Famous People with Stress and Anxiety Disorders

If you suffer from stress and anxiety disorders, you are not alone. Many famous people also suffered or have suffered from the same or similar illness. Various surveys and studies have supported our experts' claim that the illnesses of anxiety, depression and nervousness are not purely a mental or thought issue, but closely associated with the bodily process problems.

A survey shows that 49% (18 out of 37) of US Presidents from 1776 to 1974 suffered from mental disorder. The most common disorders are depression (24%), anxiety (8%), bipolar disorder (8%), and alcohol abuse/dependence (8%). ¹

Another study by Dr. John Hughes reviews 43 historical figures ranging from Pythagoras (582-500 BC) to the actor Richard Burton (1925-1984), and indicates that 59% of them had mental illness, including psychogenic attacks (26%), anxiety and nervousness attacks (21%), and alcohol withdrawal seizures (12%). Additionally, 40% of those famous people had severe health problems in their childhood. ²

Even many of very influential people (e.g., top 100) in the world were inescapable from anxiety and depression attacks. ³ Among those sufferers are:

Abraham Lincoln (the 16^th President of the US, suffered from severe and incapacitating depressions with occasional thoughts of suicide)

Albert Einstein (one of the greatest scientists and the founder of Relativity theory, suffered from bad memory and possibly, OCD)

Alexander, the Great (an ancient Greek king of Macedon and one of the most successful military commanders in history, suffered from depression)

Charles Darwin (famous naturalist and the founder of Evolution theory, suffered from panic disorder and possibly, OCD)

George Washington (the first US President, suffered from depression)

Isaac Newton (the greatest English mathematician of his generation and one of the greatest scientists in the world, suffered from 'nervous breakdown' and severe depression)

Joseph Stalin (leader of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953, suffered from manic depression)

Leo Tolstoy (one of greatest writers and the author of War and Peace, suffered from severe depression)

Leonardo da Vinci (one of the greatest artists/painters all time, suffered from depression)

Ludwig van Beethoven (one of the greatest composers, suffered from bipolar disorder)

Mao Zedong (the founder of People's Republic of China, suffered from anxiety disorder)

Martin Luther (Protestant leader and church reformer in the 16^th century, suffered from depression)

Michelangelo (one of the greatest artists of all time, suffered from depression and OCD)

Muhammad Ali (boxing champion, suffered from aerophobic-a fear of flying)

Napoleon Bonaparte (French military and political leader in the 18^th century with significant impact on modern European history, suffered from manic depression and ailurophobia-a fear of cats)

Ronald Reagan (the 40^th US President, suffered from aerophobic-a fear of flying)

Sigmund Freud (Austrian neurologist and psychologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, suffered from panic disorder)

Vincent van Gogh (one of the greatest artists/painters, suffered from bipolar)

Winston Churchill (British Prim Minister during WWII, suffered from bipolar disorder)

Notes:

1. Davidson, J.R.T., Connor, K.M. & Swartz, M. (2006), 'Mental illness in U.S. Presidents between 1776 and 1974: A review of biographical sources', Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 194 (1): 47-51)

2. Martin, J. (2005), 'Rewriting history: Did all those famous people really have epilepsy?', Epilepsy.com)

3. The top 100 people sources are from Time magazine, Life magazine, and Michael H. Hart's book (1992) The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential person in History, New York: Citadel Press Book.