Serena Williams said Friday she suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Typically we think of athletes as having so much self control and mental toughness, but the reality is, many people suffer from mental illness. In fact, Serena shared her thoughts:

"I mean, I have mental issues too, so… I think everyone has mental issues”

Serena has not been formally diagnosed by a doctor but goes into detail on aspects of her life in which she must have order or areas that must be perfected.

I suppose a touch of OCD is a good thing for everyone to experience to some degree – but in those more severe cases when OCD interrupts a day or interferes with a persons life, it can be debilitating, frustrating and overwhelming.

Source: AFP Image credit: Bauer Griffin

Post from: Blisstree

Serena Williams suffers from OCD

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.

We’ve taken a look at famous people who have attempted suicide, as well as celebrities who committed suicide, so let’s now look at suicide itself: some of the causes of suicide, warning signs of suicide, and resources for people considering suicide.

Please keep in mind that this post is just an overview – and a brief one at that – and by no means meant to act as a substitute for medical professional advice.

Read on.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, three years ago, in 2004, suicide was the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States, and it’s estimated that per every completed suicide there are at least 8 to 25 attempted suicides.

Back in May 2008 I posted Suicide Warning Signs: In Light Of Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Within that post are:

• Suicide warning signs, as well as questions you can ask yourself and observations you can make regarding your loved ones who may be contemplating suicide.
• Suggestions on what to do if you think or know for sure a loved one is planning suicide, i.e. get help.
• Web sites and organizations to check out for help with suicidal situations.

I also highly recommend checking out the following:

• Suicide: You Are Not Exempt – Marijke Durning shares the experience of her brother’s suicide with Mental Health Notes.
• The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance’s very thorough section on suicide prevention which aims to help you better understand suicidal thinking, offers suggestions on how to cope with and get help for suicidal thoughts, helps you better recognize suicide warning signs, and describes how you can respond to a suicidal situation. The DBSA also provides a round up of suicide hot lines and Web sites.
• The National Institute of Mental Health’s section Suicide in the U.S.: Statistics and Prevention, which also covers risk factors and what roles age, gender, and ethnicity play in suicide statistics.
• Two sections from the National Alliance on Mental Illness Web site: The Emergency Department Resource Toolkit, which provides downloadable versions of informative brochures for consumers, families, and providers, and their intensive section covering resources, organizations, and discussion and support groups.

If you are contemplating suicide, please get help. If you so much as suspect someone you know is contemplating suicide, please get help. There are resources available to you, and there are people out there trained and willing to give you the help you need.

Image: morgueFile

Post from: Blisstree

Tell Me More About Suicide: Risks, Warning Signs, and Resources

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 famous writers and artists who have a mental illness – or had, in the case of the deceased. I’ve covered several music artists throughout the series, so I think I’ll keep this post to writers and artists who were painters, sculptors, etc.

Unless I find one that interests me – say, a historical musician or someone like that.

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

Read on!

The following writers and artists have either reportedly spoken about their mental illnesses, or professionals have talked about the possibility of mental illness after their deaths.

Art Buchwald, deceased American humorist and well known for his column in The Washington Post, reportedly had bipolar disorder.

Patricia Cornwell, author, was quoted in The Times as admitting to taking a mood stabilizer because she was “wired differently” and that even though her “diagonosis goes back and forth” she’s “pretty sure” she has it. “It” being bipolar disorder. She also mentioned that it’s “not unusual for great artistic people to have bipolar disorder.” Hmm.

Hart Crane, deceased American poet, reportedly experienced episodes of both manic euphoria and deep depression, as well as struggled with alcohol abuse.

Dorothy Day, deceased American journalist and founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, reportedly experienced depression.

Theodore Dreiser, deceased American author, reportedly dealt with clinical depression.

George Eliot, deceased British author who was really Mary Anne Evans, reportedly had clinical depression.

Jules Feiffer, New York cartoonist, novelist, and playwright, has spoken of his depression.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, deceased American author, reportedly had clinical depression.

John Gibson, Irish pianist-composers, reportedly has bipolar disorder.

