In this Celebrity Health Week post, we’ll take a look at some celebrities who have suffered from depression – or had, in the case of the deceased. We’ll look at actors and actresses, musicians, writers, political figures, and other well-known figures.

Please note that I am not an authority on celebrities and mental illness. For a celebrity to be on this list, either she or a spouse or reliable family member must have publicly discussed – verbally or otherwise – her mental illness, or, in the case of the deceased, professionals must have addressed it later on.

Many of the women from today’s earlier list of female celebrities and mental illness also make this list of celebrities and depression: Brooke Shields, Drew Barrymore, Halle Berry, Lorraine Bracco, Roseanne, Naomi Judd, Ashley Judd, Alanis Morissette, Natalie Cole, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn.

Read on for more.

Tipper Gore, wife of Al Gore and once a First Lady-hopeful, spoke publicly about her depression with CBS News an has advocated against stigma, including holding the first ever White House Conference on Mental Health.

Kitty Dukakis, wife of Michael Dukakis and another one-time First Lady-hopeful, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and documented her battles with depression and her success with electroconvulsive therapy in her book Shock.

Mike Wallace, correspondent for 60 Minutes on CBS, has spoken publicly about his battles with depression, including a suicide attempt, through various outlets including 60 Minutes and Larry King Live, and has even advocated for the fight against depression before the Senate. Read this CBS interview with Mike Wallace.

Rod Steiger, actor famous for is Academy Award-winning role as a bigoted Mississippi cop in 1967’s In the Heat of the Night, struggled with depression and, in addition to sharing his own story, also narrated Depression: Voice of an Illness.

Terry Bradshaw, former Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback, has spoken publicly about his depression as well as encouraged others who suffer from depression to seek help.

Tom Wolfe, well-known author, claims to have been able to write his character Charlotte Simmons so well because of going through depression himself.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, an important author in American history, battled depression and alcoholism.

Dick Cavett, former talk show host, openly discussed his bouts with depression (I’ve also read manic depression), praised electroconvulsive therapy in People, and was the subject of A Patient’s Perspective, a Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association film in 1993.

Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut who – hello! – walked on the moon with Neil Armstrong in 1969, battled depression and alcoholism. Read Psychology Today’s Buzz Aldrin: Down to Earth and TIME’s 10 Questions for Buzz Aldrin.

Frederic Chopin, often regarded as the greatest Polish composer (I absolutely love Nocturne and am, as a matter of fact, listening to it right now) battled depression before his death 1849.

Clara Barton, regarded as the “angel of Civil War battlefields” and founder of the American Red Cross, struggled with depression and reportedly considered suicide.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States and the one who issued a proclamation allowing my state to secede from Virginia, suffered from depression and “breakdowns,” all of which is documented in Joshua Wolf Shenk’s Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.

Eugene O’Neill, famous playwright and Nobel Prize-winner, battled depression and alcoholism.

Tennessee Williams, another major American playwright, suffered from depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse, and never forgave his parents for allowing his sister to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy to treat mental agitation – it left her incapacitated for the remainder of her life.

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of celebrities who have battled depression; it’s merely a list of the celebrities for whom I’ve found information. If you know of any others – and can provide credible sources – feel free to leave them in the comments.

Stay tuned for information about male celebrities and mental illness, athletes and mental illness, and political figures and mental illness all this week!

Images: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Celebrities And Depression

This post is part of Celebrity Health Week at the b5media Health & Wellness Channel. For more information about Celebrity Health Week posts here at Mental Health Notes, visit Introducing Celebrity Health Week: Celebrities And Mental Illness.

In this Celebrity Health Week post, we’ll take a look at some female celebrities who have a mental illness – or had, in the case of the deceased. We’ll look at actresses, singers, and other well-known female figures.

Please note that I am not an authority on celebrities and mental illness. For a celebrity to be on this list, either she or a spouse or reliable family member must have publicly discussed – verbally or otherwise – her mental illness, or, in the case of the deceased, professionals must have addressed it later on.

Read on.

Britney Spears, who has seemingly bowed (or been dragged) out of the spotlight, may have been suffering from bipolar disorder and postpartum depression for quite some time, according to her family and friends (and honestly, who knows you better than your momma and your best friends?). While I can’t find any other reliable source stating Spears has bipolar disorder such as her own public statement (and I may just be overlooking something – hospitalizations and Dr. Phil visits aside), you can read msnbc.com’s Sources: Spears suffering from bipolar disorder.

