Bipolar Disorder Icons

Creativity and depression seem to be close friends. More often than not, the creatively inclined tend to suffer from mental illness, more commonly depression.  Often dubbed as a creative illness, manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder, has numerous very creative personalities in its grasp.

What is bipolar disorder? As per NCBI, in bipolar disorder people swing between periods of happiness or short-tempered mood and depression. The mood swings can be very quick, within a short span of time.

As per Health the creative geniuses who suffer from bipolar disorder include the following:

Catherine Zeta-Jones

It was in 2011 that Catherine Zeta-Jones began her treatment for her much publicized bipolar II disorder.  Unlike bipolar I, in bipolar II disorder, there are longer periods of depression and briefer, overexcited episodes than bipolar I. Sharing her views with People, she said,

This is a disorder that affects millions of people and I am one of them. If my revelation of having bipolar II has encouraged one person to seek help, then it is worth it. There is no need to suffer silently and there is no shame in seeking help.

 

Britney Spears

Princess of pop, Britney Spears is rumored to also suffer from it, even though she has never acknowledged the same in public.  Health reports the views of a Santa Monica, Calif.-based psychiatrist who has said that Spear’s behavior displayed classic bipolar behavior, including hyper sexuality, poor judgment, and impulsivity. Spears though, now seem to be back on track.

 

Marilyn Monroe

Even after so many decades, Monroe’s death continues to remain a mystery, though her drug abuse and mood swings were well known.

In the 2011 documentary, Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days, Monroe’s physician, Hyman Engelberg, MD said,

We knew that she was a manic depressive. That always meant that there were emotional problems and that she could have big swings in her moods.

 

Vincent van Gogh

This famous Dutch post-impressionist painter was known to suffer from bipolar disorder. Though in his lifetime, Van Gogh’s symptoms would not have been known as bipolar disorder, but when one goes through his signs today, they are clearly identified as those of bipolar disorder.

It is well documented by the painter himself in his letters to his beloved brother Theo, of how he suffered from astonishing highs and lows throughout his life and his struggle with mental illness.