David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
MENTAL ILLNESS DOES NOT HAVE TO GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR LIFE
by eather Lauria, Freedom From Fear
January 8, 2009
You?ve been diagnosed with a mental illness. Now what? The idea of telling friends and family your misfortune is daunting. How will they react? Will they too succumb to the social stigma of mental disorders or will they stand up and help you fight to get well again? In a world where finding out you have a mental illness can almost seem traumatizing in itself, it helps to know that you are not alone. There are so many others out there going through exactly what you are dealing with. There are people who have taken on what life has thrown at them and who have succeeded. But just who are these people and where do you find them?
Lately, more and more celebrities have begun speaking out about mental illnesses. Many of the Hollywood population know firsthand the suffering that comes with mental illness. All of America watched as Britney melted down under the hot lights of Hollywood scrutiny and we all remember Brooke Shields battle against Postpartum Depression and Tom Cruise.
A mental illness does not mean that your life has to stop. There are many people, both in history and still living, who have managed to accomplish unbelievable things in spite of (or in some cases, due to) their mental disorders. The failure of the brain to function correctly is no one?s fault and can be overcome. But while you are working on recovery, it is possible to strive for the extraordinary. Take a look at the following list to see what some very famous people have achieved while struggling with a mental illness.
President Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln both suffered from mental illness. The President was plagued by severe depression but this in no way stopped him from becoming the man who held our country together during a civil war. During his presidency, Mary Todd stood by her husband while suffering from bipolar disorder.
Winston Churchill, another great leader of the world also suffered from bipolar disorder. It is written by author Any Storr, ?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.?
Literary greats Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Leo Tolstoy, John Keats, Edgar Allen Poe, and Tennessee Williams all suffered from depression. Geniuses in their own mediums, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo and Ludwig van Beethoven were all tormented by illness of the mind. Mental illness has even made it to the moon when Buzz Aldrin shuttle there. He did not let his battle against clinical depression stop him from being the second man to walk on the moon.
It is also important to remember that even the saintly and those who have dedicated their lives to God and charity work were not spared the pain and suffering of illnesses of the mind. Both Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis of Assisi suffered from depression. Saint Ignatius also suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), as did Saint Therese the Little Flower.
The next time you get discouraged and think that you will never be able to have a normal life because of your mental illness, embrace that idea and strive for a life of extraordinary proportions. Most famous people with mental disorders had the illness before their fame. They learned that a mental illness did not mean their life was over, but they had the chance to achieve what ?normal? people could not!
by eather Lauria, Freedom From Fear
January 8, 2009
You?ve been diagnosed with a mental illness. Now what? The idea of telling friends and family your misfortune is daunting. How will they react? Will they too succumb to the social stigma of mental disorders or will they stand up and help you fight to get well again? In a world where finding out you have a mental illness can almost seem traumatizing in itself, it helps to know that you are not alone. There are so many others out there going through exactly what you are dealing with. There are people who have taken on what life has thrown at them and who have succeeded. But just who are these people and where do you find them?
Lately, more and more celebrities have begun speaking out about mental illnesses. Many of the Hollywood population know firsthand the suffering that comes with mental illness. All of America watched as Britney melted down under the hot lights of Hollywood scrutiny and we all remember Brooke Shields battle against Postpartum Depression and Tom Cruise.
A mental illness does not mean that your life has to stop. There are many people, both in history and still living, who have managed to accomplish unbelievable things in spite of (or in some cases, due to) their mental disorders. The failure of the brain to function correctly is no one?s fault and can be overcome. But while you are working on recovery, it is possible to strive for the extraordinary. Take a look at the following list to see what some very famous people have achieved while struggling with a mental illness.
President Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln both suffered from mental illness. The President was plagued by severe depression but this in no way stopped him from becoming the man who held our country together during a civil war. During his presidency, Mary Todd stood by her husband while suffering from bipolar disorder.
Winston Churchill, another great leader of the world also suffered from bipolar disorder. It is written by author Any Storr, ?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.?
Literary greats Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Leo Tolstoy, John Keats, Edgar Allen Poe, and Tennessee Williams all suffered from depression. Geniuses in their own mediums, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo and Ludwig van Beethoven were all tormented by illness of the mind. Mental illness has even made it to the moon when Buzz Aldrin shuttle there. He did not let his battle against clinical depression stop him from being the second man to walk on the moon.
It is also important to remember that even the saintly and those who have dedicated their lives to God and charity work were not spared the pain and suffering of illnesses of the mind. Both Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis of Assisi suffered from depression. Saint Ignatius also suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), as did Saint Therese the Little Flower.
The next time you get discouraged and think that you will never be able to have a normal life because of your mental illness, embrace that idea and strive for a life of extraordinary proportions. Most famous people with mental disorders had the illness before their fame. They learned that a mental illness did not mean their life was over, but they had the chance to achieve what ?normal? people could not!
