Was Robert Burns a manic depressive?

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There is apparently a row brewing over whether 18th century Scottish writer Robert Burns suffered from manic depression.
The Times is claiming that PR folk tried to water down a report claiming he had the condition. This quote is something of an eye-opener:

There was real concern that we were painting this picture of a lunatic Burns, which we weren't trying to do at all. If you were to look at Burns's writing, you could term that a bit bipolar. But the trust thought that was a negative connotation."
Glad to see people are still linking bipolar with "lunatic".

This raises two points for me. Firstly it's a shame that the stigma around mental health is still so great that people are worried about linking mental illness to people who have been dead for 200 years.

But secondly it made me wonder if all this recent talk about historical figrues with mental health problems, is beginning to affect public attitudes. After all the campaign group Time to Change is claiming public attitudes have "turned a corner" over the past year. But is that the experience on the ground?

I'd be interested to hear what people think - either here or on CareSpace.
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I know that poetry is a good therapy for good mental health, its an art and skill to articulate own thoughts and feelings and to learn and move on.
Not sure, if attitude to mental health changed or society has accepted stressful lifestyles and its consequencies.Check 24/7 work-life balance surveys

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