Shelley, you may be right about mania playing a part in the creative
genius of several great artists and politicians. I'm a decade older
than you, and I took Lithium for five years before other options were
available. I can't honestly say it was nasty stuff since it helped
me feel much better. As you may have read, bipolar depression occurs
in varying degrees of intensity. During Poe's lifetime, most people
with a psychiatric illness either died too young from self-injury or
were confined to hospitals that were little more than
warehouses. Poe died fairly young, and that is why I think he needed
Lithium. He was the subject of a term paper I wrote in college. His
letters and writings seem to be those of a very disturbed man with a
bleak view of his future. Reading about his life has made me feel
sad... both for him as a person and for those who so enjoyed his work.
Monica Willyard
Lithium is some truly nasty stuff, and there are much better things on the market now, thank goodness.
Though by today's standards Poe, Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln would all be classed as Bipolar psychiatric disabilities.
Which I wonder, would they have been so great if their manic sides were toned down?
Course coming from some who has studied it. A lot of our great artists and politicians had undisclosed mental disabilities.
Shelley L. Rhodes B.S. Ed, CTVI and Judson, guiding golden juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc. Graduate Alumni Association Board www.guidedogs.com
Dog ownership is like a rainbow. Puppies are the joy at one end. Old dogs are the treasure at the other. Carolyn Alexander
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