Was Edgar Allan Poe suffering from clinical depression or was he bipolar, or neither?

-- Anonymous, May 16, 2000

Answers

Poe saw things differently than most people because he lived in a different world. He wasn't crazy, he wasn't imbalanced, and while he was obsessed with certain things (death, dead women, etc.) I believe that we would look on someone like him today as mentally disturbed, rather than just depressed. Realize that when someone is considered "strange" or "eccentric" in the true sense of the word (not just weird, but actually "different"), they are usually deemed as rejects of society, but, as soon as someone with these traits becomes famous, then we think they are the most wonderful people. That is why some people say that if Jesus Christ were alive today, we wouldn't even recognize him. I think this also applies to Poe. I think he was very sensitive and gifted, but not clinically depressed. And from what I know, he was neither bipolar or manic-depressive, etc, which I think is just a lot of bunk actually, because a lot of people have these mood disorders but don't produce any works of art. I can't say that most people could understand this, even though a lot of younger people think it's "cool" and that they can relate to Poe. Read Poe's works and you will see that, even though he was self- destructive, he has nothing in commmon with the way our generation thinks about depression. His world was a world that few can really ever touch; and like all genius, he offers us a small, elusive glimpse through his works, that is why some people are fascinated by him, but for most this "fascination" comes from the need to be trendy and cool, and most will never really know the entire spectrum of his mental state. That is why Poe is a genius and not just a normal man with depression or a mood disorder.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2000

i think its quite obvious that Poe was depressed . Alomost all his poems are "anti socail" and show his frustrations in life .

-- Anonymous, August 31, 2000

Yes, Poe was depressed. He crashed into depression because Virginia Clemm, who he was in love with, was moving and this is when he began to drink. He went even further into depression though after she died which is when he became grief stricken.

-- Anonymous, January 23, 2001

bullsh-t. poe was not antisocial [psychopath] i should know that because i study the disorder. if he was depressed, why would his feelings be any different than ours? he was a genius with the capacity to see things in a different way than average folks.

wendy koenigsmann

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2001

what i mean to say is, that he WAS depressed, just as anyone of us could be, but he had a natural gift, a superb imagination that not all of us are born with as well. just like some are gifted for music, or art, he had a gift. what we choose to do with depression and creativity is another matter. we could take drugs all day, go to marilyn manson concerts and slash our wrists, or we could create works of great art like poe. but, question is, who has that inherent gift of genius within himself? hard to say.

wendy koenigsmann

wendy koenigsmann

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2001