Virginia Woolf, neuroprogression, and bipolar disorder

Abstract

Family history and traumatic experiences are factors linked to bipolar disorder. It is known that the lifetime risk of bipolar disorder in relatives of a bipolar proband are 5-10% for first degree relatives and 40-70% for monozygotic co-twins. It is also known that patients with early childhood trauma present earlier onset of bipolar disorder, increased number of manic episodes, and more suicide attempts. We have recently reported that childhood trauma partly mediates the effect of family history on bipolar disorder diagnosis. In light of these findings from the scientific literature, we reviewed the work of British writer Virginia Woolf, who allegedly suffered from bipolar disorder. Her disorder was strongly related to her family background. Moreover, Virginia Woolf was sexually molested by her half siblings for nine years. Her bipolar disorder symptoms presented a pernicious course, associated with hospitalizations, suicidal behavioral, and functional impairment. The concept of neuroprogression has been used to explain the clinical deterioration that takes places in a subgroup of bipolar disorder patients. The examination of Virgina Woolf's biography and art can provide clinicians with important insights about the course of bipolar disorder.

Potential use of text classification tools as signatures of suicidal behavior: A proof-of-concept study using Virginia Woolf’s personal writings

“…During her life, she made at least three suicide attempts. She received the habitual treatments of the time, such as “rest cure therapy at home,” which consisted of gaining weight, sleeping, and “the resting of the intellect,” which also meant a recommendation not to write [ 10 ]. Virginia endured several depressive and manic episodes until she took her life [ 11 ] on March 28, 1941 during a depressive episode [ 10 ].…”

“…Thus, it is paramount to develop better models to predict suicidal behavior that include these interactions and explore different levels of information. Machine learning, a field of artificial intelligence that focuses on algorithms that can learn from data and then extract patterns to make new assumptions from unseen information, are increasingly being used in behavioral sciences to provide predictive models for clinical practice [ 16 ]. Machine learning can handle an enormous amount of data, such as text data, and combine them in nonlinear and highly interactive ways [ 17 ].…”

Linguistic Features and Psychological States: The Case of Virginia Woolf

“…The Diary of Virginia Woolf ( Bell, 1984 ) was used for text analysis in the present study for three reasons. First, Virginia Woolf was a British novelist and essayist regarded as one of the major modernist literary figures of the twentieth century ( Boeira et al, 2016 ). Second, she had mental disorders and attempted suicide several times, and killed herself at the age of 59 ( Androutsopoulou et al, 2019 ).…”

O Tempo vivido em Mrs. Dalloway à Luz da Fenomenologia de Merleau-Ponty

“…A vida intelectual ativa de Virginia Woolf era contrabalanceada pela iminência de episódios maníaco--depressivos e psicóticos. Ela enfrentou essas crises até o fim de sua vida, quando cometeu suicídio aos 59 anos de idade (Cordás & Marchetti, 2011;Boeira et al, 2017), deixando um legado narrativo que pulsa vivamente como inspiração poética para os seus leitores e se faz presente até os dias atuais.…”