The stereotype of scientist as crazy genius does no favours to the mentally ill

It is not funny or cool to have a mental disorder. Unless, however, you’re a a scientific genius: then it appears to be quite all right, and sometimes even lauded. But in the same way that laughing with your pals at the online quiz flagging you as a schizophrenic adds to mental health stigmatization, so does praising madness as the root of genius.

The Mental Health Foundation reports that for nearly nine out of ten of sufferers, stigma and discrimination have a negative effect on their lives. This statistic, appallingly high as it is, is admittedly nuanced in the why, where and how; nonetheless, harmful discrimination undoubtedly exists.

One of the more irrational stereotypes of scientific ‘geniuses’ is that they are ‘crazy’ or highly neurotic, and that somehow it is this very mental illness which gives rise to ‘greatness’. As if scientists didn’t have enough stereotypes; now we are all anxious – if we are any good, that is.

The crazy scientist trope has been around for a while. In films as old as James Whales’ Frankenstein (1931), the good Doctor played by Colin Clive was clearly creative and clearly insane, made obvious by his unkempt hairdo and staring eyes. To be fair to Mary Shelley, this is really not a good representation of her book, where Dr Frankenstein was actually a bit of a fainter who more fit the stereotype of ‘neglectful parent’ if anything. On the other hand, Shelley’s Dr Frankenstein did indeed exhibit signs of unhealthy obsession and paranoia, raising the intriguing possibility that a variation of the stereotype existed even at the turn of the 19th Century.

Dr Frankenstein’s depiction in 1931 cinema is clearly over-the-top by today’s standards, but the stereotype prevails. It is true that there have been some prominent scientists who clearly did suffer from acute mental health issues.

Charles Darwin is a good example. After travelling the world in the Beagle, Darwin returned home to spend most of his life either vomiting or (presumably) on the toilet from excruciating debilitating anxiety. Sigmund Freud apparently suffered from panic and anxiety disorders (and was also a cocaine addict). And then there’s Ludwig Boltzmann, who eventually hanged himself during one of his depressive episodes.

But the anecdotal link between being a gifted scientist and being crazy is far from proven. Just examining simple population statistics is, arguably, the first step in debunking the link between so-called genius and mental health. Given that around one in four people are thought to suffer from mental health problems each year, it is pretty certain that a reasonable proportion of those who are mentally ill will end up practising science.

Not to mention that focusing on the few greats by no means describes the behaviour of the many. Even if anxiety and panic were the norm for great scientists, it can never be determined if historical, famous folks were more productive or creative because they had mental health issues, or in spite of it.

This ‘genius equals anxious’ stereotype is a dangerous one. No matter how successful or unsuccessful you are, how intelligent or unintelligent you are perceived to be – there is a risk of not being treated for an illness if everyone else thinks the illness is acceptable. This also contributes to the stigma. The dismissive perception that there is nothing really wrong with you if you suffer from mental illness, or worse, that the suffering is somehow a good thing, does nothing to help people who are in pain.

Unlike unconscious bias, which appears to be alive and well in science, engineering and mathematics, mental health illness is not quite as discriminating; rather it is found in people of all ages, regions, countries and societies. In the real world, some scientists have mental health problems, and some do not. Believe it or not, scientists are people, and as such will necessarily represent a distribution of the illnesses that afflict us all.

If you do have mental health issues you should probably seek help – and if you know someone in this situation one of the worst things you can do is tell them, “Oh, that’s ok – all the great scientists were crazy, really”. It’s the equivalent of telling someone, “Don’t have your broken leg set; all great athletes never get their joints fixed”.

Sylvia McLain is a biophysicist at the University of Oxford and a Lecturer at St Peter’s College Oxford. You can follow her on Twitter.