Similarly, in the depths of despair the muse is likely to desert the creative artist, but the recovery period may be highly fruitful. ‘Among the writers in the Iowa Workshop study’, Andreasen reports, ‘essentially all of them reported that they were unable to work creatively during periods of depression or mania’. It is the later period, during remission, that brings the creativity…

McGilchrist, Iain . The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World (p. 449). Perspectiva Press. Kindle Edition.