Depression is characterized by on-going sadness; loss of interest in things you normally enjoy; difficulty sleeping or oversleeping; changes in body weight; physical slowing or agitation; loss of energy; feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt; difficulty thinking or concentrating; and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

(March 30, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolarrestfact.cfm)

Hypomania is not as intense or overwhelming a feeling as mania, but it shares many of the same characteristics with actual mania. It can be summarized by the following quote: “At first when I’m high, it’s tremendous…ideas are fast…like shooting stars you follow until brighter ones appear….all shyness disappears, t

In 1998, Danielle Steele, a well-known writer, published a book about the life of her son, Nick Traina. Nick suffered from bi-polar disorder and his creative and inspiring life ended in his suicide at the age of nineteen. Nick was a writer, a poet, a song-writer, a musician and a person ravaged with the affects of bi-polar disorder. His life was filled with mood swings, drugs, alcohol and restlessness until the time of his death.

In a third study, Arnold M. Ludwig,of the University of Kentucky, published an extensive biographical survey of 1,005 famous 20th century artists, writers and other professionals. Some of these individuals had been in treatment for mood disorders. The study lasted approximately 10 years. From the study, he discovered that the artist and writers experienced two to three times the rate of psychosis, suicide attempts, mood disorders and substance abuse than did comparably successful people in business, science and the general public. It was found that the poets had most often been manic or psychotic and hospitalized; they also proved to be some 18 times more likely to commit suicide than the general public. Ludwig concluded that “members of the artistic professions or creative arts as a whole suffer from more types of mental difficulties and do so over longer periods of their lives than members of other professions.” (Ludwig, 38-42)

An increasingly asked question concerning bi-polar disorder is whether there is a link between the illness and creativity. Many creative people, both historically and currently, are known to have bi-polar disorder. Vincent Van Gogh, who produced all of his artistic works in a 10 year period, was hospitalized numerous times for the illness and eventually shot himself to death at the age of 37. During one of his manic episodes, Van Gogh cut off his ear. Many people remember this as a part of who he was but probably did not know the cause of his mania. There are many others, such as Edgar Allan Poe – who attempted suicide in his lifetime; Georgia O’Keefe – who was hospitalized for her illness; Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain – both who died of suicide. The list is long and growing. Today, there are numerous celebrities, artists and musicians who are doing interviews, writing articles and writing books to talk about their experiences with the illness.

Mania is often said to be a step beyond hypomania. Symptoms include abnormally and persistently elevated (high) mood, or irritability, occurring with at least three of the following: overly-inflated self-esteem; decreased need for sleep; increased talkativeness; racing thoughts; distractibility, increased goal-directed activity or physical agitation; and excessive involvement in risky behaviors or activities (e.g. unwise spending sprees, reckless driving, sexual affairs).

Patty Duke, a well-known actress, co-wrote a book with Gloria Hochman i

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