Are schizophrenic patients necessarily creative? A comparative study between three groups of psychiatric inpatients

Many studies have found that individuals active in the creative arts have elevated levels of some schizotypal traits. The current study investigated creativity differences among schizophrenic patients, patients who were diagnosed as suffering from either major depression or anxiety disorder, and personality disordered patients (clusters A and B). One hundred and seventy (84 men and 86 women) inpatients, who were hospitalized in closed wards of two psychiatric hospitals, were interviewed, using the Tel-Aviv Creativity Test (TACT). As far as conceptual fluency is concerned, the schizophrenic patients showed the lowest level of creativity, while no significant differences between the three groups were found with respect to originality. Possible explanations are discussed, suggesting that positive symptoms of schizophrenia may be similar to creative production, whereas negative symptoms may be negatively related to verbal fluency.