You're in good company: famous achiev... - Anxiety and Depre...

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You're in good company: famous achievers throughout history have experienced anxiety and/or depression.

Jeff1943 profile image
16 Replies

If Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Sigmund Freud were alive today they'd probably be on this forum. They're just three famous movers and shifters who achieved success despite mental disorders. I've listed a few more below.

There's been this feeling that anxiety and depression was a 'weakness' rather than a normal response to anxiety overload. So we hid it from the people we worked for, our friends and neighbours. I know I did, it's only recently I've told people I've known for years.

We thought bosses would think us unreliable and wouldn't want to employ us. But it seems some of the biggest achievers, both historical and contemporary, had the same problems and it never held them back. So it shouldn't hold any of us back either. Am I right or am I right.

Abraham Lincoln, President.

Winston Churchill, War Leader.

Vincent Van Gogh, Painter.

Isaac Newton, Scientist.

Wolfgang Mozart, Music Composer.

Charles Darwin, Scientist.

Michelangelo, Artist.

Julius Caesar, Emperor.

Lord Alfred Tennyson, Poet.

Aretha Franklin, Singer.

Burt Reynolds, Actor.

Charlotte Bronte, Author.

Winifrey Oprah, TV host.

David Bowie, Singer.

Elizabeth Taylor, Actress.

John Steinbeck, Author.

Kate Moss, Supermodel.

Naomi Campbell, Supermodel.

Nicola Tesler, Inventor.

David Beckham, Soccer Star.

Charles Dickens, Author.

I've left a space above for your name to appear in 🤔.

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Jeff1943 profile image
Jeff1943
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16 Replies

I read recently that Lincoln had bad anxiety!

jklm1983 profile image
jklm1983 in reply to

Lincoln is also thought to have suffered from deep depression throughout his life.

Tinkynutbug profile image
Tinkynutbug

Thank you sir.

Agora1 profile image
Agora1

We are in good company..

Thanks Jeff1943 :)

teemo1 profile image
teemo1

This does make me feel better!

JAYnLA profile image
JAYnLA

This actually does make me feel better as well. Thank you!

Calm_mama profile image
Calm_mama

Emma Stone, Dwayne Johnson (the Rock), Michael Phelps, Ariana Grande, LOGIC (Robert Bryson Hall II), Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Adele, Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Brooke Shields, Adam Duritz, JK Rowling, Sarah Silverman, Demi Lovato, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jon Hamm, Johnny Depp, Brandon Marshall, There are more :) Oh no we are NOT alone- Thank GOD these people in the limelight are talking about this stuff and making it OK to be a human being!! TY for the awesome post Jeff!!

Jeff1943 profile image
Jeff1943 in reply toCalm_mama

Thanks for adding some more contemporary names to the list. One begins to wonder if there's anybody in the public gaze who isn't experiencing anxiety or depression.

Kkimm profile image
Kkimm in reply toCalm_mama

Thanks for adding some more to this great post!

Justbreathe1 profile image
Justbreathe1

This makes me feel so much comfort!! Thank you for the reminder!

9everton profile image
9everton

Thank you Jeff

Kkimm profile image
Kkimm

Great post Jeff.

Can I add Sylvia Plath poet, Virginia Woolf author........ etc, etc

Kim

Thank you for sharing ! X

Ooh I feel good about myself now lol thanks!

jklm1983 profile image
jklm1983

My dad emailed me just today to say he is reading a book about Harry Truman and Truman suffered from anxiety as a Senator, VP, and President.

Also, the golfer Bubba Watson.

Gazza01 profile image
Gazza01

Sorry for the resurrection but Spike Milligan had a terrible time with depression and would lock himself away for days. Churchill called his depression 'the black dog'

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