Amy Heckerling, writer, director, and genius behind Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless, has spoken about her struggles with eating disorders.

Ernest Hemingway, deceased American writer, reportedly suffered from either clinical depression or bipolar disorder (probably bipolar disorder, as Patricia Cornwell’s so sure it’s not unusual for great artistic people to have it), and committed suicide in 1961.

Hermann Hesse, deceased German-Swiss writer and painter who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946, reportedly had clinical depression.

Jack Kerouac, deceased American writer and artist of the Beat Generation who became widely influential after his death, reportedly suffered from clinical depression and struggled with alcohol and substance abuse.

Norman Mailer, deceased American writer, reportedly dealt with clinical depression.

Kate Millett, American feminist writer and activist, discusses her bipolar disorder in The Loony-Bin Trip.

Spike Milligan, deceased British writer, reportedly had bipolar disorder.

Robert Munsch, American-born Canadian children’s writer, reportedly has obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder.

Georgia O’Keeffe, deceased American artist, reportedly suffered from clinical depression.

Eugene O’Neill, deceased American playwright who looked a whole lot like a younger version of the actor who played Barty Crouch in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, struggled with depression and alcoholism.

Walker Percy, deceased American writer, reportedly had clinical depression.

Pablo Picasso, deceased Spanish painter and sculptor, reportedly had clinical depression.

Sylvia Plath, deceased American poet, suffered from bipolar disorder and committed suicide in 1963. (Lively Women’s Kristen King contributed Sylvia Plath: Glimpse Into The Writer’s Mind to Mental Health Notes back in November.)

Edgar Allan Poe, deceased American writer, reportedly suffered from clinical depression and alcoholism.

Jackson Pollock, deceased American painter, reportedly dealt with clinical depression and substance abuse.

Cole Porter, deceased American lyricist and composer, reportedly had clinical depression, paranoid delusions, OCD, and alcoholism.

Mark Rothko, Latvian-born Jewish American painter, reportedly suffered from clinical depression.

Charles Schulz, deceased American cartoonist and mastermind behind Peanuts, reportedly suffered from clinical depression.

Anne Sexton, deceased American poet and writer, reportedly had clinical depression and committed suicide in 1974.

Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter, reportedly has clinical depression.

Paul Simon, Grammy-winning musician and composer and the man I can thank for the chills every time I hear “Hello darkness, my old friend…,” reportedly has clinical depression.

Joey Slinger, Canadian journalist and author, reportedly has clinical depression.

William Styron, deceased American novelist and essayist, reportedly had clinical depression.

Tracy Thompson, American journalist, talks about her depression and aims to bust stigma with her book The Beast: A Journey Through Depression.

Leo Tolstoy, deceased Russian writer, reportedly had clinical depression as well as struggled with alcohol and substance abuse.

Vincent van Gogh, deceased Dutch Post-Impressionist artist, reportedly had both clinical depression and bipolar disorder.

Kurt Vonnegut, deceased American author, reportedly had clinical depression.

Tennessee Williams, deceased American playwright, reportedly suffered from depression and alcohol abuse.

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of famous writers and artists who have or had mental illnesses; it’s merely a list of the ones for whom I’ve found information. As a matter of fact, you can check out the Home Based Family Services Network article on Famous People with Mental Illness, which undoubtedly includes writers and artists I haven’t mentioned here.

And, if you know of any others – and can provide credible sources – feel free to leave them in the comments.

In the meantime, stay tuned for information on celebrities and suicide as well as letters from me to a few famous folks!

Image: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Famous Writers And Artists And Mental Illness

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.

Now that we know which celebrities have or had schizophrenia, let’s take a look at the illness itself so you can better understand what these famous folks are going through.

Keep in mind that this post is just an overview and by no means meant to act as a substitute for medical professional advice.

I gathered information about schizophrenia from the National Alliance on Mental Illness and their section on Schizophrenia as well as the National Institute of Mental Health and their booklet about Schizophrenia.

After reading this overview of schizophrenia, I highly recommend checking out those Web sites for more detailed information.

