Not only do eccentrics live longer than the norm, they are also healthier,
happier and more intelligent, on average, than the rest of the population. Dr
David Weeks, author of "Eccentrics: The Scientific Investigation",
came to admire the sense of humour, creative imagination, and strong will which
he discovered are common characteristics of eccentrics - and believes these
traits help keep them healthy. They have an over-riding curiosity that drives
them on and makes them oblivious to the irritations and stresses of daily life
that plague the rest of us.
"They don’t try to keep up with the Joneses, they don’t worry about
conforming and they usually have a firm belief that they are right, and the rest
of the world is wrong", Weeks says.
Eccentricity, he stresses, is not mental illness. In a sense it can act as a
protection against more serious mental disorders, as the mild cowpox vaccine
prevents a full-blown case of smallpox.
"I am already using what I’ve learned from my study of eccentrics in
treating the patients referred to me for depression", Weeks says, "and
I’m certainly getting better results than I was before. I tell them to loosen
up - to use their sense of humour and their imagination. Neurotic patients are
over-serious".
Extract taken from an article by Victoria McKee in The Times
(14/4/1988)