Anorexia nervosa

It's only human to wish you looked different or could fix something about yourself. But when a preoccupation with being thin takes over your eating habits, thoughts, and life, it's a sign of an eating disorder. When you have anorexia, the desire to lose weight becomes more important than anything else. You may even lose the ability to see yourself as you truly are. Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that affects women and men of all ages. It can damage your health and even threaten your life. 

Anorexia nervosa is a complex eating disorder with three key features:

• refusal to maintain a healthy body weight
• an intense fear of gaining weight
• a distorted body image

Because of your dread of becoming fat or disgusted with how your body looks, eating and mealtimes may be very stressful. And yet, what you can and can’t eat is practically all you can think about.
Thoughts about dieting, food, and your body may take up most of your day—leaving little time for friends, family, and other activities you used to enjoy. Life becomes a relentless pursuit of thinness and going to extremes to lose weight. But no matter how skinny you become, it’s never enough.
While people with anorexia often deny having a problem, the truth is that anorexia is a serious and potentially deadly eating disorder. Fortunately, recovery is possible. With proper treatment and support, you or someone you care about can break anorexia’s self-destructive pattern and regain health and self-confidence.

Types of anorexia

There are two types of anorexia. In the restricting type of anorexia, weight loss is achieved by restricting calories (following drastic diets, fasting, and exercising to excess). In the purging type of anorexia, weight loss is achieved by vomiting or using laxatives and diuretics.

The difference between dieting and anorexia

Healthy dieting is an attempt to control weight.	Anorexia is an attempt to control your life and emotions.
Your self-esteem is based on more than just weight and body image.	Your self-esteem is based entirely on how much you weigh and how thin you are.
You view weight loss as a way to improve your health and appearance.	You view weight loss as a way to achieve happiness.
Your goal is to lose weight in a healthy way.

Anorexic food behavior signs and symptoms

• Dieting despite being thin – Following a severely restricted diet. Eating only certain low-calorie foods. Banning “bad” foods such as carbohydrates and fats.
• Obsession with calories, fat grams, and nutrition – Reading food labels, measuring and weighing portions, keeping a food diary, reading diet books.
• Pretending to eat or lying about eating – Hiding, playing with, or throwing away food to avoid eating. Making excuses to get out of meals (“I had a huge lunch” or “My stomach isn’t feeling good.”).
• Preoccupation with food – Constantly thinking about food. Cooking for others, collecting recipes, reading food magazines, or making meal plans while eating very little.
• Strange or secretive food rituals – Refusing to eat around others or in public places. Eating in rigid, ritualistic ways (e.g. cutting food “just so”, chewing food and spitting it out, using a specific plate).

Anorexic appearance and body image signs and symptoms

• Dramatic weight loss – Rapid, drastic weight loss with no medical cause.
• Feeling fat, despite being underweight – You may feel overweight in general or just “too fat” in certain places such as the stomach, hips, or thighs.
• Fixation on body image – Obsessed with weight, body shape, or clothing size. Frequent weigh-ins and concern over tiny fluctuations in weight.
• Harshly critical of appearance – Spending a lot of time in front of the mirror checking for flaws. There’s always something to criticize. You’re never thin enough.
• Denial that you’re too thin – You may deny that your low body weight is a problem, while trying to conceal it (drinking a lot of water before being weighed, wearing baggy or oversized clothes).

Purging signs and symptoms

• Using diet pills, laxatives, or diuretics – Abusing water pills, herbal appetite suppressants, prescription stimulants, ipecac syrup, and other drugs for weight loss.
• Throwing up after eating – Frequently disappearing after meals or going to the bathroom. May run the water to disguise sounds of vomiting or reappear smelling like mouthwash or mints.
• Compulsive exercising – Following a punishing exercise regimen aimed at burning calories. Exercising through injuries, illness, and bad weather. Working out extra hard after bingeing or eating something “bad.”

One thing is certain about anorexia. Severe calorie restriction has dire physical effects. When your body doesn’t get the fuel it needs to function normally, it goes into starvation mode and slows down to conserve energy. Essentially, your body begins to consume itself. If self-starvation continues and more body fat is lost, medical complications pile up and your body and mind pay the price.