Read on!

Quick Facts about Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe brain disorder that affects about 1% of Americans 18 years old and older. The disorder usually shows up in the teen and early adult years; however, it can occur at later times, especially for women. Having schizophrenia does not mean a person has split personalities, but it does mean the person may find it difficult to think clearly, tell the difference between reality and fantasy, manage their emotions, make decisions, and relate to others at times.

Signs and Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has three different kinds of symptoms: positive, negative, and cognitive.

Positive symptoms deal a lot with loss of reality (hallucinations, delusions, unusual thoughts and perceptions, etc.). Negative symptoms deal with reductions in normal behavior (decrease in abilities to speak, make and act on plans, enjoy activities, express emotion, etc.). And, cognitive symptoms are the ones that cause the most trouble when trying to lead a “normal” life as they deal with attention and memory problems as well as the brain’s executive functions (the ability to plan and organize, for example).

Schizophrenia Causes and Risk Factors

Like many mental illnesses, researchers still don’t know the exact cause of schizophrenia; however, they figure it is a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

Treatment Options for Schizophrenia

Because schizophrenia is a chronic disorder, it has to continue to be treated (just like diabetes!).

Medications (such as antipsychotic medications) and psychosocial treatment (such as illness management skills, integrated treatment for co-occurring substance abuse, rehabilitation, family education, cognitive behavioral therapy, and self-help groups) are usually combined to treat schizophrenia.

If you think you suffer from schizophrenia, contact your doctor. If you think someone you know suffers from schizophrenia, point him or her in the direction of these resources and encourage him or her to contact a doctor. There is absolutely nothing shameful or embarrassing about dealing with mental illness, and there are effective treatment options available.

Image: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Tell Me More About Schizophrenia: Signs, Symptoms, And Treatments

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.

Now that we’ve nodded in the direction of celebrities who have bipolar disorder, let’s take a look at the illness itself so you can better understand what these famous folks are going through.

Keep in mind that this post is just an overview and by no means meant to act as a substitute for medical professional advice.

I gathered information about bipolar disorder from the same three major sources from which I gathered information for the Tell Me More About Depression: Signs, Symptoms, And Treatments post: The National Alliance on Mental Illness and their section on Bipolar Disorder; the National Institute of Mental Health and their booklet about Bipolar Disorder; and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and their section on Bipolar Disorder.

So, after reading this overview of bipolar disorder, I highly recommend checking out those Web sites for more detailed information.

Read on!

Quick Facts about Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that causes extreme shifts in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. (It’s interesting that NAMI is currently referring to bipolar disorder as “medical illness” and NIMH is referring to bipolar disorder as “brain disorder” – bipolar disorder is both, of course, but I’ll stick to the good ol’ fashioned mental illness for now.)

According to the NIMH, there can be as many as 5.7 million American adults (or 2.6 percent of the population) age 18 and older in any given year who have bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder typically develops when a person is in their late teens or early 20s; however, the illness can develop at any age.

Signs and Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

There are many signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder, but for simplicity purposes they can be broken up into two categories: symptoms of mania (the highs) and symptoms of depression (the lows).

When a person with bipolar disorder is experiencing mania, he or she may:

• Experience such euphoria that he or she actually feels high.
• Have little or no need for sleep, feel an increase in energy, and even an increase in productivity and creativity.
• Have racing thoughts, talk very fast, and be easily distracted.
• Exhibit an increased sexual drive.
• Have poor judgment; make bad decisions.
• Feel as if he or she is “on top of the world,” untouchable and unstoppable, and having special powers and abilities
• Engage in substance abuse.

According to the NIMH, “A manic episode is diagnosed if elevated mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for 1 week or longer. If the mood is irritable, four additional symptoms must be present.”

When a person with bipolar disorder is experiencing depression, he or she may:

• Sleep and/or eat too much or too little.
• Feel extreme sadness, worthlessness, anxiety, hopelessness, guilt, helplessness, and pessimism.
• Experience a decrease in energy, desire, and interest in activities.
• Feel restless and/or irritable.
• Have trouble concentrating and making decisions.
• Experience physical pain.
• Suicidal thoughts or attempts.

