History shows that brilliance often goes hand in hand with mental illness. During the last millennium, thousands of our heroes endured ineffective therapies and dodged social stigma by keeping mental maladies—from manic depression to multiple personalities to schizophrenia—out of the public eye. But today's greats are swinging wide the closet door, and feel passionate that we all all should too.
Political Humorist Art Buchwald Kicks Off The Open-Door Policy With A Tale Of His Own Travails.
I had two depressions, one in 1963 and the other in 1987—the first clinical depression, the second manic depression. One of my major fears during my depression was that I would lose my sense of humor and wind up in advertising. I was hospitalized because I was suicidal, but I wouldn't have followed through anyway because I was afraid I wouldn't make the New York Times obituary page. I was fearful that Gen. De Gaulle would die on the same day, and no one would recognize my passing.
But I still thought about it constantly.
My wife knew I was in this state, and on a visit to my hospital bed, she surreptitiously placed a photograph of my three children on the nightstand. When I saw it, I realized I would be hurting them more than myself.
In the early '90s, I went on Larry King Live with Mike Wallace and Kay Jamison to discuss depression. I wasn't sure I should do it because I didn't want to become a poster boy for mental health. But I did. As it turned out, the show had the most viewer reaction of any Larry King show.
There were more depressed people in America than anyone guessed.
Celebrities can play a role in helping depressed people: When Bill Styron or Mike Wallace admit they struggled with depression, sufferers say, "If they can have one, then I guess so can I." Styron, for one, is a role model for me.
Mike, Bill and I suffered from depression at the same time; the only difference among the three of us being that Mike and I suffered—and Bill made a million dollars.
All kidding aside, the message is simple. You do get over depressions. More important, you are a better person for having had one. I seemed to wipe out many of my skeletons in a short period of time and discard many fears that had bugged me before. You become more sensitive and kind. In my case it was so.
I agreed to write this introduction because talking about depression seems to help me as much as the people I am talking to. I wouldn't want another depression in a million years but I have made peace with the two I have had.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Sigmund Freud is known ubiquitously as a scientist, genius, polemic, revolutionary, doctor and analyst—but not as a patient.
According to numerous biographers, Freud often obsessed about his sex life and money; he wrote 900 love letters to the woman of his affections; he suffered bouts of depression and despair; he frequently seethed with resentment at rivals; and, according to one biographer, he was "overly credulous" when it came to crackpot medical theories.
Freud's demons and quirks sparked his desire to learn more about human motivation and behavior.
Indeed, his early family life, marked by his resentment at having to share his mother's love and attention, led Freud to develop his theories of human development.
Freud has forever altered the world's view of the human mind with his radical concepts such as the Oedipus complex, free association, dream theory, and the division of the mind into the id, ego and superego; everyday lexicon is littered with Freudian terms such as "repressed," "narcissistic," "rationalization" and "projection."
But that doesn't preclude Freud from being susceptible to the same kinds of delusions and problems with which he diagnosed his patients.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
Marilyn Monroe, the icon, actress, birthday serenader, model and immortal vixen, couldn't beat chronic depression—and ultimately paid for it with her life. At the end of her short, wild career, Monroe was under the constant care of a psychiatrist, and was prone to mixing prescription drugs with alcohol. While she received acclaim for her work in Some Like It Hot (1959), she became increasingly unreliable, was fired from the last film she worked on and was briefly hospitalized in a mental clinic. Three years later, at the age of 36, she was found dead, apparently having overdosed on barbiturates.
Ted Turner (1938-)
Turner tried lithium for a while to help him fight manic depression, but stopped relying on it before Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner in 1995. Turner, essentially responsible for the birth of cable television, possesses over $2 billion in company holdings, despite—or possibly due to—his illness.
Greg Louganis (1960-)
Greg Louganis, the most successful diver in history, went public in 1999with the news that his mental health had taken its own plunge years ago.
Louganis, the winner of five Olympic medals, first experienced depression at age 12 when a doctor told him that because of knee damage, he would have to give up gymnastics and his dream of competing in the Olympics.
Louganis attempted suicide by downing aspirin and Ex-Lax, trying again twice before the age of 18. While counseling sessions accomplished little, Louganis found that diving—a sport less grueling for the knees—was a satisfying way to express his physical talents.
By 1971 he had qualified for the Junior Olympics. Five years later, at the age of 16, Louganis won a silver medal at the Montreal Olympics in the 10-meter platform diving competition. He went on to win gold medals in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.
