Dealing with mental health issues can be difficult. The first problem is identifying them. But even before that is acceptance. You need to accept that you have mental health issues, and that help is always needed regardless if you are doing “fine”. Once accepted and identified, it sorta gets easier because now you know the root cause of some of your problems. But, this does not mean that those problems should impede you from reaching the greatness that you can achieve. Here are 5 great people who lived their lives with Bipolar Disorder and still made great achievements in their lives.
Vivien Leigh
A beautiful starlet from the golden age of Hollywood. My heart feels so heavy whenever I read or think about the struggles this woman may have faced. At the time that she was diagnosed there was no actual medicine to treat bipolar disorder, there was not a lot of information on it. People during this time did not think of it as a disease, but rather as a weakness. She lived most of her life untreated. But the one treatment she did go through to try and help was electroshock therapy. Still, she managed to have a very successful career starring in many movies and won awards.
Ernest Hemingway
A distinguished writer that begun his career in the 1920’s. His work became popular and revered. His diagnosis came in his later years. Like Leigh, he also tried Electroshock therapy to control his disease. When doing so he claimed that the electroshock treatment caused him to lose his memories. Also like Leigh, he too was misunderstood. But he did not get as much back lash as Leigh because he was a man. He was not considered “difficult” to work with, just “eccentric”.
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Diagnosed at the age of 41 with Bipolar type II, Jones has not let this issue get in her way. An established actress with many achievements under her belt, the diagnoses did not prevent her from doing what she loved the most. Since her diagnosis she has still kept her career alive and appeared in many films and tv shows. She also advocates for the destigmatization of mental health and hopes her sharing her story will help other seek help.
Carrie Fisher
Diagnosed at the age of 24 with Bipolar disorder, this did not stop Fisher. She was already a well known actress from her role as Princess Leia from the movie Star Wars. She cemented herself as a best selling author by releasing two books, one right after an almost fatal overdose. She became a big mental health advocate trying to bring more light and attention; trying to normalize and accept mental health issues.
Mariah Carey
Diagnosed at the age of 31 with Bipolar type II, Carey is to this day an iconic legend. Before her diagnosis, Mariah already had an astounding 15 #1 hits achieved from 1990-2001. In the year 2001, she did get scrutinized for having public breakdowns and acting “strange”, it wasn’t till 2018 that she revealed that during that time she had just been diagnosed with Bipolar type two disorder and that was the reason she had behaved that way. Even after that she was still successful. She secured another 4 #1 hits after being diagnosed. Her most recent one being her 17 year old Christmas banger “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. She also is the first female solo act to have the most number one hits atop the billboard charts, she has 19 #1’s. She also is the first act in history to have a #1 in 4 different decades, spanning from 1990’s, 2000’s, 2010’s and this decade we just started; the 2020’s.
All in all, just because you have a mental health issues like bipolar disorder or any other issue, it does not mean that you won’t achieve greatness. You should not let one thing control your life. Use it to your advantage. Only you know what you are going through and let that be your motivation for your grandeur.
Furthermore, I don’t know if anyone noticed, but out of the five people I spoke about, one was a Man. Not saying there weren’t more great men with bipolar. There were, but not as many of the woman. I wanted to write about this because, although mental health and being bipolar is being destigmatized, there is still people who live with this and feel ashamed; specifically men.
I feel like if men stop trying to hide their emotions and show their vulnerability it’ll help themselves and the world. Maybe there have been even more men with bipolar disorder that did great things. We may never know… BUT what we do know is that we can change that. By accepting our selves. We can be the next greats with bipolar disorder and this won’t be a niche topic anymore.
J’s Journal 