There Are Many Famous People With Manic Depression

By Dana Zarcone

Surprisingly enough, there are many famous people with manic depression. There are certainly more people around than many of us know who have been affected by depression. One of the major issues with depression is that we often think we're all alone. Famous people with manic depression and depression are out there. It's not just you and the rest of the "ordinary" people who suffer.
The reality is that those with some of the most creative and artistic minds suffer from depression and some physicians have tried to connect that personality type, with a bent toward depression. If you're suffering from depression or you have considered that you might be depressed, then you are certainly in very good company.
Many of the most creative and the most intelligent people on earth have suffered from depression, manic depression, or bipolar disorder at one point or another in their life. The secret to continuing, to moving forward in many cases is to get some help dealing with something that may be too difficult to deal with alone.
Depression can affect anyone. Simply having plenty of money, or a lot of friends, or a great deal of support, does not mean that you will never suffer from depression. While it may be slightly uncomfortable for many of us to admit that we have a mental disorder, it's no different from any other garden variety of illness. You can treat it effectively, and you should! Talking to someone about your feelings is the first step in getting the help that you may need to manage your depression. Seeking out help is the first step toward conquering your depression and getting back to enjoying your life. Still think it feels lonely?
Here are just a few of some of the famous people that you may know who have suffered from depression over long periods of time:
Russell Brand, actor and comedian
Kurt Cobain, musician and band member
Rosemary Clooney, actress and musician/singer
Patricia Cornwell, famous crime author
Richard Dreyfuss, actor and star of Jaws movies and Mr. Holland's Opus
Patty Duke Astin, actress and spokesperson
Carrie Fisher, Star Wars actress
Abbie Hoffman, Political activist
Jack Irons, Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers Musician
Kay Redfield Jamison, noted psychologist and Psychiatry professor of Johns Hopkins (tried to get a connection to creativity and bipolar disorder introduced into psychiatry)
Kerry Katona, Television celebrity and pop singer for Atomic Kitten Margot Kidder, Actress
Vivien Leigh, Actress
Patrick Kroupa, famous hacker and writer
Kristy McNichol, Child and adult actress
Burgess Meridith, Penguin on Batman, noted actor
Florence Nightingale, famous nurse and health care worker.(heard voices and had several severe bouts with depression)
Sinéad O'Connor-singer, famed for her rude behavior and mistreatment of others
Ozzy Osbourne, singer.
Jane Pauley, television journalist
Edgar Allan Poe, noted poet and author of some very gloomy books
Margaret Trudeau, wife of former Canadian Prime minister and celebrity
Jean-Claude Van Damme, noted French actor
Vincent Van Gogh, artist
Pete Wentz, musician
In some cases, their battles with depression were lost, resulting in death from drug overdoses and/or suicide. However, in most cases, these people got help, and went on to do amazing things with their lives and so can you! You can defeat your illness and enjoy life.

Dana Zarcone is a National Certified Counselor. She created www.depression-test.net to assist those suffering with depression. Learn about manic depression by referencing her site.

