Is creativity related to mental illness?

This debate brought up many interesting points about the topic of mental illness and creativity. I went into the debate thinking that yes, there is a connection between the two. However, as the negative side presented the research and its low-correlation results, I began to think about our culture and how we tend to view mental illness, especially when the team asked if it was mental illness that caused great creative outcomes or if we remember the creators more for their mental illness.
       I thought back to elementary school in art class, when we learned about great artists from history. When we learned about Van Gogh, one of the first and most prominent things we learned was that he removed his own ear. This seemed a bit macabre to be a topic of discussion in an elementary school, especially since we went into great detail about how his self-portraits after that were painted from the other side of his face to hide the injury. This episode still remains an iconic memory of Van Gogh and his legacy; sure enough, when you type "Van Gogh" into Google Search, the first result is "Van Gogh ear," followed by "Van Gogh starry night" which is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Instead, his mental illness is a more popular topic. Why do we remember Van Gogh for being "tormented artist", rather than solely his work?
      As the debaters talked about the media's portrayal of mental illness, I immediately thought of the recently released movie, The Imitation Game, which chronicles Alan Turing's invention of Turing machine that was used to break Nazi codes during World War II. Although accounts detail that Turing had certain eccentricities, the movie portrays Turing as possessing characteristics of Asperger's and other autism spectrum disorders. Acquaintances report that Turing was sociable and humorous, a direct contrast to Cumberbatch's portrayal in the film. Asperger's may not be the type of mental illness that was debated, but it still reflects our society's preoccupation with the stereotypical "tormented artist" or troubled genius. Maybe we remember certain creative geniuses because we find it easy to sympathize with them, or perhaps our culture just loves a good tragic story. No matter what the reason, this debate brought up a lot of thought-provoking points about our society and culture.