Drew Barrymore, actress and current Cover Girl face, reportedly attempted suicide after leaving drug rehabilitation when she was 14 years old and was hospitalized. Though I can’t find any reliable source on exactly what mental health issues she may have dealt with (or may still currently deal with), self-medication and dual diagnosis seem to play a role. Barrymore played a character with mental illness in 1995’s Mad Love.

Halle Berry also attempted suicide with carbon monoxide poisoning, as she told Parade, after her marriage to baseball star David Justice crumbled and depression set in. Berry will soon star in Frankie and Alice, an indie movie she’s also producing, as a woman with multiple personality disorder

Lorraine Bracco, my favorite therapist to my favorite Mob Boss, discussed her battles with depression with WebMD, as well as the troubled times she’s experienced and how she copes now.

Ashley Judd, actress, daughter of Naomi Judd and sister to Wynonna, talked with Glamour about how she entered rehab in 2006 for depression and co-dependency.

Brooke Shields documented her battles with postpartum depression in Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, and consequently drove my dislike for Tom Cruise home just a little bit further.

Jane Pauley, formerly of The Today Show and Dateline, is always the woman I think of when I wonder how bipolar disorder may affect my career. Check out Jane Pauley: The Sanest Person in Television.

Roseanne, in all her raunchy hysterical glory, announced publicly that she was diagnosed with depression, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and multiple personality disorder. Roseanne also documented an abusive childhood in her autobiography My Lives.

Naomi Judd, mother to Wynonna and Ashley and former one-half of The Judds, has dealt with depression, panic attacks, and separation anxiety, all of which are symptoms of the Hepatitis C she continues to fight – and win.

Alanis Morissette began to experience depression while she was on tour promoting Jagged Little Pill (one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time). To reporters, she commented that she hadn’t kept her physical and mental health as top priorities during the tour, and took time off to travel, reconnect with friends, read, and take better care of her body.

Margot Kidder, Superman’s Lois Lane, has bipolar disorder and in 1996 survived a public episode – including shaving her head long before Britney shocked you all.

Natalie Cole, singer and daughter of Nat King Cole, battled depression and substance abuse in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Princess Diana battled bulimia and may have struggled with borderline personality disorder according to Diana: In Search of Herself author Sally Bedell Smith.

Marilyn Monroe, legendary sex icon and actress on her better days, was committed to a mental institution one month after filming began for Something’s Got to Give and two months before she was found dead from an apparent drug overdose. Both Monroe’s mother and grandmother suffered from mental illness, and Monroe often worried she’d meet the same fate. Monroe’s self-medicating behavior was no secret, and I’ve read about her depression and possible bipolar disorder (and even schizophrenia) though I can’t find any reliable online documentation that clearly states what mental illness she had.

Patty Duke documented her bipolar disorder in both Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke and Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic-Depressive Illness, which she co-authored with Gloria Hochman.

Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in Star Wars, lives with manic depression (bipolar disorder). Although she struggled at first, Fisher now combines medication, therapy, writing, and comic relief to manage her mental illness.

Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Conner in the Terminator movies, discussed her bipolar disorder, depression, and compulsive eating on AP Radio in 2004. Read the transcript at msnbc.

Vivien Leigh, star of Gone with the Wind, struggled with both bipolar disorder and alcoholism for most of her life. Anne Edwards documented Leigh’s life in Vivien Leigh: A Biography.

Connie Francis, well-known singer in the 1950s and 1960s (go on, ask your mom about her – I almost guarantee you’ll get a rendition of “Who’s Sorry Now?” – maybe even “Where The Boys Are”) was diagnosed with manic depression (bipolar disorder), suffered nervous breakdowns, and was involuntarily confined to mental hospitals.

Audrey Hepburn reportedly battled depression but lived a full life of acting and activism (she became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF in 1988).

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of female celebrities with mental illnesses; it’s merely a list of the female celebrities for whom I’ve found information. If you know of any others – and can provide credible sources – feel free to leave them in the comments.

And, if you’re wondering where all the Sylvia Plaths and Virginia Woolfs are, well, stick around. On Friday I’ll cover all the writers and artists who have (or had) mental illnesses.

Images: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Female Celebrities And Mental Illness