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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by ronaldo on October 21, 2006, at 7:40:42
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Seems lots of celebrities have got bi-polar, leaving boring old me feeling somewhat cheated in having the disease without any fame or success. Stephen Fry, British screen and stage actor, has been the latest to 'come out' here in the UK.
Facts about the rich and famous manic depressives are somewhat misleading as the facts do not include the majority of manic depressives who never succeed in life. Or am I only talking for myself here? :-)
Posted by Phillipa on October 21, 2006, at 10:07:23
In reply to Did you know that Vivien Leigh was Bi-polar?, posted by ronaldo on October 21, 2006, at 7:40:42
A lot of successful people are bipolar that's where I think they get the energy to succeed. Sally Field is too. Love Phillipa
Posted by Racer on October 21, 2006, at 13:15:04
In reply to Did you know that Vivien Leigh was Bi-polar?, posted by ronaldo on October 21, 2006, at 7:40:42
I did know that Vivien Leigh was bipolar, but the list of people on Wikipedia's site thought to have had bipolar is pretty interesting.
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti? No wonder I always expected a kazoo solo in his operas!
And they left off Thomas Jefferson, who was almost certainly bipolar -- periods of incredible achievement, alternating with periods of deep despair.
There is a problem, though, with forensic diagnosis. It's a popular thing, and there are forensic assessments of any number of people for any number of disorders. Van Gogh, who's listed here as being bipolar, has also been tentatively "diagnosed" as suffering from organic digitalis poisonin, with aspects of his paintings used as supporting evidence. (Some of the swirling, and the blocks of yellows -- digitalis poisoning can apparently cause visual disturbances of that nature.) My guess is that the people who are making the forensic assessments know enough about what they're looking for, and have a distinct bias in favor of finding it.
Mostly, I find it interesting to see that sort of thing. But I don't know that it's something to take that seriously. Some people on the list -- Nick Traina (who was local to me, so I was aware of him and his death), Ben Stiller, Kristy McNichol -- have been properly diagnosed in their lifetimes. Vivien Leigh was diagnosed during her life -- although it's important to remember that tuberculosis can cause psychological symptoms that mimic bipolar or depression, so it may have been bipolar caused by a physical illness. Others, though, it's wise to take with a grain of salt. View it as an interesting mental game, but not as definitive truth.
Although Donizetti's operas might be pretty good proof...
This is the end of the thread.
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