Some of the physical effects of anorexia include:

Severe mood swings; depression Lack of energy and weakness Slowed thinking; poor memory Dry, yellowish skin and brittle nails

Constipation and bloating Tooth decay and gum damage Dizziness, fainting, and headaches Growth of fine hair all over the body and face Source: helpguide.org

Research: Smokers are 70% more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.

Researchers have found that quitting smoking can improve mental health. Contrary to what smokers think, that "smoke break" to help ease anxiety may be doing more harm than good. New findings indicate that smokers are 70% more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than non-smokers.  But those who quit have no more problems than those who have never smoked. The study of 6,000 people over 40 found 18.3% of smokers reported suffering depression and anxiety compared with 10% of non-smokers and 11.3% of ex-smokers.

It is the first research of its kind to compare the prevalence of anxiety and depression in smokers, non-smokers, and ex-smokers who have quit for longer than a year. Lead researcher Robert West, professor of health psychology at UCL (University College London), said: “Our study found that long-term ex-smokers have similar prevalence of anxiety and depression to non-smokers and considerably lower levels than smokers.

“Quitting smoking could be the key to improving not only your physical health, but your mental health too.”

The British Heart Foundation released the findings on Tuesday 24th ahead of No Smoking Day on March 11.  BHF associate medical director Dr Mike Knapton said: “There is a belief from many smokers that smoking reduces anxiety and stress, which is in turn causing many smokers to postpone  quitting. 

“Yet, instead of aiding people to relax, smoking increases anxiety and tension. When smokers light up, the feeling of reduced stress or relaxation is temporary and is soon replaced by withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

“While smoking temporarily reduces these cravings and feelings of withdrawal - which are similar to feeling anxious or stressed - it does not reduce or treat the underlying causes of stress.”

Some Fast Facts about smoking and Mental Health

1. 42% of cigarettes are smoked by someone with mental illness

2. Diseases caused by smoking are the second largest killer of people with mental Illness

3. People who start smoking are twice more likely to become more stressed and depressed.

4. Many people who quit smoking find that they feel less stressed but after a while their mood improves.

5. People experiencing mental illness can quit and do safely! 

#NEDAwareness week 2015

National Eating Disorders Week 2015

The goal of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (#NEDAwarenessWeek) is to put the spotlight on the seriousness of eating disorders and to improve public understanding of their causes, triggers and treatments. By increasing awareness and access to resources, we can encourage early detection and intervention, which can improve the likelihood of full recovery for millions. 2015 THEME: I HAD NO IDEA This year the National Eating Disorders Association is focusing on the importance of early intervention and recognizing the diverse experiences of people personally affected by disordered eating. Too often, signs and symptoms are overlooked as insignificant behaviors when in fact many of these are early warning signs of eating disorders. Each day during #NEDAwareness Week, they will be targeting a different audience with information, resources and help.   Here are 7 noteworthy things about eating disorders: 1. Athletes are at a higher risk of developing an eating disorder. 2.Eating Disorders can affect anyone regardless of race, age, ender or sexuality.  3. Eating disorders are often overlooked or misdiagnosed - even by doctors! 4. 35% of "normal" dieters progress to disordered eating. 5. The "perfect" images you see everyday are digital illusions. Look critically before you criticize yourself.  6. As many as 65% of people with eating disorders say bullying contributed to their condition.  7. Eating disorders aren't just a phase

Antisocial Personality Disorders - Psychopathy & Sociopathy

Society has conspired with Hollywood to put two psychology terms into our collective consciousness — psychopath and sociopath. Psychopath and sociopath are pop psychology terms for what psychiatry calls an antisocial personality disorder. Today, these two terms are not really well-defined in the psychology research literature.

Nonetheless, there are some general differences between these two types of personality types, which we’ll talk about in this article.

Both types of personality have a pervasive pattern of disregard for the safety and rights of others. Deceit and manipulation are central features to both types of personality. And contrary to popular belief, a psychopath or sociopath is not necessarily violent.

