CELEBRITIES WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS

Drew Carrey makes a living from being television's Average Joe. Today, he talks about being the Average Joe with depression, a condition revealed in a recent book. Depression twice drove the comedian to attempt suicide, he told a group of doctors gathered for the 10th Mood Disorder Research/Education Symposium at Johns Hopkins University. "I was outside of this fraternity house, and everyone was partying and having a great time.," Carrey said, describing his first attempt while a student at Penn State University. "The happier they got, the more miserable I got...I hated everybody, I hated myself, and thought life had been wasted on someone like me...So I found a jar of sleeping pills and woke in the hospital."

"X-Files" star Gillian Anderson disclosed in a Movieline magazine interview in 1998 that she has wrestled with depression. "I've been in psychotherapy steadily since I was 14," Anderson said, acknowledging crippling bouts of depression, even while working on her television show.

Before her own fame, singer songwriter Sheryl Crow scratched out a living doing studio work and fell into a deep depression while isolating herself to concentrate on her song writing, at the urging of Don Henley, according to the September 12, 1994, edition of People. She grew so despondent she could barely get out of bed for a six-month stretch. She sought treatment, and within two months, she says, talk therapy and antidepressants 'jump-started me out of my blackness.'"

Television newsman Mike Wallace's depression first revealed itself after Gen. William Westmoreland named him in a $120 million libel suit against CBS News. Wallace had anchored a 1982 documentary that charged the general with rigging estimates of troop strength during the Vietnam War. An 18-week trial ensued in 1984. Even after diagnosis, Wallace kept his illness a secret. "I just did not want people to know my vulnerability," Wallace said in the book "On the Edges of Darkness: Conversations about Conquering Depression" by Kathy Cronkite. "It was a confession of weakness. For years, depression meant the crazy house. As I look back at it, it just seems damned foolishness. Really, really damned foolishness. Which is one reason I talk about it now." Here is a list of other celebrities who have publicly stated that they have experienced depression in their lives: Louie Anderson, Oksana Baiul, Halle Berry, Marlon Brando, Dick Clark, Ellen Degeneres, Harrison Ford, Sarah Ferguson, Anthony Hopkins, Janet Jackson, Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul Simon, Monica Seles, Bonnie Raitt, Donny & Marie Osmond, Dolly Parton, Joan Rivers, Roseanne, Ozzy Osbourne, Sinead O'Connor, Alanis Morisette, Jim Carrey, Ashley Judd and Courtney Love.

Taken from the website: http://www.amarillonet.com/

  A growing number of celebrities are going public with their battles with mental illness. Many famous people have lived with serious mental illnesses, including:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The revered 16th U.S. president suffered from severe and incapacitating depressions that occasionally led to thoughts of suicide.

VIRGINIA WOOLF
The famous British novelist experienced the mood swings associated with bipolar disorder.

LIONEL ALDRIDGE
Legendary player of the Green Bay Packers suffered from schizophrenia in the 1970s.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
The brilliant composer experienced bipolar disorder.

VASLOV NIJINSKY
The dancer documented his battle with schizophrenia in his autobiography.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
The famous playwright suffered from clinical depression.

VINCENT VAN GOGH
The celebrated artist is believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder.

WINSTON CHURCHILL
The leader of Britain during the Battle of Britain is believed to have had bipolar disorder.

PATTY DUKE
The Academy Award-winning actress told of her bipolar disorder in her auto biography.

CHARLES DICKENS
One of the greatest authors in the English language suffered from clinical depression.

Source: National Alliance for the Mentally Ill