| There have been many famous people with | | | | her field wrote two books, including a |
| bipolar disorder, or thought now to have | | | | memoir and a treatise on the connection |
| had it based on their lifeworks and | | | | between the illness and creativity. |
| stories. There have been so many, in | | | | Besides these, there have been many |
| fact, that it is considered by some to | | | | other books written by famous people |
| be a mark of genius. That may or may | | | | with bipolar disorder about their |
| not be true, but it is easy to see why | | | | experiences. |
| the connection in made after a look at | | | | Some famous people with bipolar disorder |
| the many famous people with bipolar | | | | have been posthumously diagnosed to have |
| disorder. | | | | had it. Many are current stars and may |
| Writers have been, and continue to be, | | | | have actually received the diagnosis |
| some of the great famous people with | | | | from their doctors. Some of these are |
| bipolar disorder. Mark Twain was one | | | | actresses Linda Hamilton, Margot Kidder, |
| such writer. He, like many such | | | | Carrie Fisher, and Patty Duke. Others |
| writers, was highly functional in his | | | | are musicians such as Kurt Cobain, Ozzy |
| writing. However, he could be | | | | Osbourne, Axel Rose, and Trent Reznor of |
| depressed-seeming and pessimistic at | | | | Nine Inch Nails. |
| times. He also had overblown business | | | | In the past, famous people with bipolar |
| ideas which. Like many manics' ideas | | | | disorder lived very difficult lives. |
| never were accomplished. | | | | They may not have even known that they |
| Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote the modern | | | | had any kind of disorder at all. Many |
| classic Slaughterhouse-Five and many | | | | thought the way of mania and depression |
| other books, and William Faulkner, who | | | | was just the way of the world. |
| created an entire fictional place called | | | | Now, famous people with bipolar disorder |
| Yoknapatawha County as a setting for his | | | | are under an extraordinary amount of |
| novels, were two other famous people | | | | pressure to work through their cycles |
| with bipolar disorder | | | | of mania and depression. The case of |
| Some of the most well-known names in | | | | Kurt Cobain proved that bipolar disorder |
| modern history have been thought to have | | | | untreated is a disaster. On the other |
| had this disorder. These famous people | | | | hand, many feel that the medications |
| with bipolar disorder include names such | | | | stunt their creativity. Therapy is seen |
| as: Winston Churchill, Abbie Hoffman, | | | | by some as a vent by which the powerful |
| Edgar Allen Poe, Beethoven, Van Gogh, | | | | force of their expression is lost. |
| Isaac Newton. The world would not have | | | | This is a controversial topic, and many |
| been the same without these and the many | | | | doctors feel that great strides have |
| other famous people with bipolar | | | | been made in medications that are not as |
| disorder. | | | | debilitating to the creative person. |
| Some famous people with bipolar disorder | | | | Therapy, too, has changed in many |
| have written about the disorder. Most | | | | quarters. One thing is certain. The |
| notably, Patty Duke wrote a lengthy book | | | | prognosis is better these days than it |
| on the subject of her own illness. | | | | ever has been for famous people with |
| There have been other famous people with | | | | bipolar disorder. |
| bipolar disorder who have written books | | | | To learn more, check out Bipolar |
| about the subject. Kay Redfield | | | | Disabilities Guide. |
| Jamison, a psychologist well-known in | | | | |