There have been many famous people with bipolar disorder, or are now thought to have had it based on their lifeworks and stories. There have been so many, in fact, that it is considered by some to be a mark of genius. That may or may not be true, but it is easy to see why the connection in made after a look at the many famous people with bipolar disorder.

Writers have been some of the most famous people with bipolar disorder. Mark Twain was one such writer. He, like many other writers, was highly functional in his writing. However, he could be depressed-seeming and pessimistic sometimes. He also had grand business ideas which. like many manics' ideas were never accomplished.

Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote the classic Slaughterhouse-Five and many other books, and William Faulkner, who created an entire fictional place called Yoknapatawha County as a setting for his novels, were two other famous people with bipolar disorder. Some of the most well-known names in modern history have been also thought to have had this disorder. These famous people with bipolar disorder include such names as: Winston Churchill, Abbie Hoffman, Edgar Allen Poe, Beethoven, Van Gogh and Isaac Newton.

The world would not have been the same place without these and the many other famous people with bipolar disorder. Many famous people with bipolar disorder have written about it. Patty Duke wrote a lengthy book on the subject of her own illness. There have been other famous people with bipolar disorder who have also written books about the subject. Kay Redfield Jamison, a psychologist well-known in her field wrote two books, including a memoir and a treatise on the connection between the illness and creativity. Besides these, there have been many other books written about their experiences by famous people with bipolar disorder .

A number of famous people with bipolar disorder have been posthumously diagnosed to have had it. Many are current stars and have actually received the diagnosis from their doctors. Some of these are actresses Linda Hamilton, Margot Kidder, Carrie Fisher, and Patty Duke. Others are musicians such as Kurt Cobain, Ozzy Osbourne, Axel Rose, and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

In the past, famous people with bipolar disorder usually lived very difficult lives. They may not have known that they had any kind of disorder at all. They would most likely have thought that mania and depression was just the way of the world. These days. famous people with bipolar disorder are under a huge amount of pressure to work through their cycles of mania and depression. The case of Kurt Cobain proved that bipolar disorder untreated can be a disaster. On the other hand, many feel that the medications stunt their creativity. Therapy is seen by some as a way the powerful force of their expression is lost.

This is a controversial topic, and many doctors feel that great strides have been made in medications that are not as debilitating to creative people. Therapy, has changed in many quarters. One thing is certain. The prognosis is better these days than it ever has been for famous people with bipolar disorder.