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Manic Depression
Around 1% of adults and children suffer from manic depression. Vivien Leigh was apart of that 1%. Over the course of her adult life, manic depression was always a constant, hovering black cloud that plagued her life.
What is Manic Depression?
Manic depression, or bipolar disorder, is a mental disease in which a person goes through alternating periods of extreme "highs" and extreme "lows". This basically means that a person will go from being completely and totally happy, with tons of energy to deeply depressed, even to the point of becoming suicidal.
Vivien's Experiences
Unfortunately, during Vivien's time, there was not an existing treatment that could help control the signs and symptoms of manic depression. So Vivien and those close around her has to live and ride out the everyday consequences and the occasional outbursts as best they could.
During the periods of time when Vivien was going through a "high", Vivien was succumbed by never ending amounts of energy. During these times she required little or no sleep, which can easily explain her insomnia. To release some of this energy, Vivien often kept herself constantly busy with work and interacting with others by throwing/attending parties and what not. Another symptom to Vivien's "highs" was her sex drive. Once on a set, Vivien and Olivier were sneaking off and when Olivier returned he would be disheveled. He would then say that he was having a hard time keeping up with Vivien.
A great portion of Vivien's "lows" can be described as black out rages. A black out rage basically means that a person becomes exceptionally violent, both verbally and physically, but once the episode is over, the person does not have any memory of it what so ever. This put an enormous strain on Vivien. She would tell Olivier terrible things about him and their relationship that were not true. She would call people up or seek them out to tell them what a horrid person they were. When she would awake, she would always ask who she needed to phone and apologize to.
Vivien's Attempts to Control It
As stated before, because of the time there was not an existing treatment that could help manic depression long term. But there was one treatment that Vivien did try later on. This treatment is known as electroshock therapy. Electroshock therapy is when high, but safe, volts of electricity are admitted to the brain. This causes stimulus in the brain, which can, in some cases, help improve a patient's condition. In Vivien's case, because again of the time period, the treatments were not as successful as they could have been if they were administered today.
Vivien's sessions of shock therapy lasted for a bit of time. In the beginning this did not stop her from working. She was able to have her treatment in the morning and be ready for work later in the day, without anything bothering her. But as the treatments progressed, they became more and more strenuous on Vivien's body, so eventually she had to start canceling her performances.
Thank you for stopping by Vivien Online, a web resource with information about the classic movie actress, Vivien Leigh. Though Miss Leigh is no longer alive it is important to keep her memory alive because of everything she accomplished. Here you can learn much about her and as a bonus, get many goodies that feature her.
Every few months a giveaway takes place where you can win a unique, Vivien-related item! Click here to find out how you can enter and what the prize is!
Vivien's Experiences