhi3165]

I though hez a man till i saw him saying my husband 🙄

[@TeamLegacyFTW]

Same here ugh

[@pamelaangela2393]

After reading the comments who to hell is watching this I hope you are all trolls

[@kaielvin]

Hello world. What's the name of the music in the intro clip ? (SoundHound is bugged by the voices).

[@ryanharter581]

Can anyone recommend any podcasts and/or lectures about creativity?

[@fabioschneider5970]

A lot of talk about the mental junk yards, but not a lot of reflection on creativity. Upsi !

[@05juan]

which site was it you could test yourself? cant make words out 40:02

[@MalloryMishler]

I understand if Brian Greene doesn’t wanna host this topic but can we please get someone other than this media wind bag? Such a cool topic… I can’t even force myself to digest it

[@richellelemon3137]

So here's 3 living examples that the integration and well-health of an individual or a community is not a "nature versus nurture" debate, but definitely, undebate-ably, community nurturing nature - the nature of individuals.

[@annamarie9936]

I cant seem to find the musicians work on the internet - Can you provide links please? :)

[@micheleploeser7720]

As a very young child i was “scared t death” by a small Schnauzer dog. From that point I had terrifying colorful horrible devastating nightmares. Finally got over them. I just realized that , they never GOT me. Was never attacked, although I could never get away. They hid in my basement, under my bed & would hide behind doors, waiting to frighten me to where I could not move. All good now, at 69 yrs young, They never “GOT ME”. HAHA on the Black Shnazzers that haunted me so badly as a kid.

[@bluegiant13]

I must be schizophrenic because I keep hearing that fucking laugh in my mind.

[@daisycypresstulipgarden2131]

The holistic approach works best.

[@flywheelshyster6549]

I kept denying that I was bipolar for the longest time, only finally talking to a doctor [diagnosed type 2, true mania rare but happens, hypomania in small bursts all the time, nonstop depression. I am a writer and also worried about hurting my creativity, but having begun using drugs for mind expansion and meditation at 15 that eventually changed into just urge to be on something, I realized I had stopped writing because the drugs, not the depression or hypomania. In order to not think about suicide 15-30 times a day, everyday, forever I take an SSRI which did have a short month long "no feeling numbness" but that went away. The medication helps with survival but I want those hypomanic episodes. I just which i could control it as it makes me very unprofessional at work where I am being built and pushed into middle management, a concept that scares me [ think James Joyce's The Dead] but a current necessity to be able to afford to live and have a somewhat normal life. Also, I hate to say it but dang the moderator on this is sexy as fuck. Maybe its her inquisitiveness and the passion flowing her eyes when she talks to the panel. intelligence is attractive

[@limeluck2]

U are screaming manic right now when u write this

[@jackchorn]

I think we will soon discover it is viruses and bacteria that are the cause for most of these challenges. The other massive problem is our culture and how we treat people who are sick. It wasn't until the movie rainman that Kim Peek was able to look people in the eye. And like many who have challenges before him- it was accomplishment or acknowledgement that gained support from the community- who then treated him differently and accepted him for who he was that allowed him to flourish. Bethoven-Newton-Tesla- Cezanne-nash Unfortunately how many and how much have we lost because society does not allow to prosper.

[@emmam3295]

well, what's the paper James Fallon was talking about??I can't find the paper???

[@marthwithablackheart]

Whats the difference between pathology and adaption?

[@brendalayne4612]

I tried copying the URL for APA citation and it kept coming back invalid. How do you cite a source on youtube without a URL?

[@enlightenmentbarbie]

does anyone know how to create the graphs he mentioned at 12:50 ish??? I want to test out some artworks that I create! lol...

[@divingbird7421]

one of the biggest problems people with mental illnesses face are the peope who try to put a positive spin on their pain or tell them to look at the bright side, etc(like what this host did the whole time).

[@DubaiGuy08]

Whenever I read or listen to Poe, I somehow imagine brick walls. I think about the Cask of Amontillado.

[@olgamatveeva9797]

This creepy laugh going through the whole seminar video gives me hells lot of shivers

[@MelissaThompson432]

Ben Lynch, who describes himself as an epigeneticist, cites research that indicates that the environment that the developing brain inhabits, at different stages of in utero and postnatal neurological development, affects intelligence as well as physical anomalies that negatively affect cognition, learning ability, emotional health, endocrine function, the list goes on. My family has MTHFR polymorphisms; we also have a family history of all of the above; very smart people who are schizophrenic, dyslexic, ADHD, ASD, with gland disorders, clinical depression, sensory processing disorder, etc, etc, etc.... I have family members with a certain selectivity for self interest, but it's a bit extreme to say that I have psychopathology in my family tree.

[@malice3030]

the audio is horrible. the speakers are out of phase.

[@josht4583]

***** i'm really glad someone else said it ... I was totally worried I was losing it.