Was Albert Einstein clinically insane (having psychological disorders
of some sort?)?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 03 Nov 2005 11:38 PST

No, he wasn't. 

What leads you to even ask? 

And what sort of information about Einstein's mental state would suit
you as an answer to your question?

I think all of us have "psychological disorders of some sort." That
doesn't make us "clinically insane." If Einstein had suffered from
severe mental illness, I would think some of his associates would have
mentioned this. It could have been expected to impair his ability to
work. The only mental disability that I have seen attributed to
Einstein is a tendency toward forgetfulness (and even that has been
greatly exaggerated in some of the apocryphal stories told about
Einstein).

There is a widespread myth that Einstein was learning disabled,
despite any historical evidence to support it. In fact, he was a
brilliant student even as a young child. But people love to believe
silly things. However, I never heard anyone suggest he was insane!

The following link discusses the learning disability myth:
http://www.audiblox2000.com/dyslexia_dyslexic/dyslexia005.htm

It has recently been suggested that Einstein may have shown signs of
Asperger's syndrome.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3676
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2988647.stm

The study quoted above says:

"Passion, falling in love and standing up for justice are all
perfectly compatible with Asperger's Syndrome," Professor Simon
Baron-Cohen of Cambridge, one of those involved in the study, told New
Scientist magazine.

There are also compatible with prefect mental health. 

It also says:

"What most people with Asperger's Syndrome find difficult is casual
chatting - they can't do small talk."

May be they do not find it dificult, but boring?

On the other hand, One of Einstein's children had a mental handicap.

Relation of 'genius and schizophrenia' was explored on 
 A Beautiful Mind (book is different and better than the movie)
 where hero says that 'both type of ideas (abstract math and delusions)
 come from the same source'


Amazon.com: A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate
John Nash: 
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ tg/detail/-/0743224574?v=glance