Robert Burns could have suffered bipolar disorder

Robert Burns’
tempestuous personality, intense creativity and unstable love life
suggest that he might have suffered from bipolar disorder, according to
Scottish researchers.

The 18th-century Scottish bard produced huge quantities of literary
works, including Auld Lang Syne and A Red, Red, Rose, in bursts of
creativity interspersed with periods of depression and heavy drinking.

According to scientific and literary experts at Glasgow University his
creative spikes, along with his volatile love life, point to the
possibility that he suffered from the condition that 
affects up to
three million 
people in Britain.

Dr Daniel Smith, from the university’s Institute of Health and
Wellbeing, said: “Burns had a complicated and some might say tempestuous
 personal history, with bouts of melancholic depression, heavy lifelong
alcohol consumption and considerable instability in relationships,
including a series of extramarital affairs.

“Although it is difficult to prove conclusively, it is possible that his
 life history and his prodigious literary outputs may have been
influenced by a recurrent disorder of -Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/robert-burns-could-have-suffered-bipolar-disorder-1-3427401

Robert Burns’ tempestuous personality, intense creativity and unstable love life suggest that he might have suffered from bipolar disorder, according to Scottish researchers. The 18th-century Scottish bard produced huge quantities of literary works, including Auld Lang Syne and A Red, Red, Rose, in bursts of creativity interspersed with periods of depression and heavy drinking. According to scientific and literary experts at Glasgow University his creative spikes, along with his volatile love life, point to the possibility that he suffered from the condition that 
affects up to three million 
people in Britain. Dr Daniel Smith, from the university’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing, said: “Burns had a complicated and some might say tempestuous personal history, with bouts of melancholic depression, heavy lifelong alcohol consumption and considerable instability in relationships, including a series of extramarital affairs. “Although it is difficult to prove conclusively, it is possible that his life history and his prodigious literary outputs may have been influenced by a recurrent disorder of

Read more at: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/robert-burns-could-have-suffered-bipolar-disorder-1-3427401