See also, great writers must be alcoholics/drug addicts.

And the reason I had to stop watching House: "Well, he's a genius, so it's okay if he acts like a complete childish jackass."

I'm not laying this all at your feet, bonny. I just have seen it both far and near, excuses being made, or even people "understanding" that talent must come with a price.

Life comes at a cost. Some of us handle it, some don't. Talent is a separate thing entirely.

And the reason I had to stop watching House: "Well, he's a genius, so it's okay if he acts like a complete childish jackass."

Hah! That's how I knew I wouldn't cut it in academia! That attitude seemed to be rampant.

See, my fed-up point for the crazy/genius thing was A Beautiful Mind. If you're so smart, how come you don't know about all the paranoid schizphrenics who aren't geniuses? Paranoia -- and the inability to regulate leaps of logic -- is not genius; it is paranoia and word-salad! Read a book about functional intelligence some time!

Whew, got that off my chest. See also: my vast and enduring hatred of that dratted movie Camille Claudel.

Is there any medical research linking creative talent with mental illness?

Yeah, but it was conducted by a unlikely team of brilliant yet flawed researchers with a childlife capacity for wonder but a bunch of terminal brain tumors in their bipolar heads. The only way the research was ever published was through the machinations of their dedicated-albeit-emotionally-stunted wives and wisecracking magical Negro sidekicks.

Oh, Cor, bless you. I TOTALLY needed that laugh today.

Don't forget the inspiring crippled guy.

"I've got a spike through my head! A spike! Through my head!"

Thank you, Corwood, thank you.