50 Famous Bipolar People

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I recently posted about feeling somewhat depressed again, cycling downwards.  An anonymous commentor asked if I was seeing a therapist as well, and suggested that my problems may be the result of faulty thought patterns.

Now, I have no way of knowing whether this was a well meaning message or not, but it struck me as somewhat insulting.   I don't think mine is a faulty thought pattern.  It is only different from others.  As we have seen time and time again throughout history, different isn't faulty, it just scares people.

I might be acting over-sensitive, but it brought me to this subject I'd been thinking of for a while.

I found this list of famous people that are thought to have struggled with bipolar disorder at BipolarSupport.org, their list is much longer, but I've narrowed it down to 50 famous people I have actually heard of.  One notable omission is Albert Einstein, who is also thought to have been manic-depressive.

When looking at this list of names, I see some of the most creative artists in history.  Some of the best actors of Hollywood past and present.  Some of the most forward thinkers of their times.   I see a long list of people who have somehow changed or contributed to the world.

1. Buzz Aldrin, astronaut 
2. Hans Christian Andersen 
3. Robert Boorstin, assistant to Pres. Clinton, 
4. William Blake (1757-1827), poet 
5. Napoleon Bonaparte 
6. Tim Burton, movie director 
7. Drew Carey, actor
8. Jim Carrey, actor
9. Dick Cavett
10. Agatha Christie 
11. Winston Churchill
12. Francis Ford Coppola 
13. Emily Dickinson 
14. T S Eliot
15. Carrie Fisher
16. Robert Frost 
17. F Scott Fitzgerald
18. Larry Flynt 
19. Sigmund Freud, physician
20. Cary Grant, actor  
21. Linda Hamilton, actor 
22. Kristin Hersh, musician 
23. Victor Hugo, Poet
24. Jack London, author
25. Robert Lowell, poet 
26. Marilyn Monroe, actress 
27. Mozart, composer 
28. Kevin McDonald, comedian, actor  
29. Robert Munsch, writer 
30. Isaac Newton, scientist 
31. J C Penney 
32. Plato, philosopher, according to Aristotle 
33. Edgar Allen Poe, author 
34. Peter Gregg, team owner, race car driver 
35. Abbie Hoffman, writer, political activist 
36. Alonzo Spellman, athlete (football) 
37. Muffin Spencer-Devlin, athlete (pro golf) 
38. Gordon Sumner (Sting), musician, composer 
39. Britney Spears, Singer 
40. Robert Louis Stevenson 
41. Liz Taylor, actor 
42. Mark Twain, author 
43. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet
44. Ted Turner, entrepreneur, media giant 
45. Jean-Claude Van Damme, athlete, actor 
46. Vincent van Gogh 
47. Robert Downy JR, Actor, Singer 
48. Walt Whitman, poet 
49. Tennessee Williams, author  
50. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), US President 

Would you have told them that their problem was faulty thought patterns?

Struggling with Bipolar Disorder does not mean that you are less than.  It means that you are different from.  Embrace those differences, and don't let others steal your light.  It was given to you for a reason.

Felicia

Scary Story: Getting to Sleep in My First Apartment

Pin It I was always a scaredy cat as a child, and when I moved in to my first apartment on my own, I would find it very difficult to fall asleep at night, hearing every crick and crack the house made, constantly worried someone would come up my back steps, holding my breath every time someone would enter the building.

Thankfully I had Simba, the sweetest orange tabby that ever lived.  I would fall asleep at night by holding him close to me and getting him to purr.  He had a loud motor, and it would drown everything else out.  If he would stop, I'd just start petting him a little, and he'd start up again.

I'm much better now that I'm older, and I've been living in the same place for 6 years, so I'm familiar with all of this building's noises.

Here's a funny story about my biggest scare ever... (well, it's funny now, I wasn't very amused at the time).

So I was about to drift off to sleep...

When suddenly there was a very loud noise:

It was the loudest noise I ever heard

and the whole building shook.

I managed to climb out of bed to turn on the light and grab my phone.  I called my best friend, despite the fact that it was 1:30 AM.

She tried to talk me down, but I was way too freaked out.  She told me to call a Taxi, but I didn't even want to go downstairs.

So she did a three-way to call the Taxi, and I waited for it holding my cordless telephone.

Once I was safely in the cab on my way to her place, we hung up. 

One week later, as I was chatting with my neighbor, I casually mentioned the incident, and that's when he told me he had been sliding on his wood floor and slammed right in to a table.

HAHA!

Felicia

Down Cycling: Standing on the Edge of Depression

Pin It I'm not feeling like myself today. 

Actually, it's been a few days.  

My motivation and enthusiasm are weaning.

I'm afraid I'm falling into a down cycle.  The medication I'm on is suppose to be a mood stabilizer, but I don't feel it's been doing it's job.

I don't want to go down the black hole that is depression

But I'm standing on the precipice

My head is spinning

I'm anxious, and riddled with self-doubt.  

I wonder if I'm afraid of my own potential for greatness.  

All I want to do is sleep.

Felicia