Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression, is an illness that causes extreme shifts in mood, energy, and ability to function. It is estimated that 2.5% of the adult U.S. population is affected by bipolar disorder and even some celebrities struggle with it. Read on and find out who they are.

Catherine Zeta-Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catherine Zeta-Jones went public with her battle with bipolar disorder last year. She checked herself into a mental-health facility in 2011 and again this year to treat her bipolar II disorder. “There is no need to suffer silently and there is no shame in seeking help. I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it,” she said. “And that those who didn’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it.”

Demi Lovato

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t until she entered a treatment center for her struggles with anorexia, bulimia, and cutting that Demi Lovato found out she had bipolar disorder. “Looking back it makes sense,” she told People of her diagnosis. “There were times when I was so manic, I was writing seven songs in one night and I’d be up until 5:30 in the morning.”

Carrie Fisher

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars trilogy, has experienced plenty of turbulence in her life—and not just aboard the Millennium Falcon. After years of struggling with mania and depression, Fisher was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was 28. Fisher told USA Today in 2002 that she leads a normal life and her behavior is much more predictable, thanks to the lithium prescribed by her doctor. But it wasn’t always so easy. “I hacked off my hair, got a tattoo, and wanted to convert to Judaism,” she said of her manic episode.

Jean-Claude Van Damme

 

 

 

 

 

 

While his movie career took off, though, Van Damme’s personal life was unraveling. He was divorced four times, charged with spousal abuse, and addicted to cocaine. However, things started to come together after his diagnosis of rapid-cycling bipolar. He told E! Online, “You just have to take a little salt [the drug sodium valproate], and since I’m doing that it’s, like, BOOM! In one week, I felt it kick in. All the commotion around me, all the water around me, moving left and right around me, became like a lake.”

Linda Hamilton

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a 2004 interview, the actress revealed that she had been living with bipolar disorder for more than 20 years. Hamilton decided to tell the public about her struggle 10 years after her diagnosis, when she had the disorder under control. “My quality of life is more amazing than I ever could’ve imagined in those 20 years of struggling with illness,” she said.

Mel Gibson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Academy Award-winner Mel Gibson talked about his bipolar disorder in a 2002 documentary. “I had really good highs but some very low lows,” Gibson said in the film. “I found out recently I’m manic depressive.”