The common features of a psychopath and sociopath lie in their shared diagnosis — antisocial personality disorder. The DSM-5 defines antisocial personality as someone have 3 or more of the following traits:

1. Regularly breaks or flaunts the law

2. Constantly lies and deceives others
3. Is impulsive and doesn’t plan ahead
4. Can be prone to fighting and aggressiveness
5. Has little regard for the safety of others
6. Irresponsible, can’t meet financial obligations
7. Doesn’t feel remorse or guilt

Symptoms start before age 15, so by the time a person is an adult, they are well on their way to becoming a psychopath or sociopath.

Traits of a Psychopath

Psychology researchers generally believe that psychopaths tends to be born — that it’s a genetic predisposition — while sociopaths tend to be made by their environment. Psychopathy might be related to physiological brain differences. Research has shown psychopaths have underdeveloped components of the brain commonly thought to be responsible for emotion regulation and impulse control.

Psychopaths, in general, have a hard time forming real emotional attachments with others. Instead, they form artificial, shallow relationships designed to be manipulated in a way that most benefits the psychopath. People are seen as pawns to be used to forward the psychopath’s goals. Psychopaths rarely feel guilt regarding any of their behaviors, no matter how much they hurt others.

But psychopaths can often be seen by others as being charming and trustworthy, holding steady, normal jobs. Some even have families and seemingly-loving relationships with a partner. While they tend to be well-educated, they may also have learned a great deal on their own.

When a psychopath engages in criminal behavior, they tend to do so in a way that minimizes risk to themselves. They will carefully plan criminal activity to ensure they don’t get caught, having contingency plans in place for every possibility.

Psychopath Pop Culture Examples: Dexter, Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, Henry in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Patrick Bateman in American Psycho

Traits of a Sociopath

Researchers tend to believe that sociopathy is the result of environmental factors, such as a child or teen’s upbringing in a very negative household that resulted in physical abuse, emotional abuse, or childhood trauma.

Sociopaths, in general, tend to be more impulsive and erratic in their behavior than their psychopath counterparts. While also having difficulties in forming attachments to others, some sociopaths may be able to form an attachment to a like-minded group or person. Unlike psychopaths, most sociopaths don’t hold down long-term jobs or present much of a normal family life to the outside world.

When a sociopath engages in criminal behavior, they may do so in an impulsive and largely unplanned manner, with little regard for the risks or consequences of their actions. They may become agitated and angered easily, sometimes resulting in violent outbursts. These kinds of behaviors increase a sociopath’s chances of being apprehended.

Sociopath Pop Culture Examples: The Joker in The Dark Knight, JD in Heathers, Alex Delarge in A Clockwork Orange

Who is More Dangerous?

Both psychopaths and sociopaths present risks to society, because they will often try and live a normal life while coping with their disorder. But psychopathy is likely the more dangerous disorder, because they experience a lot less guilt connected to their actions.

A psychopath also has a greater ability to dissociate from their actions. Without emotional involvement, any pain that others suffer is meaningless to a psychopath. Many famous serial killers have been psychopaths.

Not all people we’d call a psychopath or sociopath are violent. Violence is not a necessary ingredient (nor is it for a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder) — but it is often present.

Clues to a Psychopath or Sociopath in Childhood

Clues to psychopathy and sociopathy are usually available in childhood. Most people who can later be diagnosed with sociopathy or psychopathy have had a pattern of behavior where they violate the basic rights or safety of others. They often break the rules (or even laws) and societal norms as a child, too.

Psychologists call these kinds of childhood behaviors a conduct disorder. Conduct disorders involve four categories of problem behavior:

• Aggression to people and animals

• Destruction of property
• Deceitfulness or theft
• Serious violations of rules

If you recognize these symptoms in a child or young teen, they’re at greater risk for antisocial personality disorder.

Summary

Psychopathy and sociopathy are different cultural labels applied to the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. Up to 3 percent of the population may qualify for a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. This disorder is more common amongst males and mostly seen in people with an alcohol or substance abuse problem, or in forensic settings such as prisons. Psychopaths tend to be more manipulative, can be seen by others as more charming, lead a semblance of a normal life, and minimize risk in criminal activities. Sociopaths tend to be more erratic, rage-prone, and unable to lead as much of a normal life. When sociopaths engage in criminal activity, they tend to do so in a reckless manner without regard to consequences.

