I'm looking for stories of women who have succeeded despite mental health issues.

[Writer]

Or people, for that matter.

Do you know of any?

[mix]

1. An Unquiet Mind-Kay Redfield Jamison

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Redfield_Jamison

[Writer]

2. That's a really good one, thank you.

I think I'll find her book.

[cbayer]

5. Absolutely. That is the first one that I thought of as well.

:hi:

[AlienGirl]

3. Alice B. Sheldon, aka James Tiptree Jr: lifelong severe depression

She worked for the CIA and went on to become one of the best science fiction writers of her era. She wrote under a male pseudonym, but her identity was eventually discovered, to the surprise of much of the SF world. Depression eventually killed her, but she lived a very interesting and successful life.

Dorothy Rothschild (Dorothy Parker) suffered from depression. She attempted suicide at least once.

Some men who succeeded:

Abraham Lincoln had depression but led the Union to victory.

Winston Churchill suffered from recurring bouts of major depression.

The examples I know about, male and female, seem to come mostly from the world of poets. Depression and poetry seem to go together very well.

Tucker

[Writer]

4. Certainly, I appreciate that.

I might look up a book about Lincoln. Leaders who deal with depression are very interesting to me.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Well, that would not be me then. What about Patty Duke?

[Writer]

7. Patty Duke... I think I remember hearing about her...

Thank you.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. Sarah Palin, Michell Backman. Sorry, I just had to.

[elocs]

20. Clever, check out this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6848542

SoxFan
Donating Member (1000+ posts)

Sat Oct-24-09 01:49 PM

Original message

"Mentally Ill" does not mean "wrong on an issue"

I've had it with DUers who throw the term "mentally ill" around when discussing a person's political views. The simple fact that someone is wrong on a particular issue does not mean you have the right to start using mental health as a political cudgel.

I've battled depression. Other DUers have struggled with eating disorders, substance abuse, bipolar, and other conditions. We know how society still stigmatizes people with mental health conditions. It's this stigma that prevents many people from obtaining treatment that could bring badly needed relief to them and their loved ones.

My suggestion is that the mods start taking a hard line against this crap. There's absolutely nothing progressive about using mental health as a way to score cheap political points, and it has to stop now.

At the moment it has 29 Recs.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

36. O.K. I thought about your response for a day before replying.

Here is my take.

My mother was committed to a mental hospital for several years back in the day. She received shock treatments on numerous occasions. When she was finally released, she was never the same and it had a big impact on my formative years that carries over to this day, long after she hadspassed away. She had me read "I never promised you a rose garden" when I was about 12 to try to help me understand what she had gone through.

I have personally had bouts of depression that have brought me to the brink of suicide on several occasions so I understand the pain that people can experience. I've been there and done that and am still dealing with it and will probably continue to deal with it for the rest of my life so, please, don't lecture me on the seriousness of mental illness.

On the other hand, I think mental stability also requires a sense of humor. This whole PC thing where no one is allowed to say anything that might possibly offend anyone has gone way too far. What it does is stifle ANY discussion of the issues that confront us everyday. No one can say anything because it might piss someone off. Frankly, I reject that hypothesis. I can still find humor in the fact that Sarah Palin and M. Bachman are nuts and if you can't, I respectfully suggest that you are perhaps wound a little too tight and need to lighten up a bit.

I have known I was nuts since childhood and am not offended when people call me on it. Frankly, I have a life and more important things to worry about.

Oh yes, lest I forget, Are you really trying to tell me that Sarah and Michelle are not nuts? Do you really think that what comes out of their mouths is just a matter of difference of opinion? Please.

[Pharlo]

9. Sylvia Plath - poet

Carrie Fisher - "Postcards from the Edge"
Barbra Gorden - "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can"

[debbierlus]

10. Me

Not in a particular mood to relive my life long struggle, but there are many millions of us.

[Rising Phoenix]

11. me

I am alive

I am supporting myself, with the help of ssdi, foodstamps, mass health

I am moving out on my own

I am thriving

I am mentally ill

I am still alive

[zippy890]

12. you are a success!

Congratulations!

"I am thriving. I am mentally ill"

and you are still alive. There's no better success than that.



:yourock:

[Rising Phoenix]

13. thanks luv

[elocs]

22. Good for you.

Good for you. Good luck.

[Odin2005]

14. Florence Nightengale.

[LeftishBrit]

15. Virginia Woolf; Sylvia Plath...

The following book describes the lives and work of ten famous writers who had mental illnesses:

Gordon Claridge, Ruth Pryor and Gwen Watkins: Sounds from the Bell Jar; 1990


Also see "Darkness Visible" by William Styron, a writer who had severe depression.

[Schema Thing]

16. Ayn Rand

[mitchum]

17. Well done

very well done :)

[Schema Thing]

37. thanks

[mitchum]

18. I was going to post Anne Sexton, but I think she is disqualified...

for the same reason as Plath

[nolabear]

19. William Styron. Vincent van Gogh (ultimately). Temple Grandin.

[Rabrrrrrr]

28. Mental health issues, yes, but not so bad that any of them thought they were women.

[Ptah]

29. Except Temple Grandin.

[Rabrrrrrr]

31. Except, of course, for her.

Whoops!

Should have known that... first heard about her many years ago, when she was just starting her work with helping with cows and slaughterhouses.

[nolabear]

34. There was that "or people, for that matter" added in.

[Redstone]

21. Many.

Contact me via PM if you'd like details.

Redstone

[BlueIris]

23. Depending on your definition of success, Susannah Kaysen's "Girl, Interrupted."

YMMV re: whether it's an inspirational story of success or not.

[mentalsolstice]

24. John Nash. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

25. Mary Todd Lincoln.

Her son, Robert, had her institutionalized at one point but she regained her liberty. She always maintained her competency. She had her issues with the loss of her son, Willy, during the White House years, the assassination of her husband as they were together, etc. In her defense, "medicine" especially psychiatry was relatively nonexistent and the Victorian mores of "hyersteria" was a blanket diagnosis for anything that made a woman loud, challenging, independent, and emotional.

[MichiganVote]

26. Seems to me we're talking just about everyone aren't we?

[Rabrrrrrr]

27. Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Barbara Bush

[janx]

30. Whoops--I'm not talking anymore about that.

Good luck!

[VMI Dem]

32. Sarah Connor.

[Writer]

33. OMG...

:rofl:

[Captain Hilts]

35. Eleanor Roosevelt, like her uncle, Theodore, had some serious depression issues. nt