Greatness link to ADHD

Friday February 5th, 2010

Many of the great people of history would have been branded as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a conference heard yesterday.

The poet Lord Byron, the musician Kurt Cobain, the artist Picasso and the inventor Thomas Edison all showed signs of being driven by restlessness and risk-taking, according to psychiatrist Professor Michael Fitzgerald.

In the professor's list of ADHD high-achievers also come Sir Walter Raleigh, Oscar Wilde, Jules Verne, Che Guevara, James Dean and Clark Gable.

The professor said: "The same genes that are involved ADHD can also be associated with risk-taking behaviour.

"While these urges can be problematic or even self-destructive - occasionally leading people into delinquency, addiction or crime - they can also lead to earth-shattering breakthroughs in the fields of the art, science and exploration."

In the case of rock star Kurt Cobain, who ended his own life tragically and early, it was known that he had problems - and he was prescribed the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin as a child.

Professor Fitzgerald, of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, explains: "The best evidence we have suggests that Lord Byron had ADHD. He had a turbulent life - at school he was often in trouble, and as an adult he engaged in criminal activities and was eventually forced to flee the country.

But he was also the greatest lyric poet in the English language.

"Similarly, Sir Walter Raleigh was a reckless character. But his insatiable quest for new stimulation and risk-taking behaviour also made him a famous soldier, adventurer and explorer."

Speaking to a conference of the Royal College of Psychiatrists at Keele University, Staffordshire, UK, he said: "There is a considerable stigma surrounding ADHD, and people tend to focus on the negatives of the disorder.

"But we should balance this by remembering that ADHD can, in the right circumstances, be a fertiliser helping to generate a seed of untapped potential in a person."

Professor Fitzgerald's claims come shortly after researchers linked high academic achievers to a high risk of bipolar disorder - a common mental health problem involving dramatic mood swings.

Tags: Child Health | Europe | Mental Health | UK News

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