Article Courtesy of Dr. John Grohol Founder & CEO, Psychology Central.

What Prevents People From Seeking Mental Health Treatment?

 

Like anything worthwhile, psychotherapy takes time and effort. And often just getting through the door can be tough.

How do you find a therapist? Where’s the best place to look? Isn’t it pricey? Do you even need to go?

You probably have a slew of questions with a side of skepticism and self-doubt. In fact, many hurdles can prevent people from seeking professional treatment.

Below, you’ll find specific obstacles that might stand in your way — and the solutions to overcome them.

Stigma

“People don’t hesitate telling acquaintances about a trip to their dentist or physician, but most stay quiet about their therapy appointment,” said Ryan Howes, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and professor in Pasadena, Calif. That’s because even though progress has been made, he said, there’s still stigma attached to seeking therapy.

“Many people feel embarrassed or ashamed of their symptoms because our society places illogical taboos on mental health issues over physical conditions,” said clinical psychologist Nikki Massey-Hastings, PsyD.

To dispel stigma, Deborah Serani, Psy.D, a clinical psychologist who’s struggled with depression, takes a two-step approach by educating others about mental illness and leading by example.

Specifically, she teaches what mental illness is and isn’t. “Mental illness is a combination of neurobiology and psychological influences, not a weakness in character,” said Serani, author of Living with Depression. She also shows “how with proper diagnosis and treatment that I live with depression successfully and have a meaningful life.”

Howes underscored that choosing to tackle issues head-on is the opposite of weak or “crazy.” It’s courageous, he said.

Severity

Many people aren’t sure what warrants a therapy session. But in reality most people wait until their symptoms are unbearable, Massey-Hastings said. For instance, many couples don’t see a therapist until their issues are deeply entrenched, she said. (Specifically, that’s usually when partners attack each other or withdraw from the relationship.)

“It is advisable to seek help when you first feel like you are ‘not yourself’ or have noticed mild to moderate symptoms that are interfering with your life such as difficulty sleeping, irritability or increased dissatisfaction with your relationship,” she said.

A therapist will assess your symptoms and determine severity, she said. They’ll verify if you have a clinical diagnosis and, if needed, conduct formal psychological testing “to quantify and parse apart symptoms that are shared among disorders,” she said. For instance, having difficulty concentrating can be a symptom of several anxiety disorders, ADHD, depression or relationship problems, she said.

Then the therapist will talk to you about treatment options, she said. In other words, they’ll provide you with a map to work through your issues, she added.

Getting Started

Again, many are unsure how or where to start. As Howes said, “Therapy may seem like a strange, foreign land to someone who’s never been.”

When starting your search, use Google keywords such as “find a therapist” in your preferred location. You also can search Psychology Central by location, and ask friends and family for recommendations.

Another option is to discuss your symptoms and next steps with your primary doctor. 

Time & Energy

The last thing you probably want to do after leaving work is rehash your problems. “Many of us are so tired from working hard and dealing with emotional stressors, there’s no energy left to talk through problems,” Howes said.

While this — like all the obstacles — is legitimate, with some effort, you can fine-tune your schedule, he said. “It’s possible that therapy can actually be a source of energy, not a drain.”

Money

Therapy can be costly. But you can find affordable treatment. For instance, many therapists offer services based on a sliding scale. Community mental health centers offer therapy at little or no cost, Howes said.

Consider the potential price of neglecting your problems and well-being, Howes said. He raised these critical questions: “How much does a lost job cost? A damaged relationship? A divorce? What price would you place on job satisfaction, achieving your potential, resolving past hurt and learning to accept yourself?”

Loved Ones

Well-meaning loved ones are another deterrent. “People suffering with symptoms may be told by well-meaning friends and family that they will get through it, that it’s just a phase, or they may provide well-meaning but deficient solutions,” according to Massey-Hastings. For instance, if you’re depressed, they might suggest exercising more, she said.

