Ludwig van Beethoven

Arguably the most influential composer of all time, Beethoven’s genius has been recognised in his monumental symphonies and heartbreaking sonatas, especially when you take into account that this former child prodigy was deaf as a post. He also kept an account of his life and thoughts through many letters which many experts believe contain reveal evidence that Beethoven suffered from manic depression.

"I joyfully hasten to meet death," Beethoven wrote as his deafness grew more profound, "...for will it not deliver me from endless suffering?" Also in an 1801 letter to a friend he referred to a period of depression lasting two years. In 1816, he wrote: "During the last six weeks my health has been so shaky, so that I often think of death, but without fear..."

Aside from the lows, there are historical accounts of Beethoven’s apparent mania igniting spontaneous outbursts of creativity, playing his piano violently for hours, frantically scribbling on walls if there was no paper to hand.

Seasons can often affect mental illness and friends of Beethoven recorded that winter depressions caused him to shut down while summers brought on periods of intense activity. As a friend noted: "He composes, or was unable to compose, according to the moods of happiness, vexation or sorrow." He died aged 56 a troubled genius, but with a legacy that shall endure forever.

Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron has since become synonymous with decadence and romantic poetry, but this dashing Georgian Englishman was also a troubled soul and many have attributed bipolar disorder as being one of the key factors in influencing the often-controversial way he lived his life.

“We of the craft are all crazy” Byron himself commented of himself and his fellow poets. “Some are affected by gaiety, others by melancholy, but all are more or less touched”. In his life he wrote a great many poems that reflect his apparent bipolarity. “Nature stampt me in the Die of Indifference,” he once wrote, “I consider myself as destined never to be happy, although in some instances fortunate. I am an isolated Being on the Earth, without a Tie to attach me to Life”

Winston Churchill

He has been recently voted the greatest ever Briton in a national poll, but we now know that the Conservative Prime Minister who led our country during the Second World War suffered from severe depression.

Churchill himself often referred to depression as his "black dog", while biographers have written about eyewitness accounts of times when Churchill underwent manic phases of intense productivity. Interestingly however, none of these writers claimed that he was actually bipolar.

In 2006 a controversial statue of Churchill wearing a straitjacket was unveiled in Norwich in an attempt to highlight the stigma of mental health problems, but three days later it was taken down due to public outcry. It has recently been suggested that Churchill in fact suffered from a form of manic depression called Cyclothymia.

Ernest Hemingway

This larger than life American journalist and novelist was one of the most important writers of the Twentieth Century. His writing style proved vastly influential with fans ranging from James Joyce and Jack Kerouac to Brett Easton Ellis and Elmore Leonard. However at the age of 61 he ended it all, taking a double barrel shotgun to his forehead and blowing his brains out.

Reasons for this suicide are largely attributed to manic depression and it is widely recorded that was treated with electroshock therapy for his condition. Sadly he later credited this to his self-proclaimed memory loss which only made the situation worse, culminating in Hemmingway deciding that he no longer wanted to live.

Often bipolar depression is hereditary this may be reflected in the fact that other members of Hemingway's immediate family also committed suicide, including his father, his siblings Ursula and Leicester, and possibly his granddaughter Margaux Hemingway. Some believe however that Hemingway’s family had the hereditary disease haemochromatosis, defined by excess of iron in the blood causing depression or mental instability.

Spike Milligan

Milligan was described by comedian Eddie Izzard as “the Godfather of alternative comedy” and he may be right. His creation of The Goon Show radio series was truly unique and his many hilarious sketches, poems and novels highlight a feverishly creative genius with a warped insight into the way the world worked and how utterly ridiculous life often was.

It’s no surprise then to learn that Milligan, who died aged 83 was plagued by bipolar disorder throughout his life, about which he has openly spoken. Even though The Goon Show proved a total success, he has commented that "I was so ill when I was writing them that I was in a mental home three or four times, and they broke up my first marriage."

"I had to write a new show every week for six months. If Hitler had done that to someone it would be called torture. I was in such a state of hypertension that I was unapproachable by human beings, and I became a manic depressive." In fact, so severe was his condition that he could only function by being drugged up on lithium, a drug with many side effects.

Brian Wilson

Founder member of The Beach Boys, Wilson is best known as the lead songwriter, bassist, and singer of The Beach Boys, as well as being the band's main producer, composer and arranger. Their 1966 album Pet Sounds, which was effectively a Brian Wilson solo project, is widely regarded as one of the most influential popular music records ever released.

A perfectionist and utterly obsessive, Wilson was also blighted by bi-polar mental illness. Unable to handle criticism and constantly dogged by the fear of failure, Wilson became a recluse, unable to perform live and he was forced to leave his own band.

During his second marriage Wilson was diagnosed with “schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type” which as well as causing states of mania and depression, it supposedly caused him to hear voices in his head. His condition was made worse by the fact that he often sought solace by taking psychotropic drugs. Today Wilson functions, tours and writes, but he can only do so because antidepressants keep him functioning at a more socially acceptable level.