What drives creative genius, intellectual brilliance and inspired leadership?
And what lies beneath? In my new book, “Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities,” I take readers on a journey through the minds of 12 historic figures, from Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin to George Gershwin and Marilyn Monroe. While their public lives have been fodder for books, movies and splashy headlines, their psyches reveal characteristics that many of us will recognize in our spouses, children, friends — even ourselves. My hope is that telling these stories will highlight the psychological challenges we all face, no matter how big or small, and maybe even eradicate some of the stigma that can go along with them. By learning more about these fascinating icons, we may discover a greater appreciation for the depths of human experience and behavior — and gain a greater understanding of ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Lincoln wrote to a friend in 1841 that he was “the most miserable man living.” Throughout his life, our 16th president endured terrible tragedies — the loss of his mother and sister in childhood, the death of two young sons, the immense toll of the Civil War. And yet he was a driven man who led the country through battle and strife. Some experts believe he suffered from clinical depression. His work and his humor helped get him through.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
For decades, Darwin suffered from terrible stomachaches, headaches, dizziness and copious other symptoms. He was also a chronic worrier — about his work, his health and his children’s well-being. Dozens of medical studies have speculated about what ailed him. The list includes an intestinal bug he picked up on his Beagle journey in the 1830s. But his mind was affected as much as his body. Some experts have diagnosed him with social anxiety and even panic disorder.
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)
The great Russian writer was notoriously irresponsible with money, especially when it came to his passion for gambling. For about a decade, in the 1860s, he begged his family and friends for money as he chased big losses at the roulette table. Dostoevsky drew on his own experience when he wrote his novel “The Gambler” — a classic account of what is known today as gambling disorder.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
The architect’s elegant designs wowed the world — and so did his ego. He lowballed commissions, then upped the price and scoffed at complaints about leaking roofs. In 1956, numerous artists complained that Wright’s design for the Guggenheim Museum — which required that paintings be displayed at an angle to accommodate his dramatic spiral walkway — had a “callous disregard” for their art. Wright’s grandiose sense of superiority and entitlement make him a candidate for narcissistic personality disorder.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Young Albert was a late talker and a loner who distanced himself from other kids. Even at a young age, he became easily absorbed by single tasks, building stacks of cards 14 stories high. Temple Grandin, the animal scientist who writes and speaks about her life with autism, has written that Einstein had “many traits of an adult with mild autism, or Asperger’s syndrome.” Had Einstein been born in 2000 instead of 1879, it’s likely that his symptoms would at least raise red flags and lead to a screening for what is known today as autism spectrum disorder.
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Born in 1898, Gershwin was an active child, who loved to play stickball and roller skate in New York City streets. But his enormous restlessness also spurred him to engage in street fights and skip school. Psychiatrist and Juilliard-trained pianist Dr. Richard Kogan, of Weill Cornell Medical College, says that if Gershwin were growing up today, it’s easy to envision him being sent by a school counselor to a child psychiatrist, who would probably diagnose the young boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Howard Hughes (1905-1976)
Howard Hughes’ intense fixation on germs developed when he was in his early 20s. As his symptoms intensified, the filmmaker and aviator grew more and more phobic about contamination. He ordered his assistants to scrub fruit cans before opening them and to use at least 15 Kleenexes to open his bathroom cabinet. Hughes’ obsessive-compulsive disorder turned him into a recluse before his death in 1976.
Christine Jorgensen (1926-1989)
Jorgensen was the first widely known transgender American. When she left the U.S. for sex reassignment surgery in Copenhagen in 1950, Jorgensen was known as George; she returned almost three years later as Christine. In a letter to her family, Jorgensen wrote: “Nature made a mistake, which I have corrected, and I am now your daughter.” A mismatch between a person’s body and gender identity is not a mental health condition. When transgender individuals experience anxiety and depression, however, they may be assessed for what is now known as gender dysphoria.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
She was the golden girl of Hollywood in the 1950s, the symbol of beauty and sensuality. But Marilyn Monroe often felt enormously empty inside. Her early years in foster care and in an orphanage left her struggling to find her identity, and she was unable to maintain stable relationships. “I often felt lonely and wanted to die,” she wrote. Experts believe that Monroe’s symptoms, which also included mood swings and impulsivity, line up with borderline personality disorder.
Betty Ford (1918-2011)
The first lady went public with her breast cancer diagnosis in 1974. Four years later, after a family intervention, she checked into a rehab program in Long Beach, California, and announced that she was addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs, which were initially prescribed for severe neck pain. Ford’s outspokenness helped countless Americans acknowledge their own substance use disorders. More than 90,000 people have been treated at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California.
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Although he yearned for clean space, Warhol was an indefatigable collector. He acquired valuable works of art, but also hung on to the most mundane items, filling hundreds of cardboard boxes with empty prescription bottles, junk mail and even pizza dough. The artist was a shopper of epic proportions, jamming his home in New York City with low-end and high-end objects, from cookie jars to Tiffany lamps. Reality TV has made hoarding a cultural spectacle, but hoarding disorder is also a mental health condition defined by the persistent inability to throw anything away.
Princess Diana (1961-1997)
She could not have looked more like a princess on her wedding day, but Diana’s marriage was doomed from the start. Her struggle with the eating disorder bulimia nervosa began the week after her engagement to Prince Charles in 1981 and continued in the palace, where Diana felt lonely and ill-equipped to cope with the expectations and royal responsibilities thrust upon her. Eventually, Diana sought treatment and spoke publicly about her illness, helping raise public awareness worldwide.
Adapted from “Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities.” Copyright ©2016 by Claudia Kalb and published by National Geographic Society. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.
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Hoarding, ADHD, Narcissism: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities originally appeared on usnews.com
