Mental Illness Knows No Bounds

Here is a list of famous people who have suffered from Bipolar Disorder and Major Depression.

1. Abraham Lincoln- American President

2. Winston Churchill- Statesmen

3. Virginia Woolf-Author

4. Eugene O’Neill-Author

5. Robert Schumann-Composer

6. John Keats-Poet

7. Tennessee Williams-Author

8. Vincent Van Gogh-Painter, Artist

9. Ernest Hemingway-Author

10. Sylvia Plath-Poet

11. Vivian Leigh-Actress

12. Jimmy Piersall-Shortstop for the Boston Red Socks in 1950’s

13. Patty Duke-Actor

14. Gustav Mahler-Composer

15. Anne Sexton-Poet

16. George Gordon, Lord Byron-Poet

17. William Blake-English Poet

18. William Wordsworth-English Poet

19. Victor Hugo-Author

20. Robert Lowell-American Poet

21. Boris Pastemak-Russian Writer

22. T.S. Elliott-American Poet

23. Emily Dickinson-American Poet

24. Edgar Allan Poe-Author

25. Walt Whitman-American Poet

26. Alfred Lord Tennyson-English Poet

27. Hans Christian Anderson-Author

28. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

31. Charles Dickens-English Poet

32. William Faulkner- American Author

33. Peter Tchaikovsky- Composer

34. Irving Berlin- Composer

35. Noel Coward-Composer

36. Georgia O’Keefe-Artist

37. Jackson Pollock-Artist

38. Michelangelo-Artist

39. Mike Wallace-TV Personality

40. Art Buchwald-Columnist

41. Bert Yancey-Golfer

44. Pete Harnish- Ball player for the Reds

45. Margo Kidder-Actress (superman’s girlfriend)

46. Sheryl Crow-Pop Singer

47. Meriwether Lewis-Explorer

48. Charlie Parker-Musician

49. Robert Louis Stevenson-Author

50. Leo Tolstoy-Author

51. Thomas Eagleton-Senator from Missouri: Brief VP candidate

52. Lawton Chiles-Late Florida Governor

53. Tipper Gore-Wife of Vice President of the United States

54. Carrie Fisher-Actor (Princess Leila in Star Wars)

55. Rosie O’Donnell-TV Host

56. Martha Manning-Reporter

57. Rosemary Clooney-Singer

58. Meri Danguah- Author, Willow Weep for Me  

59. Ben Stiller-Actor

60. Jane Pauley-TV Personality

Famous people who have suffered from Schizophrenia

1. John Forbes Nash- Economist, Nobel Prize winner 1994.

2. Lionel Aldridge- A defensive end for Vince Lombardi’s legendary Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s, Aldridge played in two Super Bowls.  

In the 1970’s he suffered from schizophrenia and was homeless for 2 1/2 years. He now gives inspirational talks on his battle against paranoid schizophrenia. His story is the subject of numerous newspaper articles.

3. Leo Tolstoy-Author of War and Peace, Tolstoy shared the extent of his own mental illness in My Confession. His experience is also discussed in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr and Inner World of Madness by Bert Kaplan.

This is just a sampling of people who suffered with various mental illnesses. Some have gone undocumented and some under documented. A list would never be complete.

People just like you and me, who happen to be famous, can experience a mental illness.

We, as a people, walk a very fine line between mental wellness and mental illness.

Information  Source: NAMI National.

Tags: bipolar, depression, famous people, Famous people with mental illness