In this study, Jeanne Magagna retrieves and contextualizes a number of unpublished works by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Murray Jackson, which reveal the source of creativity provided by emotional experiences and delve into the nature of psychotic states, analyzing how they influence and hinder creative process.

The aim of Jackson and Magagna is to illustrate how psychoanalytic thinking may be relevant to individuals with psychotic mental states, and to this end they search and describe the personalities of four creative individuals with exceptional talent and gifts: Vincent van Gogh, Vaslav Nijinsky, Joseph Saramago and John Nash. The text deals with topics such as love and loss, mourning and manic states, creation as a process of repairing a sense of internal damage and the use of creativity as a method to understand or run away from oneself. The book ends with a glossary of very practical psychoanalytic concepts.

This book will be a fascinating read both for psychiatrists, psychotherapists and psychoanalysts, as well as for other professionals trained in the field of psychoanalysis, students and anyone interested in the relationship between creativity and psychosis.