According to the NIMH, “A depressive episode is diagnosed if five or more of these symptoms last most of the day, nearly every day, for a period of 2 weeks or longer.”

Different Types of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is not as cut and dry as the – ahem – media may lead you to believe. A person with bipolar disorder may have:

• Type 1 Bipolar Disorder, the most severe type of bipolar disorder when the mood swings are the most frequent and severe.
• Type 2 Bipolar Disorder, a less severe type of bipolar disorder that involves depression and hypomania more often than depression and mania.
• Cyclothymic Disorder, an even less severe type of bipolar disorder when the mood swings are quite mild.

Someone with bipolar disorder may experience:

• Hypomania, when the mania level is mild to moderate.
• Mixed states, when the mania and depression symptoms occur at the same time.
• Rapid cycling, when the episodes of mania and depression occur more frequently than the time frames given above.
• Psychosis, when the episodes of mania and depression are so severe they cause hallucinations and delusions.

See why it’s best to get a doctor’s advice? This stuff can get confusing!

Treatment Options for Bipolar Disorder

Treatment options for bipolar disorder almost always involve medications (such as lithium and anticonvulsants) and psychosocial treatments (such as psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal and social rhythm therapy, and family therapy). A doctor may determine that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) would be beneficial, and sometimes people with bipolar disorder opt for a more natural treatment option such as herbal and natural supplements.

Bipolar disorder is often present for a while before it’s diagnosed. If you think you suffer from bipolar disorder, contact your doctor. If you think someone you know suffers from bipolar disorder, point him or her in the direction of these resources and encourage him or her to contact a doctor. There is absolutely nothing shameful or embarrassing about dealing with mental illness, and there are effective treatment options available.

Post from: Blisstree

Tell Me More About Bipolar Disorder: Signs, Symptoms, And Treatments

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 celebrities who have suffered from bipolar disorder – 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, he or she or a spouse or reliable family member must have publicly discussed – verbally or otherwise – his or her mental illness, or, in the case of the deceased, professionals must have addressed it later on.

Many of the celebrities from the former Celebrity Health Week posts also make this list of celebrities and bipolar disorder: Britney Spears, Jane Pauley, Margot Kidder, Patty Duke, Carrie Fisher, Linda Hamilton, Vivien Leigh, Connie Francis, and possibly Marilyn Monroe from Female Celebrities And Mental Illness, and Barret Robbins, Francis Ford Coppola, Sting, Axel Rose, DMX, and Ben Stiller from Male Celebrities And Mental Illness.

Read on for more.

While cruising the Internet in search of famous people with bipolar disorder, I found an article from Canada’s Home Based Family Services Network appropriately titled Famous People with Mental Illness.

The article lists celebrities with bipolar disorder and celebrities with unipolar depression. I’ve seen many of these same names included on other lists I’ve read. I won’t republish the entire list (I don’t have permission for that!), but I will include a few of the more well-known celebrities with bipolar disorder – or, who are thought to have bipolar disorder – who I haven’t already mentioned during this series of posts.

• Ned Beatty
• Art Buchwald
• Tim Burton
• Rosemary Clooney
• Patricia Cornwell
• Ray Davies
• Robert Downey, Jr.
• Larry Flynt
• Daniel Johnston
• Jean-Claude Van Damme
• Brian Wilson

Seems like we’re in pretty good company, and that’s just a few of the names on the list of famous people with bipolar disorder – or, people thought to have bipolar disorder.

Check out the entire list, and stay tuned for more information about bipolar disorder as well as athletes and mental illness, celebrities with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and much more during Celebrity Health Week!

Image: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Celebrities And Bipolar Disorder

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.

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

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

Read on.

