FAMOUS PEOPLE ARTICLES

"How lovely yellow is!" - Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent and Me

 

VIRGINIA WOOLF's body fished out of the water, weighted down by stones. Van Gogh cradled in the arms of his brother at age 37, a thousand Starry Nights never to be painted, Sylvia Plath with the gas on and her kids in the next room, Marilyn Monroe found in a state of partial rigor mortis, forever young. These are tragic pictures of brilliant lives cut short.

But we also include people who led very successful lives, Lincoln, LBJ ...

The purpose of this section is to gain insight into the gift and curse that is our illness. We truly have wings, but beware of the melting wax.

Also on display are some heroes and a villain or two of psychiatry. Their stories chronicle how our understanding of human nature and approaches to treatment have changed over the years.

Jump in wherever you like ...

The pic to illustrate Famous is a section from one of Warhol's "Marilyn" prints. Marilyn's iconic status made her a no-brainer to lead the parade of notables chronicled here. Warhol's recasting of the same image in different shades suggests that what you see is not necessarily what you get.

 

 


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Marilyn - Something Had to Give

There's been no one like her, before or since.


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Vincent and Me

Reflections on the artist and his madness.


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Virgina Woolf and Her Madness

The thought of her going under one more time was more than she could take.


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Sylvia Plath - In Her Own Words

Long a silent party in the discussion, now her voice is being heard.


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Vonnegut - Funny and Depressed

Funny people are often depressed. Vonnegut offers an excellent case study.


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Lincoln and His Depressions

His unremitting despair and long string of failures steeled his character.


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Mahler - The Man Who Saw It Coming

His music chronicled a doomed era unraveling.


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Beethoven: In a Major and Minor Mood

His life could fill up a segment on Oprah.


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LBJ and the Bipolar Enigma

He was on the cusp of greatness. Two years later ...


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Hamilton - A Hypomanic Case Study

He clearly had mania lite traits, but that's not the same as saying he had bipolar.


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Phil Ochs - An American Tragedy

The 60s did not end as anyone had imagined. But Phil took it personally.


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Alexander the Great - A Study in Narcissism

How did he get away with it?


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Hitler - A Portrait in Evil

His bipolar is well-documented, but what else was going on?


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A Kraepelin Appreciation

His 1921 opus is way ahead of the psychiatry of today.


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Walter Freeman - Father of the Lobotomy

Thinking of giving someone a piece of your mind? Steer clear of this guy.


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Spitzer and the DSM

The most influential psychiatrist you never heard of.



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