If you’d like to disclose your feelings to loved ones, pick the people you trust most and can truly talk to about these sensitive issues, she said. Also, figure out ahead of time how you’d like them to support you, she said.

“Schedule a private time with one or two of those people and try to share with them what you’ve been experiencing.” And communicate directly how they can help, she said.

“If you feel uncomfortable discussing your difficulties with family and friends, a therapist can help you figure out your boundaries around what information to share, how to communicate what you’d like to be known, and how to ask for support,” Massey-Hastings said.

Again, therapy is anything but easy, but it can help you ease your pain and create a healthier and more fulfilling life.

By Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. 

How to Ask For - And Accept - Help

How many times have you said to a friend or relative in need, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," and when you didn't hear back, fail to follow-up? I've lost count of the number of times I did just that—fail to follow-up when I didn't hear back from someone in need, even though I would have been happy to help in any way I could. Yet, despite this pattern in my own behavior, when I became chronically ill and didn't get back to people who offered to help, I decided that, because they failed to follow-up, their offers weren't sincere.

I learned otherwise quite by chance. A friend came to visit and showed me an exquisite handmade dress she'd just bought for her granddaughter at a local boutique. When I told her how much I loved it, she asked if I'd like to get one for my granddaughter. I said "sure," and before I could get "but I'm not able to go shopping" out of my mouth, she was out the door.

She returned shortly with the dress in two sizes for me to choose from. I picked one, wrote her a check and, when she left to go home, she took the one I didn't want back to the boutique. That made three trips for her to the same store that day.

When I got sick, was she one of the people who had said, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help"? Yes. But I'd never asked her to do anything. On that day, however, I saw in her face that going to get that dress was a gift from me to her. She can't restore my health, but she can buy a dress for me to give to my granddaughter, and doing it made her feel terrific.

Here's what I've learned about people who offer to help:

1. They're sincere in their offer: they mean it.

2. The responsibility falls on me, not on them, to follow-up.

3. The best way to take them up on their offer is to give them a specific task to do.

Numbers 1 and 2 are consistent with my experience when I was in a position to help others: I meant it but I rarely followed-up, sometimes because I got distracted and sometimes because I thought I might be bothering them.

As for number 3, friends and relatives aren't mind readers. We need to tell them what to do. I learned that from the "dress episode" with my friend.

And, the more specific the request, the better. "Can you help with my laundry every other week?" is more likely to be successful as a request than, "Can you help with my laundry sometimes?" even though your friend or relative is likely to say "yes" to both requests. The use of the word "sometimes" in the second request is likely to be a "set-up" for that lack of follow-up that we'll erroneously take as lack of sincerity on their part.

Many of us don't like to ask for help. We may have been taught that it's a sign of weakness, so we cling to the notion, "I can do everything myself," even if it's no longer the case.

I suggest you practice asking for help. Think of it as an experiment:

1. Make a list of what you need help with: particular errands, the laundry, some cooking, walking the dog, changing a light bulb, maybe even a shoulder to cry on.

2. Write down the names of friends and relatives who have offered to help, even if their offer was made quite awhile ago.

3. Match people with tasks based on their interests, their strengths, their time flexibility and your comfort level with them, given the intimacy of the particular task. A young neighbor may enjoy cooking for you once a week. I read about a woman who gets cooking help from a 10 year-old neighbor who has earned her Girl Scout cooking badge. We have a 12 year-old dog walker in our neighborhood.

4. Pick just one thing off the list and contact the person you've chosen. Be direct. So, instead of saying, "If I only knew someone who could take this coat to the cleaners," ask outright: "Can you take this coat to the cleaners for me? I'm not well enough to go out."

The person you've called or emailed is likely to be thrilled to finally be able to help. If you strike out, muster the courage to try again. You may think you're placing a burden on the person you've contacted, yet if you did the very same thing for that person, you wouldn't consider it a burden...so, go for it!

Article courtesy of Toni Bernhard   

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What a Valentine treat!

