WHO ARE THEY?

Information Sources for Personalities Listed on Poster

“People with Mental Illness Enrich Our Lives”

 

·         Abraham Lincoln

The 16^th president, one of the nation’s greatest men, suffered from severe, incapacitating and occasionally suicidal depressions, documented in six biographical volumes by Carl Sandburg, and in numerous articles, including “Dark Veil of Depression” by Judy Folkenberg, National Institute of Mental Health, published in The Consumer, HHS Pub. 3140; and Your Health magazine, 3/28/90; pp.12-13.

 

• Virginia Woolf

The British novelist who wrote To The Lighthouse and Orlando experienced bipolar depression characterized by feverish periods of writing and weeks immersed in gloom.  Her story is discussed in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr; and in U.S. News and World Report,  3/5/90, P.50

 

• Lionel Aldridge

A defensive end for Vince Lombardi’s legendary Green Bay Packers of the 1960s, Aldridge played in two Super Bowls.  In the 1970s, he suffered from schizophrenia and was homeless for 2 ½ years.  He gave inspirational talks on his battle against paranoid schizophrenia.  His story was the subject of numerous newspaper articles, copies of which are available from NAMI.

 

• Eugene O’Neill

The famous playwright, author of Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Ah, Wilderness, suffered from severe depression, documented in Eugene O’Neill by Olive Coolidge.

 

• Ludwig Von Beethoven

The brilliant composer experienced bipolar depression, documented in Beethoven by Schauffler; and Key to Genius by Hershman and Lieb.

 

• Gaetane Donizetti

The opera singer suffered from bipolar depression, as documented in Donizetti by Herbert Weinstock.

 

• Robert Schumann

The “inspired poet of human suffering” experienced bipolar depression, discussed in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr; Creative Malady by George Pickering.

 

·         Leo Tolstoy

Author of War and Peace, Tolstoy revealed the extent of his mental illness in My Confession by Leo Tolstoy.  It is also discussed in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr and Inner World of Madness by Bert Kaplan.

 

• Vaslov Nijinsky

The dancer’s depressive illness is documented in the Inner World of Madness by Bert Kaplan;  The Diary of Vaslov Nijinsky by Nijinsky, U.S. News  11/21/88, p.16.

 

• John Keats

The famous poet’s mental illness is documented in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr;  and The Broken Brain by Nancy Andreason.

 

• Edgar Allen Poe

The author’s severe bouts with alcoholism and paranoia originated from his severe bipolar illness as documented in The Haunted Palace:  The Life of Edgar Allen Poe by Frances Winwar.