Well Known Friends: Great achievers in history and bipolar disorder

I know I've already written about this before, but I just happened on another long list of brilliant minds who were, or are thought to be bipolar.

In history, Alexander The Great, Napoleon, and the horrifyingly evil Adolph Hitler were bipolar. Aristotle, who is considered to be the father of science and Sir Issac Newton were bipolar.

Among the great artists you already know were bi-polar, you can also include Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso.

If you're all knocked out by money, you have Ted Turner for a hero.

Where ever you are, what ever you are doing, it is good to know you are hardly a loser because you have bipolar disorder. Many of us know how useful a manic state can be for getting things done. I know of many of you who are high achievers in your chosen professions.

If it had not been for my mania, I might not have made it through, what I made into, a grueling educational process. Had I not been manic, I couldn't have handled everything on my plate as a wife and mother. Were it not for my manic depression, I wouldn't have known how strong I can be.

I have concluded being bipolar is not even a "mixed blessing." It's far from a curse. I think I was born with genes that made me likely to develop this disorder because I wanted it that way. I think I signed up for it. I truly do.