Celebrities people can have all the same illnesses as non-famous people. This includes bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive disorder. The disorder is marked by depressed periods punctuated by manic or high periods. These swings may also include normal mood periods. The mental illness is treatable with medications and therapy.
Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett, the British actor who brought Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes to television, was diagnosed with manic depressive disorder. According to TheBrettishEmpire.com, Brett was hospitalized after the death of his wife, Joan Wilson, with what was called a nervous breakdown. He was then diagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with medication. Many consider him the definitive Sherlock Holmes, and he had more screen time as the famous sleuth than any other actor to date. Brett died in 1995 at the age of 62.
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain, who rose to fame as the voice of his generation with his band Nirvana, suffered from both attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder, according to his cousin, Beverly Cobain. Beverly is a registered nurse who recounted his diagnoses in her book "When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens." During Nirvana's meteoric rise with the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Kurt Cobain became a heroin addict and took his own life April 5, 1994.
Patty Duke
Patty Duke is an actress who has been open about her bipolar disorder. She received an Oscar for her role in "The Miracle Worker" about Helen Keller, and had her own TV show. She made two more versions of "The Miracle Worker" and also acted often with John Astin of "The Addams Family" while they were married. Her son, Sean Astin, played Samwise Gamgee in "The Lord of the Rings" films. Duke is an advocate for those with bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.
Edgar Allan Poe
The originator of the modern mystery story, Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his macabré tales of fright and horror, including "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." Poe may be one of the more obvious bipolar disorder sufferers as his dark periods resound in much of his literature. His manic phases were marked by his work output. Along with his fiction, Poe also produced poetry such as "The Raven," served as a magazine editor and was well known for his literary criticism. He died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 40.
