This paper reviews literature on the relationships among schizophrenia, affective illness, and creativity. Historical perspectives on this relationship are explored and recent efforts in empirical research are discussed and critically evaluated. Results offer limited support for the proposition that schizophrenia is linked to creativity. The negative symptoms of schizophrenia (e.g., poverty of speech, lethargy) were found to limit creativity more than encourage it. Evidence does suggest, however, that bipolar disorders are positively correlated with high creativity and are prone to actualizing creativity if certain conditions exist. This ability appears to be dynamic; that is, it is manifested more significantly during some periods, instances, and affective states than others, particularly when an individual's mood is mildly or moderately elevated. Another definitive finding is that artists and writers suffer from affective illness more frequently than the general population. Artists and others believed to be prolific creators had higher rates of unipolar depression and bipolar spectrum illness as well as treatment histories than do others in the general population. The paper concludes that the robustness of these findings is limited by the methodological and conceptual weaknesses that characterize much of the research addressing these questions. (Contains 48 references.) (CR)