Something Extra: Craziness And Creativity

MIAMI (CBS4) - Popular culture is full of images and stories of mad scientists and other creative geniuses who range from eccentric to downright crazy.

But are madness and lunacy inherently linked?

A new book called "Imagine, How Creativity Works" by Jonah Lehrer and a piece on the Huffington Post today look at studies and conclude there is no clear connection between schizophrenia or manic-depression and creative genius.

But there is some evidence that people are more creative when they are depressed, and that we are more focused and imaginative when we're in a bad mood.

That's a far cry from the Doctor Frankenstein cliche or a possibly bipolar Beethoven brilliantly composing.

There's also a danger to hanging on to the mad scientist and mad artist myth in that it glorifies mental illness, stopping some from getting treated because they fear their creativity will disappear.

Lehrer argues that freeing your mind of inhibitions is a key to creativity, not craziness.

So do some free-thinking like a child and daydream productively... who knows what you'll create.