Robert Lowell

• Lowell was treated during his lifetime for manic-depressive illness, now generally called bipolar disorder. Psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison later examined his medical records, letters and accounts from family, friends and doctors. [4][2]
• Lowell often wrote about mania and depression in his letters. Poems such as “Waking in the Blue” drew directly on his time in a psychiatric hospital. [8]

• Lowell was first hospitalized for mania in 1949. His severe manic episodes included psychosis and grandiose delusions. Jamison estimated that he was hospitalized for mania about 20 times over his life. [2]
• During mania, Lowell sometimes had delusions that he was a historical or religious figure. He could also become intensely active and behave in ways that damaged relationships. [2]
• Mania was often followed by depression, shame and remorse over things Lowell had done during the episode. [2]
• His illness repeatedly interrupted his life and work. Between episodes, he returned to writing and teaching. From ages 32 to 47 alone, he was hospitalized about a dozen times while also publishing Life Studies and For the Union Dead. [5]

• Lowell received psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy, antipsychotic medication and hospital care. [4]
• Electroconvulsive therapy could end an acute episode but did not prevent later episodes. [3]
• Lowell began taking lithium in 1967. After starting lithium, he went several years with almost no psychiatric hospitalizations. He later experienced further episodes and a period of lithium toxicity. [3]

• Lowell did not have a simple, steady recovery. Before lithium, severe mania repeatedly led to hospital stays. After he began lithium, he went several years with almost no psychiatric hospitalizations. [3]
• He continued writing, teaching and publishing through much of his adult life. After episodes disrupted his life and relationships, he often returned to work. [5]

“The pills I am taking really seem to prevent mania.”

— Robert Lowell [6]