I believe it. The smartest, most creative people I know also tend to suffer from crushing emotional problems -- depression, anxiety, loneliness.
In a similar line of thinking, there's a book called "A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness" that was a fascinating read. The gist of the book is that our best leaders' mental illnesses had something to do with them being great. Abraham Lincoln for example, suffered from depression. This fact may have given him special insight into the suffering of others -- a kind of empathy. This empathy was invaluable, says the author, to the decisions he made.
Anyway, yeah. I like this idea. Maybe suffering from mental illness isn't ALL bad. Maybe it has some valuable upsides.
In a similar line of thinking, there's a book called "A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness" that was a fascinating read. The gist of the book is that our best leaders' mental illnesses had something to do with them being great. Abraham Lincoln for example, suffered from depression. This fact may have given him special insight into the suffering of others -- a kind of empathy. This empathy was invaluable, says the author, to the decisions he made.
Anyway, yeah. I like this idea. Maybe suffering from mental illness isn't ALL bad. Maybe it has some valuable upsides.