My recovery from manic depression has been an evolution, not a sudden miracle.

I had been very close to Anne Bancroft when we worked together in The Miracle Worker.

I joke around a lot about the manic times because they're funny. We manics do outrageous things and it is part of our colorful nature.

Bipolar indicates that you're not - you don't just experience depression, but the mood swing goes up, and it can go very up.

Few things are strong enough to survive that deadly clash of mania and depression. Certainly not love. Love is far too fragile: it is a picture window, just begging to be shattered.

At the age of 19, I removed myself from society for almost four months, setting off years of manic episodes, including outrageous overspending. I bought several Mercedes because I thought I could. I had no money, but I rented a jet.