A workplace wellness program is a health promotion activity or organization-wide policy designed to support healthy behavior and improve health outcomes while at work. These programs consist of activities such as health education and coaching, weight management programs, medical screenings, on-site fitness programs, and more.

Wellness programs also include policies intended to facilitate employee health, including allowing time for exercise, providing on-site kitchens and eating areas, offering healthful food options in vending machines, holding "walk and talk" meetings, and offering financial and other incentives for participation. Effective workplace programs, policies, and environments that are health-focused and worker-centered have the potential to significantly benefit employers, employees, their families, and communities.

BasicNeeds Kenya within their larger mandate of mental health promotion, facilitates workplace wellness programmes. This year on Valentines day, Indepth Water Services and Management Ltd treated their staff with a wellness programme training. The programme is meant to promote health, increase productivity and workers motivation. 

Great Achievers Who Have Battled Mental Illness

Ever since the dawn civilization there have been constants of humanity that have served as a reminder of our equality. Sickness is one of them. No one is exempt from illness. Everyone, be it the rustic or the nobleman, is susceptible to depression on equal scale. Below is a list of notable figures who have battled depression or mental illness

1. Buzz Aldrin
    One of America’s pioneer astronauts lauded as the second man to walk on the moon in 1969, later suffered from depression and alcoholism. He worked his way through, and even served as chairman of the National Mental Health Association.
2. Ludwig van Beethoven
    When the composer died of liver failure in 1827, he had been self-medicating his many health problems with alcohol for decades. Sadly, much of what he may have suffered from probably could have been managed with today’s medications, including a serious case of bipolar disorder. Beethoven’s fits of mania were well known in his circle of friends, and when he was on a high he could compose numerous works at once. It was during his down periods that many of his most celebrated works were written. Sadly, that was also when he contemplated suicide, as he told his brothers in letters throughout his life. During the early part of 1813 he went through such a depressive period that he stopped caring about his appearance, and would fly into rages during dinner parties. He also stopped composing almost completely during that time.
3. Marlon Brando
    He is widely considered the greatest movie actor of all time, rivaled only by the more theatrically oriented Laurence Olivier in terms of esteem.The actor experienced chronic depression throughout his life and was diagnosed with clinical depression. his daughter Cheyenne lived with schizophrenia for several years.
4. Jim Carrey
   The sensational actor and comic openly discussed his history of depression and being on Prozac on “60 Minutes” in 2004. He said that he was subject to frequent mood swings. This has been characterized as manic depression or chronic depression. He also suffered from a near constant state of despair. He often suffered from great bouts of anger, many of which had some link to difficulties in his childhood. However, he said that he was able to channel these negative emotions and tendencies towards his comedic work.
5.  Winston Churchill
    Anthony Storr wrote about Winston Churchill’s bipolar disorder in “Churchill's Black Dog, Kafka's Mice, and Other Phenomena of the Human Mind.” Like Lincoln, Churchill was a great leader dealing not only with international strife but his own mental struggles at the same time. In his 30s, he complained to his friends that he was hounded by the “black dog of depression.” He sat in the Houses of Parliament and contemplated suicide. Churchill told his doctor that he had to be careful where he stood in a train station:
   
