Bipolar disorder

Note on usage: "Manic-depression" was the original term used for the disorder. While it is still commonly used to refer to bipolar disorder, the term manic depression is also now used (by a relatively small number of mental health professionals) to refer to the entire clinical spectrum of mood disorders that includes both bipolar disorder and unipolar depression. Others are trying to phase out the term entirely.

Bipolar disorder, talent and famous people

Many famous people are believed to have been affected by bipolar disorder, based on evidence in their own writings and contemporaneous accounts by those who knew them. Bipolar disorder is found in disproportionate numbers in people with creative talent such as artists, musicians, authors, poets, and scientists, and it has been speculated that the mechanisms which cause the disorder may be related to those responsible for creativity in these persons. (Many of the historical creative talents commonly cited as bipolar were "diagnosed" retrospectively after their deaths and thus the diagnoses are unverifiable; however, in cases diagnosed in recent decades there does seem to be at least some correlation between bipolar disorder and creativity.) The possible explanation for this is that hypomanic phases of the illness allow for heightened concentration on activities and the manic phases allow for around-the-clock work with minimal need for sleep.

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See list of people believed to have been affected by bipolar disorder.

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