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| Catherine Zeta-Jones |
David J. Miklowitz, who wrote "The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know," told the Los Angeles Times that the condition "formerly known as manic-depression, is typically lifelong and recurrent." Miklowitz, a psychiatry professor at the UCLA Medical School, outlines the symptoms and notes that "bipolar disorder and creativity have been linked," adding "that first-chair violinists are more likely to have been treated for the disease than others -- and that Tchaikovsky, Van Gogh and Hemingway were said to have been bipolar."
Reports that Zeta-Jones, 41, has had a stressful year, which may have triggered the disorder, focus on her husband's illness. Michael Douglas has spent several months fighting throat cancer with often grueling chemotherapy treatments. But The Daily Mail suggests Zeta-Jones may have been struggling before Douglas' diagnosis:
"An excitable and rambling speech at last year's Tony Awards . . . may have been the first clue that all was not well with the Welsh beauty," the British paper reports. Receiving an award for her performance in "In a Little Night Music," she pointed at her husband and "blurted out: 'See that man there? He's a movie star and I get to sleep with him every night.'" Later the actress said she couldn't believe she'd said "something as crass as that."
A number of celebrities have been linked to bipolar II disorder. People Magazine reports that Carrie Fisher once described the mood swings she experienced: "The last time, I hacked off my hair, got a tattoo, and wanted to convert to Judaism." The Hollywood Reporter's list includes Linda Hamilton, Jane Pauley, Russell Brand, Mel Gibson, Britney Spears, Brian Wilson, Pete Wentz and Ben Stiller.
