Was Edgar Allen Poe Bi Polar?

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I know that Poe drank, but I seem to remember a High School teacher of mine saying that people think he may have been Bi Polar/Mannic Depressive. I have to write an essay on The Black Cat, and I was wondering if there was any truth to this statement.

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2003

Answers

Historical psych analysis may be untenable. You need a) a sound and cautious psychatrist who knows that illness b) someone who is also a fairly studied Poe scholar. His writings are not that confessional and must also be taken in context of his contemporaries and external pressures. Drinking, being orphaned, other struggles would not naturally create a healthy mindset. Poe's inclination to short works may have been more than artistic taste. Baudelaire had a worse case of procrastination, writer's block and inability to finish long works that definitely seemed more indicative of a lifelong depressive state.

-- Anonymous, January 21, 2003

foshow brother

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2003

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