Creativity and psychiatric illness: A functional perspective beyond chaos

•Creativity may be proposed as a bridge between free association and psychiatric disorders in a perspective in which creativity could have neural biomarkers linked one side to free association and to psychiatric diseases too.•Literature data report association between creativity and psychiatric illness otherwise. It would be thought that creativity could be canalized in a productive way if passing from a pathological perspective to a free associated one.•Free associations have been found having neural basis although many studies are needed.•There are, among others, Self-related brain regions that could be studied in a functional dynamic connectivity perspective to highlight both free association and psychiatric disorders if the focus is creativity.