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Article: Evening out the ups and downs of manic-depressive illness.
- Article from:
- FDA Consumer
- Article date:
- June 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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German composer Robert Schumann led a life of extreme ups and downs. In 1833, at the age of 23, he attempted suicide; in 1840, he experienced a period of inexplicable, great elation. Then in 1844 he fell into another deep depression, with another "up," or "manic," period five years later. In 1853, his mental illness forced him to resign as musical director of the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra, and a year later, he tried to kill himself by jumping into the Rhine River. He was rescued and placed in an asylum, where he died two years later of self-imposed starvation.
Some of Schumann's musical compositions noticeably reflect his dramatic mood swings. One account of the ...