   “I don't like standing near the edge of a platform when an express train is passing through,” he told his doctor. “I like to stand right back and if possible get a pillar between me and the train. I don't like to stand by the side of a ship and look down into the water. A second's action would end everything. A few drops of desperation.”
6. Kurt Godel
   Gödel was a brilliant logician and mathematician, as well as a contemporary and great friend of Albert Einstein. Einstein’s super-intelligence might have made him seem a little odd to the average person, but he doesn’t seem to have suffered from any actual mental illnesses. Gödel, on the other hand, thought that someone was out to poison him. He was so sure of this delusion, especially later in life, that he would only eat food that his wife had cooked, and usually made her taste it first, just to be sure. When his wife was hospitalized for six months, Gödel simply stopped eating and starved to death.
7. Charles Dickens
   Charles Dickens depression was documented in the book "Key to Genius." By his early 30s, Dickens was the most famous author in the world. He was wealthy and seemed to have it all. But after an unbelievably difficult childhood, which saw the author working in a boot factory and living on his own when his father was thrown in prison, Dickens would start falling into depressions with the start of each new novel. The first one to cause him problems was one of his lesser-known works, The Chimes, in 1844. After that, Dickens’ friends wrote that he became down every time he set to work on a new project, but that his mood would gradually lift until he was in a kind of mania by the time he finished. His depression worsened with age, and he eventually separated from his wife – the mother of his ten children – to live with an 18-year-old actress. After he was involved in a train crash four years before his death, in which he was uninjured but was forced to assist dying passengers before help came, his depression seems to have finally staunched his creativity, and his previously prolific output virtually ceased.
8.  Abraham Lincoln
   President Abraham Lincoln’s first major depression happened in his 20s and he struggled with it for the remainder of his life, in addition to anxiety attacks.The Great Emancipator managed to lead the country through one of its more trying times, despite suffering from severe depression most of his life. According to one Lincoln biographer, letters left by the president’s friends referred to him as “the most depressed person they've ever seen.” On at least one occasion, he was so overcome with “melancholy” that he collapsed. Both his mother and numerous members of his father’s family exhibited similar symptoms of severe depression, indicating he was probably biologically susceptible to the illness.
9. MichelangeloYou might have wondered in the past just how someone could paint something as huge as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. According to a paper published in the Journal of Medical Biography in 2004, Michelangelo’s single-minded routine may have been due to the disorder. According to descriptions by his contemporaries, the painter was “preoccupied with his own reality.” Most of the male members of his family are recorded to have exhibited similar symptoms. Michelangelo also seems to have had difficulty forming relationships with people; he had few friends and didn’t even attend his brother’s funeral. All of this, combined with his obvious genius in math and art, led the researchers to believe that today Michelangelo would be considered high functioning on the autism spectrum.
10. Isaac Newton
    One of the greatest scientists of all time is also the hardest genius to diagnose, but historians agree he had a lot going on. Newton suffered from huge ups and downs in his moods, indicating bipolar disorder, combined with psychotic tendencies. His inability to connect with people could place him on the autism spectrum. He also had a tendency to write letters filled with mad delusions, which some medical historians feel strongly indicates schizophrenia. Whether he suffered from one or a combination of these serious illnesses, they did not stop him from inventing calculus, explaining gravity, and building telescopes, among his other great scientific achievements.
     
11. Leo Tolstoy
    The author of “War and Peace,” started experiencing depression while writing “Anna Karenina. Tolstoy did not suffer from obvious signs of depression until middle age, but when it hit him, it hit hard. He went through serious personality changes, questioning virtually everything in his life. At times he debated giving away all of his possessions, becoming celibate, and the nature of his religious beliefs (or lack thereof). At one point he was determined to give up writing altogether, saying, "art is not only useless but even harmful.” Tolstoy is a perfect example of someone who seemingly has everything brought low by this disease: despite coming from a wealthy family, being celebrated as an author, and being father to 13 children, eventually his demons drove him to seriously consider suicide. He wrote in one letter, “The possibility of killing himself has been given to man, and therefore he may kill himself.” Eventually Tolstoy pulled himself out of this hole by becoming what we would now consider a born-again Christian.
12. Virginia Woolf
    The English author, feminist essayist and publisher famous for among others - Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse suffered from Bipolar II disorder. She had vivid memories that had an influence on her writing. Deaths of her mother followed later by her step-sister and father thrust her into depression. She drowned herself in March 1941.
13.  Stephen Hawking
    The famed theoretical physicist was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Syndrome when he was just 20. the disease has confined him to a wheelchair and communication via a computer. He outlived his doctors prognosis of 2 years and is today celebrated for his numerous contributions in quantum physics.
14.  Jack Kerouac
     Before his writing career took off, the novelist and poet, considered an American literary iconoclast, had served in the Navy where he had been diagnosed with "dementia praecox" an antiquated term for Schizophrenia. The reply to his doctor was "as far as I'm concerned, I get nervous in an emotional way" He died after alcohol destroyed his liver. 

Information Courtesy of Mental Floss