THE MOLECULE OF MOREpossibilities of a creative idea. Creativity is the brain at its best. Mental
illness is the opposite. It reflects a brain struggling to manage even the
most ordinary challenges of everyday life. Yet madness and genius, the
worst and the best the brain can do, both depend on dopamine. Because
of this basic chemical connection, madness and genius are more closely
connected to each other than either is to the way ordinary brains work.
Where does this connection come from, and what does it tell us about
the essential nature of both? Let’s start with madness.
BREAKING WITH REALITYWilliam had to be brought in by his parents because he refused to accept
that he had a mental illness. His mother and father were both accomplished
writers, and had traveled around the world visiting active war zones to
collect material for their books. William had also shown signs of superior
intelligence, although he was inconsistent. During his senior year of high
school his parents promised to buy him a car if he got good grades, and he
managed a 3.7 GPA.
Things changed dramatically after he went off to college. Strange ideas
invaded his mind. He had made friends with a young woman, and he
developed the mistaken belief that she was interested in him romantically.
When she denied having these feelings, he came to the conclusion that she
was HIV positive and was trying to protect him from infection. Soon, this
idea spread to other people. He became convinced that more than a dozen
people he knew were HIV positive, and that they were all counting on him
to travel to Africa to find a cure. He figured this out because the voices of his
dead grandmother and God were explaining things to him.
When his friends suggested he should see a mental health professional,
William thought that his parents were bribing them to say this. It was part
of a conspiracy, he thought, to make him think he was sick. He decided his
parents were imposters, and he left the country to look for his real parents.
He didn’t stay away long, but when he returned home, he accused his
parents of monitoring him with hidden listening devices. He traveled to New
York City to escape the overwhelming stress of his imagined persecution. He