In addition to the various male celebrities and well-known figures listed in yesterday’s Celebrities And Depression (including Owen Wilson, Mike Wallace, Rod Steiger, Terry Bradshaw, Tom Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dick Cavett, Buzz Aldrin, Frederic Chopin, Abraham Lincoln, Eugene O’Neill, and Tennessee Williams), the following popular male figures have battled mental illness:

Dave Matthews, whose music has helped me numerous times through my own depression and who cannot marry me because he’s already married (and because Wenti simply would not go for it), has spoken about being depressed in his life.

Barret Robbins, formerly of the Raiders, has battled bipolar disorder and alcoholism.

John Nash, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994 and the subject of A Beautiful Mind, lives with schizophrenia.

Earl Campbell, former football pro and current founder and president of Earl Campbell Meat Products, Inc., manages panic disorder and documented his life with panic disorder in The Earl Campbell Story: A Football Great’s Battle With Panic Disorder.

Willard Scott, former weather reporter for The Today Show, also deals with panic attacks.

Francis Ford Coppola, a world renowned filmmaker, is included in many directories of celebrities who have bipolar disorder.

Anthony Hopkins, a well-known actor, talked about his struggles with depression and alcoholism in a New York Times interview.

Sting, aka Gordon Sumner, has spoken of being manic depressive.

James Taylor, another brilliant musician, has spoken of depression.

Axel Rose, frontman of Guns N’ Roses and the singer of many of the songs on the soundtrack of my childhood, admitted to being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has dealt with both depression and social anxiety disorder.

Freddie Prinze, Jr., actor, has spoken of his depression.

DMX, aka Earl Simmons, has admitted to having bipolar disorder.

Ben Stiller, hilarious actor, is pretty open about his bipolar disorder from what I gather.

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of male celebrities who have mental illness; 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.

Note, too, that many male political figures have been linked to mental illness (including Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Sen. Thomas Eagleton), as well as famous writers (such as James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway) but we’ll cover political figures and mental illness on Thursday and famous writers with mental illness on Friday.

Images: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Male Celebrities And Mental Illness

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.

Because we’ve already highlighted the lives of celebrities who’ve battled depression, let’s now take a look at the illness itself so you can better understand what these famous folks are going through.

Keep in mind that this post is just an overview and by no means meant to act as a substitute for medical professional advice.

Actually, I gathered information for this post from three major sources: The National Alliance on Mental Illness and their section on Major Depression; the National Institute of Mental Health and their booklet about Depression; and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and their section on Depression.

So, after reading my overview of depression, I highly recommend checking out those Web sites for more detailed information about depression.

Read on!

Quick Facts about Depression

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), depression affects 15 million American adults (5-8% of the population) during any given year.

Depression is more than just “the blues.” Actually, depression is kind of like “the blues” on acid. In other words, it’s more severe and it lasts much longer. Depression can take hold of your life, interfering with your everyday routines, ability to function normally, and your relationships with other people.

Signs and Symptoms of Depression

NAMI, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) all list signs and symptoms of depression. Some of the most common depression symptoms include:

• Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, despair, emptiness, irritability, anxiety, pessimism, and/or indifference.
• Loss of interest in activities, people, and/or jobs you once enjoyed.
• Sleep and/or eating too much or too little.
• Unexplained physical pain, fatigue, decreased energy, and/or restlessness.
• Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts.

Different Types of Depression

Sometimes it’s not completely accurate to just say someone is “depressed” or has “depression,” because there are different kinds of depression, too. The NIMH gives a thorough list of the kinds of depression, as well as their symptoms, which includes:

• Major depressive disorder
• Dysthymic disorder
• Psychotic depression
• Postpartum depression
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Treatment Options for Depression

Depression can be treated with a variety of medications (such as SSRIs and SNRIs) and therapies (such as psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy). Check out NAMI’s list of medications and therapies used to treat depression, and scroll down the page for information about treatment side effects. Also take a look at the DBSA’s page Getting the Treatment You Need.

If you think you suffer from depression, contact your doctor. If you think someone you know suffers from depression, point him or her in the direction of these resources and encourage him or her to contact a doctor. There is absolutely nothing shameful or embarrassing about dealing with mental illness, and there are effective treatment options available.

Image: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Tell Me More About Depression: Signs, Symptoms, And Treatments

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