Famous People With Bipolar Disorder
If you look back in history you can find a large list of famous bipolar people. These are people renowned for their creativity who suffered from bipolar disorder. As you may already know, bipolar disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by alternating period of mania and depression. During a manic phase, a bipolar sufferer may experience enormous amounts of energy and exhibit a variety of impulsive behaviors. They may also manifest unusual ideas and creative thought patterns which may explain the correlation of creativity with bipolar disorder.
Adding to the evidence that bipolar disorder and creativity are associated is a study done at Stanford University School of Medicine which showed that children who are at high risk for bipolar disorder scored higher on an index of creativity than did children with average risk for the disorder. Other studies have shown that people who work in creative fields such as art and writing have up to 3 times the incidence of mood disorders and suicide, suggesting a link between creativity and mood disorders in general. It’s likely research will continue to explore this intriguing correlation between mood and creativity levels.
Let’s consider some of many famous people bipolar people throughout history. Certainly one wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Vincent Van Gogh who was known for his mood swings may have suffered from bipolar disorder. Remember his painting Starry Night? It’s thought this painting may have been created during a depressive phase of his bipolar disorder. Would it surprise you to learn these creative minds were thought to have had bipolar tendencies? These include Michelangelo, Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, F.Scott Fitzgerald, and Jimi Hendrix? Certainly these individuals all made creative contributions to society.
Even celebrities are not immune to the effects of bipolar disorder. Do you remember newscaster Jane Pauley who publicly aired who battle with bipolar disorder? Other celebrity sufferers include Jean Claude Van Damme, Ozzy Osbourne, Carrie Fisher, and Kristy McNichol. Even more surprising is evidence showing that such important political and intellectual figures as Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, and Isaac Newton may have experienced bipolar symptoms. This is by no means a complete list as there are many more celebrities, artists, writers, and even politicians who are thought to have been bipolar.
It’s surprising that these famous bipolar people were able to accomplish so much in their lifetimes since bipolar disorder can interfere with both your personal life and job performance, but one can’t deny the contributions of some of these famous bipolar sufferers. I remember a highly creative and influential physician in our local area who regularly spent days hospitalized for bipolar symptoms who was able to make significant contributions to the medical field through research. During his hospitalizations his creativity would continue to shine through! He would always leave the hospital with an elaborately constructed craft project depicting a new design he had dreamed up. It seemed his creative mind was always bringing forth new ideas!
Could the creativity connection to bipolar disorder be genetic or does the disorder itself breed creativity? No one knows for sure but there are ongoing studies looking into the role that creativity plays in this disorder. Certainly the inordinate number of famous bipolar people makes this question all the more intriguing!
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