There use to be a certain stigma associated with mental problems in our country.
The truth is that most of us, if not all of us, have suffered from some type of mental problem at one time or another.
Here is a famous person who struggled in this area during his lifetime. Be sure to follow the links for more information on this subject.
Robert Burns (1759 – 1796)
Robert Burns is regarded as Scotland’s National Poet. Debts, chronic physical illness, and domestic troubles led to Burns ‘nervous disease’ and he addressed Alexander Cunningham thus:
“Canst thou minister to a mind diseased? Canst thou speak peace and rest to a soul tost on a sea of troubles without one friendly star to guide her course, and dreading that the next surge may overwhelm her? Canst thou give a frame, trembling alive as the tortures …, the stability and hardihood of the rock that braves the blast? If thou canst not do the least of these, why wouldst thou disturb me in my miseries with thy inquiries after me?
For these two months I have not been able to lift a pen. My constitution were, ab origin, blasted with a deep incurable taint of hypochondria, which poisons my existence. Of late a number of domestic vexations; losses which, though trifling, were yet what I could ill bear, have so irritated me, that my feelings at time could only be envied by a reprobate spirit listening to the sentence that dooms it to perdition. Are you deep in the language of consolation? I have exhausted in reflection every topic of comfort. A heart at ease would have been charmed with my sentiments and reasoning; but as to myself I was like Judas Iscariot preaching the gospel; he might melt and mould the hearts of those around him, but his own kept its native incorrigibility.
Still, there are pillars that bear us up, amid the wreck of misfortune and misery. The ONE is composed of the different modifications of a certain noble, stubborn something in man, known by the names of courage, fortitude, magnanimity….. gives the nerve of combat, while a ray of hope beams on the field …” (25 February 1794).
Robert Burns bathed in the freezing waters of the Solway Firth as part of what seems like a kill or cure remedy by his friend Dr Maxwell.
To read about some other famous people who suffered with mental illness visit this site. Some of the people featured may surprise you!
For a more exhaustive listing visit this page at the NAMI website
Tags: Alexander Cunningham, Chronic Physical Illness, Domestic Troubles, Dooms, Famous People, Famous Person, Fortitude, Friendly Star, Hypochondria, Judas Iscariot, Magnanimity, Mental Illness, Miseries, Misfortune, National Poet, Peace And Rest, Poisons, Reprobate, Robert Burns, Taint, Tost
