Lincoln's Melancholy

[Linda Anderson]

(10-10-2016 11:58 AM)Rob Wick Wrote:  I think people sometimes get too hung up on the pejorative nature of the term "mentally ill." Mental illness is in reality a continuum that can range from mild depression all the way to a psychosis that would require someone to be institutionalized against their will. Many of the various conditions described as mental illness can be successfully treated with medicine and therapy or a combination of the two. To say that one suffers, or suffered, from mental illness isn't to say that person no longer is a valued or productive member of society. Of course, there's also a legal definition of the term insanity which may or may not conform to the clinical definition...

So, to sum up, it does the memory of Lincoln no violence to say he suffered from mental illness or clinical depression. On the continuum I spoke of, I think a strong case can be made for a mild form of clinical depression. And I also agree with Roger's earlier point that during Lincoln's presidency instances of this were rare. Yet think about it--what else could have focused Lincoln's mind so intently then guiding the country through the Civil War?

Best
Rob

I agree, Rob. So many people who have suffered from depression have accomplished wonderful things in their lives in spite of, or as a way of coping with, their depression. The list includes Winston Churchill, William Styron and J.K. Rowling.

Here's an article titled "Does Being Seriously Depressed Make You a Better Leader?" which mentions Lincoln.

"Yes, when times get tough. Even being mentally ill can help. That’s according to Nassir Ghaemi, a Tufts University psychiatry professor, in an article in The Wall Street Journal adapted from his new book, A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness. He says mentally healthy people make fine leaders when times are good and the challenges are easy, but 'in times of crisis and tumult, those who are mentally abnormal, even ill, become the greatest leaders. We might call this the Inverse Law of Sanity.'"

http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickall...e0acf62625