I have heard of many books portraying the idea that Edgar Allan Poe may have Bipolar Disorder. My brother has dealt with this psychological disease dealing with ups and downs of the mood (mood swings), and I would like to know, if Poe even has the disease, more on how he dealt with it.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2003

Answers

It does sound likely, but there's no way to tell for sure at this late date. You'd need to examine a living Poe to diagnose this particular mental problem. Poe's mood swings might have been caused by bipolar disorder, or they might have been the result of things that were happening to him. As for the way he dealt with them--well, he drank, far more than was good for him. And he wrote extraodinary tales exploring the dark side of life.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2003