People with Mental Illness Who Have Enriched Our Lives 

Lionel Aldridge. A defensive end for Vince Lombardi’s legendary Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s, Aldridge played in two Super Bowls. In the 1970’s, he suffered from schizophrenia and was homeless for two and a half years. He now gives inspirational talks on his battle against paranoid schizophrenia. 

Ludwig von Beethoven. The brilliant German composer whose music formed a transition from classical to romantic composition experienced bipolar disorder. 

Winston Churchill. The great leader suffered from bipolar disorder. “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,” wrote Anthony Storr in Churchill. 

Charles Dickens. One of the greatest authors in the English language, whose works include A Christmas Carol, suffered from clinical depression. 

Patty Duke. The Academy Award-winning actress told of her bipolar disorder in her autobiography and made-for-TV movie, Call Me Anna and its sequel, A Brilliant Madness. 

Ernest Hemingway. The Nobel Prize-winning American writer whose works include For Whom the Bell Tolls suffered from suicidal depression. 

Vivien Leigh. The “Gone with the Wind” star suffered from mental illness. 

Abraham Lincoln. The revered 16th President suffered from severe, occasionally suicidal, depressions. 

Michaelangelo. One of the world’s greatest artists, whose works include the marble sculpture David and the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, suffered from mental illness. 

Isaac Newton. The English mathematician and scientist known for discovering the theory of gravity suffered from mental illness. 

Eugene O’Neill. The playwright, author of Long Day’s Journey tnto Night and Ah, Wilderness, suffered from clinical depression. 

Jimmy Piersall. The center fielder for the Boston Red Sox who suffered from bipolar disorder detailed his experience in Fear Strikes Out. 

Sylvia Plath. The poet and novelist who wrote The Bell Jar ended her lifelong struggle with clinical depression by taking her own life. 

Edgar Allan Poe. The famous American writer suffered from severe bouts with paranoia and alcoholism originating from his bipolar disorder. 

Joan Rivers. The American comedian and entertainer suffered from mental illness. 

Robert Schumann. The “inspired poet of human suffering” experienced bipolar disorder. 

Leo Tolstoy. Author of War and Peace, Tolstoy revealed the extent of his own mental illness in My Confession. 

Vincent Van Gogh. The Dutch post-impressionist painter whose works include numerous self-portraits and a series of sunflower paintings battled with bipolar disorder. 

Tennessee Williams. The celebrated American playwright, who authored A Streetcar Named Desire, gave a personal account of his struggle with clinical depression in his Memoirs. 

Virginia Woolf. The British novelist who wrote To the Lighthouse and Orlando experienced bipolar disorder characterized by feverish periods of writing and weeks immersed in gloom. 

Source: The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill