Lincoln's Melancholy

As someone who is fascinated both by history and psychological illnesses, naturally, when deciding what book I would read, I chose Joshua Wolf Shenk's Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness. Before I even began reading, I was well aware of the connection between psychological illnesses and some of the great talents of all time. Painter Georgia O'Keefe was manic-depressive (more commonly known as bi-polar disorder now). Manic-depression refers to a person who suffers not only from depressive states but also intense states of high energy, which reach the point of mania.Van Gogh was suspected to have episodes of both depression and manic- depression; poetic Emily Dickinson was severely depressed. Abraham Lincoln also suffered from depression. It was not until recently that scholars began to research Lincoln's depression more in depth. Shenk's book is one of the most recent books dedicated solely to documenting Lincoln's depression. 

Shenk begins by documenting what psychologists define as depression. The most striking aspect of Shenk's description of depression is how he equates depression to more commonplace ailments. He states that depression is not like the flu or a cold, but more like a chronic illness such as hypertension or asthma. Like someone with these two illnesses, a person with chronic major depression has it throughout life. That is not to say that the person does not experience joy or happiness but there is always a looming possibility of a depressive episode. Major depression is defined as a period of sadness for more than two weeks that include symptoms like excessive sleeping or insomnia, over or under-eating, loss of interest in activities once enjoyed and isolation from one's family and friends. For one to be diagnosed with chronic depression one has to have had two or more episodes of depression during a life span. These episodes have to be weeks to months apart and have to last for at least two weeks. 

Mental illness during the 1800s was not socially acceptable or studied. There were few insane asylums and the mentally ill were left to fend for themselves or stay with family. Depression was not an illness recognized during Lincoln's life; however, chronic sadness was addressed with the title "melancholy."There is evidence in Lincoln's own writings and the statements of close friends that he suffered from two major episodes of depression; one episode caused his friends to begin a suicide watch. 
Chronic sadness became a prominent part of his personality. As with most people dealing with depression, Lincoln found ways to alleviate his depressive moods, if only for a little bit. Lincoln's self medication was the telling of humorous stories. Most people who knew Lincoln or saw him in person characterized his face as pensive and one full of gloom. 

Ideas of depression during Lincoln's time and today are totally different. During Lincoln's life, melancholy was seen, somewhat, as a strength not a hindrance. Melancholy allowed one to see the world in a more cautious way. Today it is more common for one with depression to seem weak. Depression is seen as something that needs to be cured in order to be happy. Happiness becomes the only way to have a good life. It is not often that people today see the wisdom that can grow from depression. Lincoln often used the quote from an old parable of an Eastern monarch, "And this too shall pass away," to remind himself and others of the necessity to look to the future, not to the past or the failures of the present. Hoping that pain would subside and the greatness of a great leader continue, Lincoln added his own ending to the quote, "And yet let us hope it is not quite true." Lincoln never wanted the intellectual and moral convictions of a leader to pass, but hoped for the sweetness of better times that would someday come. 

Victor Frankl would label Lincoln a "tragic optimist," one who looks for meaning in the tragedies of life. Frankl states that life involves three inevitable kinds of tragedy, the "tragic triad:"

1. Pain and suffering,
2. Guilt, because we are free to make choices in our lives, and are responsible for the impact of those choices, and
3. Death, and knowing that our life is transient.

He says that it is hard to find meaning in the face of such tragedy, but that if we do not, then our sense of meaninglessness lies behind our experiences of:

1. Depression,
2. Aggression, and
3. Addiction.

He continues by citing three ways to find meaning in life:

1. Through our work or deeds,
2. Through experiences or encounters with other people (e.g. love), and
3. Through rising above, and growing from, the inevitable suffering which we will experience.

Frankl suggests three ways to find meaning in all three tragedies:

1. Pain and suffering – from learning from the experience and finding meaning in it,
2. Guilt – by taking responsibility for our actions, and
3. Death – by living our life as if it was for the second time, knowing how we got it wrong the first time.

It is not the end result, but the quest that one finds meaning in. If one is always searching for happiness and trying to hard to be happy, one is less likely to achieve happiness or whatever one is searching for. 
In the end depression, as with Lincoln and many others, fuels the fire for greatness. It is believed that depression motivates one to pursue projects. Staying busy stops one from dwelling on their failures and depression. The worst thing for someone with depression is to be isolated and ruminating over the pessimistic thoughts they have. Instead of letting the depressive moods take over, someone with depression can find true strength in using the so called "defect" to inspire greatness. 
Connecting the creative process with mental illnesses has been a recent endeavor. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi attributes the distinguishing factor of creative people to their complexity. These people seem to have thoughts that would not connect for a majority of people. They often have conflicting personality traits such as self-doubt and confidence, aggressive and cooperative, creating the psychological phenomenon called cognitive dissonance. 
Psychiatrist, Kay Redfield Jamison, offers another view of the complexity of the creative person. Jamison writes that there is a great deal of evidence to support the fact that writers, artists and creative people score higher in measures of psychopathology, making them psychologically "sicker" than most individuals, but these same people also score high on confidence and ego stability proving that they might also be psychological healthier than most individuals. 
The common belief today is that people in positions of strength never waver or doubt themselves, which could not be further from the truth. As shown with Lincoln, the inclination to see and prepare for the worst in people or events gives an advantage. 
Psychiatrist George Vaillant's theory of the bedrock of character states that character comes not by good fortune, but by how people deal with problems. Vaillant identified habitual adaptations and defense mechanisms people use in facing problems. He writes, "If we use defenses well we are deemed mentally healthy, conscientious, funny, creative and altruistic. If we use them badly, the psychiatrist diagnoses us ill, our neighbors label us unpleasant and society brands us immoral." I find it interesting that a healthy person not only uses humor, altruism--placing other's needs above one's own needs--, anticipation for the future and sublimation--channeling one's energies toward another passion such as art or a project--, but a health person uses suppression. Personally, I was always told it was bad to suppress anything, but, for Vaillant, suppression is different and much better than denial because it is a selective action to remove oppressive stimuli. 
Advice passed down through the ages has been for one to know thyself. It seems that the more you are comfortable and familiar with your own personality the easier it is to live, love others and even achieve. Lincoln, as Shenk states, "understood himself to be one whose heart was uncommonly affected by the pain of life. He had often found himself fearing the pain would never end. He had learned from severe experience that suffering had to be acknowledged and tolerated and that it might with patience lead to something that could not be known without it." I believe it was because of this belief in himself and the belief that suffering lead to wisdom that Lincoln dared to be vulnerable in his emotions around others no matter the consequences. 
The brilliance of Shenk's exploration into Lincoln's melancholy's lies not in the historical context of the story, but the connection between the realities of depression and the inspiration a story such as Lincoln's can produce. In the epilogue, Shenk writes about his experiences while researching the book. Surrounded by a convention of men dressed as Lincoln himself in West Virginia at the Association of Lincoln Presenters annual event, Shenk began an insightful conversation with one of the Lincolns, Cranston "Bud" Green. After telling Bud of his book on Lincoln's melancholy, Bud so vulnerably told him about his own struggles with depression. My point in including this story is the same as Shenk's. By studying others, especially those similar to one in personality and temperament, one discovers ways to take on life. As Bud illustrates when he answers "yes" when asked if dressing up as Lincoln helps his depression, learning about others helps us find meaning in our own ordinary lives. Learning of another's courage to be vulnerable allows one to be vulnerable, gives one the courage to ask for help or tell one's story. Wisdom is not only accomplished through living life, but also through learning from another's experiences. "And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, against our will, comes wisdom to us by  the awful grace of God above. " - Aeschylus