I'm becoming increasingly convinced that you need pain to be artistic; I'm being simplistic, I know.

I've also read so many complaints from people with bipolar disorder that the medications kill creativity. The atypical antipsychotics really did for me, but the anticonvulsives/mood stabilizers don't affect me much in that area.

I didn't grow up in quite as crazy an environment eitheer as Michael did, but I was one of those semi-prodigies, and I didn't have such a normal childhood either. He said things to the effect of never feeling loved--I wonder if he might've had BPD himself. And that happens a lot with people who were abused as children.