Edgar Allan Poe's Bipolar Disorder

In his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839), Edgar Allan Poe creates a character who suffers from many things, the primary being manic depression. Known today as bipolar disorder, this is an illness many people in society try to “sweep under the rug.” The stigma of mental disorder that society seems to follow is not the truth. The truth is societies perspective is only half of the picture. No one ever addresses how the person with the disorder perceives themselves. When it comes to bipolar disorder, the individual with the disorder may view themselves very differently than someone who witnesses another person with the same disorder. Some of the most influential people in society, the real movers, and shakers, have had bipolar

All this disorder does is make it harder for the individual to function on a daily basis. It is a constant struggle that many individuals try to win. Most individuals with bipolar disorder just need a daily routine to keep them calm and to provide consistency. When given a consistent routine many individuals have less episodes and are more relaxed as a result. (A.P.A. citation). Edgar Allan Poe even discusses a character in “The Fall of the House of Usher” that may have had bipolar disorder. Roderick Usher was a man who had a series of episodes and unique tendencies. He could only eat bland foods, he could only have certain dim red lighting, and he had bouts of depression and mania. The most memorable being when he was upset about his sister “dying” and he placed her body in the locked basement. He was sad at the time, but when she was locked down there and he heard scratching he began to go mad. The narrator saw him switch from melancholy and depressed to manic and temperamental. (Poe

According to a study from an article, “How People See Others Is Different from How People See Themselves: A Replicable Pattern Across Cultures,” by Juri Alik and colleagues, individuals tend to over exaggerate their qualities. They want to seem more interesting and unique so they tell “little white lies” about themselves to make others more interested in them. So when asked to describe themselves individual’s responses were not objective and were far-fetched. However, when individuals were asked to describe another person they were more objective and critical. They told the real truth and held back any embellishments that may have otherwise been added by the individual they were