Help To Overcome Claustrophobia

By Roseanna Leaton

Any phobia causes unnecessary discomfort, some more so than others. To suffer from a phobia means to experience abject fear in certain circumstances. In the case of claustrophobia this means that small or enclosed spaces are what constitute those circumstances.
Each individual will experience their fear in their own unique way. Some people who suffer from claustrophobia just cannot find a way in which to sit in the back seat of a car whilst others couldn't sit in a car at all. Other claustrophobia sufferers feel just fine in a car but are severely affected in rooms where they cannot find a seat close to the exit, such as in a theatre, cinema, church or auditorium.
Different people have different triggers to their phobia. But no matter what those triggers are the resulting feeling is that of discomfort and fear. The degree to which this is felt is also unique to the individual. Some people simply cannot do certain things, like get onto an airplane or into a car. Others can make themselves do it, albeit with heart pounding and breaking out in a cold sweat.
Logic tells the phobia sufferer that there is no need to be afraid, that they should feel fine and that there is nothing scary about these spaces and places. But logic and emotional experience seem to have the same inability to blend together as does oil and water.
You know how you should feel, but terror seems to wash over you like a tidal wave from nowhere. It just happens automatically, instinctively and subconsciously. You don't have to think about it. It just happens.
Your conscious mind thinks whilst your subconscious mind acts instinctively. The subconscious mind takes in perceptions about the environment in less than the blink of an eye and immediately links those perceptions to past experiences and pre-formed subconscious expectations.
Your subconscious mind is on "high alert" for anything that might be threatening or uncomfortable. Thus is anything in the current perceptive field creates a pattern match to something that has been uncomfortable in the past, it will trigger a chain of events that is probably all too familiar to you. Fear, discomfort, panic or terror sets in. This all happens before your logical mind has a split second to control what is happening.
Therefore to find a cure for a phobia you need to find a way in which to access your subconscious mind. Hypnosis fits the bill in an easy and natural way.
Hypnosis is a natural state of relaxation that allows you to access your subconscious mind. With hypnosis you can make suggestions to temper the automatic response that is causing you discomfort. You can in this way call a halt to the previous chain reaction that swept you into the throes of panic.
Hypnosis can in fact provide an extremely efficient and effective cure to phobias. It is something that many people do not think about but you might like to do a little research and see for yourself how and why it can work for you.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis phobia mp3 downloads.
P.S. Discover how you can focus your mind with hypnosis. Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website now.

Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from RoseannaLeaton.com and check out her library of hypnosis downloads and help cure claustrophobia.

What Does "Mental Illness" Actually Mean?

By Bradley Gordon

 

What kind of person do you picture when you hear the word "schizophrenic"? How would you react if you found out your best friend had a personality disorder?
What if someone suggested that YOU might have an anger management problem?
Unfortunately, most of the world hasn't yet realized that "mentally ill" does not translate into "crazy".
Many people suffer from the devastating effects of a mental health issue. In fact, studies show that up to 40% of the world experiences a mental health issue at some point in their lives.
So according to statistics, you know a LOT of people who are living with a mental illness. Maybe a small percentage of them are receiving treatment, but chances are the majority is too ashamed to seek diagnosis. Too many people consider "mental illness" to be a label synonymous with words such as "insane" or "unstable".
One of the most common reactions to a mental illness is to feel ashamed of it. Many people fear that they are at fault for the onset of the disorder. And while certain lifestyle choices and personality types can help to stimulate a mental illness, it's important to realize that a mental illness is almost always a result of an ungoverned chemical imbalance in the brain.
Perhaps the untreated mentally ill population doesn't realize how simple treatment can be. In many cases, a simple prescription will work wonders in the brain - rebalancing the hormones which are causing the problem.
A mental illness shouldn't be any more embarrassing than a physical one! After all, the root cause is a physiological malfunction of hormones in the brain - just as the root cause of diabetes is a physiological defect relating to the production of insulin.
There are thousands of people in the world right now who are unnecessarily suffering through the overwhelming symptoms of a mental illness. Are you one of them?
You could easily be subject to a chemical imbalance in your brain and not realize!
Do you ever feel as though you are not in control of your emotions? Does stress ever seem so overwhelming that you would rather give up on a situation than persevere? Do you ever find yourself worrying about situations that other people disregard as unnecessary? Do people call you paranoid, or ever accuse you of over thinking everything?
It's important to take into consideration that certain personality types may show symptoms of mental illnesses without actually having them. However, it is estimated that thousands of mental illnesses are left undiagnosed and untreated. You may be suffering from a mental health issue and not even realize.
Whether or not you think you are currently at risk for a mental illness, it is crucial that you take steps to strengthen your mind. You may not be aware of how intimately your physical health affects your mental health - but the connection is undeniable! Keeping your body healthy means keeping your mind healthy.
By keeping your mind healthy, you are being responsible to both yourself and your loved ones.
DON'T let the stigma associated with a mental health issue continue to disturb your life.
DO make an effort to reverse the discouraging and misled conception of mental health.
Start by restructuring your understanding of "mental illness". It doesn't mean "crazy".
It means "sick".
It means "treatable".

It's time to Understand Your Health. Our website places a heavy focus on mental health. Educate yourself on mental health issues in order to put an end to the misconceptions. In addition, learn more about how you can protect yourself from, or live with a mental illness.