Facing The Facts

  • One out of five American families has a relative who has a mental illness.
  • Mental illness typically strikes young people in their most productive years, 16 - 25.
  • Three million children and adolescents suffer from these illnesses.
  • Families from all walks of life are affected regardless of age, race, income, religion or education.
  • Mental illness devastates families and ill persons.  family life is disrupted.
  • Each year, mental illnesses cost billions of dollars in care and lost earnings.

 

 

Serious Mental Illnesses:

  • Are brain diseases showing neurological, structure and biochemical abnormalities with genetic, and perhaps viral components not as yet understood.
  • Include schizophrenias, depressive illnesses, and other severe disorders.
  • Can and do improve with proper treatment, support and rehabilitation.

 

Famous People with Mental Illness

  • Abraham Lincoln (1819-1865)    The revered 16th President suffered from severe, incapacitating and occasionally suicidal depressions, as 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 in Your Health Magazine, 3/28/90, pp.12-13.

  • Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)     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 & World Report, 3/5/90, p.50.

  • 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.

  • Eugene O'Neil (1888-1953)    The famous playwright, author of Long Day's Journey Into Night and Ah, Wilderness, suffered from clinical depression, as documented in Eugene O'Neil by Olive Coolidge.

  • Ludwig Von Beethoven (1770-1827)    The brilliant composer experienced bipolar depression, as documented in Beethoven by Schauffler and Key to Genius by Hershman and Lieb.

  • Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)    The opera singer suffered from bipolar depression, as documented in Donizetti by Herbert Weinstock.

  • Robert Schumann (1810-1856)    The "inspired poet of human suffering" experienced bipolar depression, as discussed in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr and Creative Malady by George Pickering.

  • Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)    Author of War and Peace, Tolstoy revealed 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.

  • Vaslov Nijinsky (1890-1950)    The dancer's clinical depression is documented in his autobiography, The Diary of Vaslov Nijinsky, in Bert Kaplan's Inner World of Madness and in U.S. News & World Report, 11/21/88, p.16.

  • John Keats (1795-1821)    The renowned poet's mental illness is documented in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr and The Broken Brain by Nancy Andreasen.

  • Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)    The author's severe bouts with paranoia and alcoholism originated from his bipolar depression as documented in The Haunted Palace: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Frances Winwar.

  • Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)    The playwright gave a personal account of his struggle with clinical depression in his own Memoirs.  His experience is also documented in Five O'Clock Angel by Marie St. Just, in Kindness of Strangers by Donald Spoto, in Tennessee: Cry of the Heart by Dotson Rader and in "Remembering Tennessee Williams," New York Times, 5/30/90, p.B3.

  • Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)    The celebrated artist's bipolar depression is discussed in Key to Genius by Hershman and Lieb, Dear Theo: Autobiography of Van Gogh by Irving Stone and an article in Your Health magazine, 3/28/89, pp.12-13.

  • Isaac Newton (1642-1727)    The scientist's mental illness is discussed in Creative Malady by George Pickering, in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr and in Key to Genius by Hershman and Lieb.

  • Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)    The novelist's publicized suicidal depression is examined in The True Gen by Denis Brian.

  • Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)    The poet and novelist ended her lifelong struggle with clinical depression by taking her own life, as reported in A Memory of Sylvia Plath by Nancy Hunter Steiner.

  • Michelangelo (1475-1564)    The mental illness of one of the world's greatest artists is discussed in Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr.

  • Winston Churchill (1874-1965)    "Had he been a stable and equable man, he could never have inspired the nation.  In 1940, when all the odds were against Britain, a leader of sober judgment might well have concluded that we were finished," wrote Anthony Storr in Churchill.  Storr also discussed Churchill's bipolar depression in Dynamics of Creation.

  • Vivien Leigh (1913-1967)    The "Gone with the Wind" star suffered from mental illness, as documented in Vivien Leigh by Anne Edwards.

  • Emperor Joshua Norton     Self-appointed "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico," Joshua Norton won "a permanent place in the annals of San Francisco, as the wisest and shrewdest of madmen."  His life is chronicled in Emperor Norton of San Francisco by William Kramer, Emperor Norton I by William Drury, Pioneer Jews by Drachman and Guide to San Francisco, pp.40-45.

  • Jimmy Piersall    The baseball player for the Boston Red Sox who suffered from bipolar depression detailed his experience in The Truth Hurts.

  • Patty Duke (1946-        )    The Academy Award-winning actress told of her bipolar depression in her autobiography and made-for-TV-movie, Call Me Anna and its sequel, A Brilliant Madness, co-authored by Gloria Hochman.  Her story appears in U.S. News & World Report, 3/5/90, p.51 and in Your Health magazine, 3/28/89, pp.12-13.

  • Charles Dickens (1812-1870)    One of the greatest authors in English language suffered from clinical depression, as documented in Key to Genius by Hershman and Lieb and in Charles Dickens, Vols. I and II, by Edgar Johnson.