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Abraham Lincoln Depression

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John Sotos, a cardiologist, says that if Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated that night in Ford’s Theater, he would have died within a year because of cancer (Siegel). Lincoln had an array of health related complications. A majority of his family had ‘melancholy’, or what is now known as depression. Because of this, his chance to develop depression was greatly amplified, and after a series of tragedies in Lincoln’s life, he had began to show signs of having it. Lincoln also had a very rare disease called multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 2b, or MEN2B. This disorder was passed down through genetics from his mother and mostly just affected his physical appearance. However, one of the internal health problems that MEN2B does cause is cancer; …show more content…
Both of Lincoln’s parents were described as having ‘melancholy’, or depression (Siegel). Kids see everything that their parents do. Lincoln’s parents were depressed, and both constantly showed all the sign and symptoms of this mental illness; this influenced Lincoln greatly. On top of this, depression is inheritable. The Stanford School of Medicine conducted a study and found that, “ Heritability is probably 40-50%, and might be higher for severe depression” (Stanford). Since both of Lincoln’s parents were depressed, he generally had a larger risk of developing depression as an adult. Lincoln’s parents were not the only members in the family who were described as having depression. Lincoln’s uncle and his family contained many different mental illnesses including depression (Siegel). Since heredity plays a role in developing depression, the mental illnesses of his parents and other family members made him more susceptible to developing depression. Throughout his life he was continuously exposed to this mental illness through his family members, which gave him a bigger risk of developing it. Lincoln’s life was rough and contained tragic events: family death and absences. His mother and a close friend of his, Ann Rutledge, would die from milk sickness, his sister would die in labor, and his father would be absent for a period of time on his journey to Kentucky (Siegel). Having three people close to him die, …show more content…
With all of the health issues that Lincoln faced, physically and mentally, changed his perspective on the way he saw things and made our nation the way that it is

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