Sarah Teasdale

Sarah Teasdale: (August 8, 1884 – January 29, 1933), was an American lyrical poet. She was born Sarah Trevor Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri.Throughout her life, Teasdale suffered poor health and it was only at age 9 that she was well enough to begin school. In 1898 she went to Mary Institute and to Hosmer Hall in 1899 where she finished in 1903.

In 1913 Teasdale fell in love with poet Vachel Lindsay. He wrote her daily love letters, but nevertheless she married Ernst Filsinger in 1914 when she was 30. Teasdale and Lindsay remained friends throughout their lives. In 1918, her poetry collection Love Songs won three awards: the Columbia University Poetry Society prize, the 1918 Pulitzer Prize for poetry and the annual prize of the Poetry Society of America.

Teasdale was a hypochondriac whose preoccupation with death often appeared in her poetry. On January 29, 1933, a blood vessel in her hand ruptured. Sure that she was about to die, she took some sleeping pills, got into the bathtub, and died of an overdose.

Famous Hypochondriacs: Florence Nightangale

Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale’s tireless battle against death and disease during the Crimean War rendered her one of history’s most famous hypochondriacs. In 1857, the year after she returned from the Crimea, she took to her bed convinced that her life was hanging by a thread which could snap at any moment. It eventually did – in 1910 when the founder of modern nursing was ninety years old.

Famous Hypochondriacs three: Abigail Breslin

3. Abigail Breslin: The ten-year old star of Little Miss Sunshine is a self-confessed hypochondria. I did not realize that it is possible for children to suffer from hypochondria. Is it more transient in those cases? Does it resolve when they reach adulthood? In this segment of an interview with LA magazine.com Abigail describes her hypochondria:

What don’t people know about you?
I’m a hypochondriac.

Did you have any ailments while you were filming in Australia for Nim’s Island?
I thought I had been bitten by a poisonous spider. My best friend on the set was the medic.

What sorts of things do you imagine you have?
Everything, really. I’m not allowed to watch medical TV shows. When I was about 3 or 4, I was worried that I was going to step on glass, so I wore shoes even in my bed and when I went out under the sprinkler. I thought I had the bird flu, so for a long time I wouldn’t go near any birds.

What were your symptoms?
I didn’t really have any symptoms.

Famous Hypochondriacs

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In Hypochondria Woeful Imaginings, Susan Baur describes famous hypochondria suffers. The following description of Charles Darwin’s struggle with hypochondria.

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, eminent as a collector and geologist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection.

After being forced into studying medicine Darwin began to develop frequent complaints about gastrointestinal illness. These complaints increased on the Beagle expedition. Darwin struggled with hypochondria during his life and he began to eat healthy and take long walks and that doing these activities “dulled the brain splendidly” In the later half of his life Darwin moved to the country and was able to recover from the anxiety, vomiting, and insomnia that had plagued him throughout his life. The following passage written by Darwin gives us a glimpse into his hypochondria:

The two months at Plymouth (waiting for the ship to set sail) were the most miserable which I have ever spent. I was out of spirits at the thought of leaving my family and friends for so long a time and the weather seemed to me so inexpressibly gloomy. I was troubled with palpitations adn pain about the heart, and like all ignorant man, especially one with a smattering of medical knowledge, was convinced that I had heart disease. I did not consult any doctor, as I fully expected to hear the verdict that I was not fit for the voyage, and I was resolved to go to all hazards.