Depression: Franklin Pierce And The Great Depression

Every depressee feels an overwhelming sense of worthlessness, of abject failure, of disappointment, of loneliness. So perhaps it may surprise – and, more importantly, it may encourage you – to see some of the rich and famous who have been similarly afflicted. It is interesting in considering these people that we have a major sense of “But what have they got to be depressed about?” Good point ... same back at you. Depression is not a respecter of persons, and neither is it an honest illness. If you are surprised that some of these people can consider themselves failures, then perhaps you can finally understand that this is an illness attacking without respect, without integrity and without truth. Feeling you are a failure does not necessarily …show more content…
Tragedy hit Pierce immediately before his inauguration when Benjamin, his final remaining son then aged 11, died in a train accident in which he and his wife were involved but survived. As a consequence he entered the Presidency in a state of grief and depression. Later in life political controversy, poor health, and the deaths of both his wife and his best friend caused Pierce to fall into a deep and overwhelming depression from which he would never recover. Abraham Lincoln was said to have suffered from not only severe bouts of depression but also suicidal ideation. Lincoln made no attempt to hide his depression and that was commented upon by those who knew him. His law partner William Herndon described Lincoln in this way: “His melancholy dripped from him as he walked.” Calvin Coolidge lost his favourite son Calvin while in office. Following his son’s death Coolidge showed extreme symptoms of depression including fatigue, guilt and loss of appetite, and spent much of his time sleeping or napping. After a strong start to his presidency, he was considered a very unproductive President for the four years following his loss during which time he avoided decision making and minimised interactions with both his cabinet and with Congress. His depression was so extreme that he was prone to making angry outbursts to his staff and …show more content…
So what if your primary achievement is one which was for so long thought impossible, one only ever achieved by 11 other people, and one that brought worldwide fame and recognition? Within months of returning to earth from the moon in the famous Apollo 11 flight Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin descended in a very deep depression. His marriage of 21 years soon broke up, he remarried hastily and was divorced again within two years. His military career ended rapidly and in failure and just eight years after his fame and fortune he was selling cars in Beverley Hills. Or to be more precise failing to sell cars as he was sacked after just 6 barren months. Full recovery took many years, after which he reflected “Do you continue to descend into an abyss? Or do you try to make a difference with what you know best?” Fuller details of his depression and his battle with alcoholism are given openly in his autobiography Magnificent