Manifestations Of Creativity And Its Therapeutic Effects Among Psychotics

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research was to investigate two inter-related respects of the postulated reciprocal association between creativity and psychosis, namely the effects of psychosis on creativity and the impact of creativity on psychosis. The study was carried out in three phases Participants were one hundred and twenty in patient psychoties and one hundred and twenty normal participants drawn from students and workers of higher institutions in Lagos. The standardization of Instruments was carried out in the first phase. The effects of psychosis on creativity was investigated in the second phase using sixty undifferentiated psychotics and sixty normal participants as controls in the context of selected personality, affective variables and intelligence. The third phase focused on the therapeutic effects of the creative process on a different group of psychotics, comprising of thirty treatment and thirty control participants. Evaluation of therapeutic effects was done through expert ratings of psychopathological intensity. Comparative studies of the therapeutic effects and creativity among schizophrenics and mood disordered psychoties, as well as the relationship between pathological intensity and creativity was also carried out Factorial analysis of variance, multiple regression analysis, analysis of variance for repeated measures, correlational studies and test for independent means were used for data analysis. Pattern of results suggests that active psychosis in combination with pathologically significant personality variables inhibits creativity, while enhancing aspects of creativity in combination with affective variables of stress, anxiety and arousal Findings indicate that intelligence clearly moderated the creative process.