Comedians more inclined to suffer from mental health issues: Study

A recent study has revealed that comedians are more likely to suffer from mental health issues, and their "unusual personality structure", similar to being bipolar, might be the secret to making people laugh.

The belief that creativity is associated with madness has increasingly been researched by psychologists and psychiatrists who said that comedy and humour have been largely neglected, Independent reported.

The study also revealed that stand-up comedians were different from other stage performers such as actors, because they were more introverted.

Gordon Claridge, retired professor of the University of Oxford's department of experimental psychology who authored the report with undergraduate Victoria Ando, said that not all comedians are like this, but the trend has shown that these personality traits are more common.

Juliette Burton, a stand-up comedian who has tackled her mental health issues on stage, said that those with bipolar disorder can be prone to comedy as it mimics the comic's ability to combine "ideas or categories of thought to form new and original connections.

The study, which used statistical data gathered from more than 500 comedians, was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.