Life Events and Mood
“…it is the house that I ask you to imagine for a moment for, though Hyde Park Gate seems so distant from Bloomsbury, its shadow falls across it. 46 Gordon Sqaure could never had meant what it did had not 22 Hyde Park Gate preceded it…Here the four of us were born; here my grandmother died; here my mother died; here my father died; here Stella became engaged to Jack Hills and two doors down…she died too…It seemed as if the house and the family which had lived in it, thrown together as they were by so many deaths, so many emotions, so many traditions must endure for ever.” *
Death was an integral part of Woolf’s early life. When she was thirteen her mother Julia died, precipitating the first of several incapacitating breakdowns for Woolf. Soon after her father Leslie died, Woolf needed care again.
Woolf's reaction to these devastating deaths is not unique. Life events such as the loss of a loved one, changing jobs, or moving often precede mood changes. Goal oriented pursuits, like writing a book or an essay, have also been found to trigger mania. (Goodwin & Jamison, 2007)
Stressful life events and striving to achieve a goal can disturb sleep habits; reduced sleep is a trigger for mania. Drugs such as antidepressants, given to ameliorate distressing, emotional and/or physical symptoms, can induce mania. For example, Woolf was often given bromides to help her sleep; bromides can trigger manic episodes.
| Relationship | Breakdown | Publication |
|---|---|---|
5/5/1895 Julia Stephen dies |
1895-6 After Julia's death |
--------- |
2/22/1904 Leslie Stephen dies |
1904 3 months after Leslie's death |
First articles published after breakdown |
8/10/1912 Marries Leonard Woolf |
1912-1915 | March 1913 The Voyage Out submitted to Gerald Duckworth for publication |
___Links___________
Mental Health History Timeline
Seventy Years at the Hogarth Press
___Resources_________
Books
Briggs, J. (2005) Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life. Orland; Harcout
Caramango T. (1992). The Flight of the Mind: Virginia Woolf’s Art and Manic-Depressive Illness. Berkeley : University of California Press.
Goodwin, K.F. & Jamison, K.R. (2007). Manic Depressive Illness: Bipoloar Disorders and Recurrent Depression. Oxford: Oxford University Press Chapter 4: Course and Outcome
Lee, H. (1996). Virginia Woolf. New york: Random House
Research Papers
Scholars
___References for this Section____
Goodwin, K.F. & Jamison, K.R. (2007). Manic Depressive Illness: Bipoloar Disorders and Recurrent Depression. Oxford: Oxford University Press
* Woolf, V. (1985). Moments of Being. 2d ed. (J. Schulkind, Ed.) New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.