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Famous women have feelings, too

Popcrunch has created a list of famous people who have gone on the record about suffering with depression. The list included more than 100 people from all walks of life: politics, Hollywood, sports, journalism, anthropology, etc. For our purposes here, I’m interested in the women on the list.

Now, some of these women were pretty obvious candidates — I think we all had a hunch Sylvia Plath wasn’t happy every day — but others caught me by surprise and, again, illustrated what we all sort of know: that depression hits anyone, regardless of status, success, talent, smarts, looks, fame, love or lack thereof. Getting depressed is starting to feel like a given in the world today. I mean, times are bad: We’ve been at war for several years. Gas costs too much. It’s hectic out there. We’d be mad not to get sad.

The key, obviously, is dealing with our depression healthily. Talking to friends works for some of us, or sometimes journaling or jogging. Some of us need counseling at times, and despite what Tom Cruise says, medication can help sometimes, too.

It’s important to know that were not alone, and that some of our heroes have been depressed. Several of the people who are responsible for our favorite books, songs, and films, even. (Hey, isn’t it ironic that some of the people we turn to when we’re depressed get down, too?) Here are a few wonderful everyday women who get the blues:

—Politicians, their spouses, and sex scandal partners (regardless of party affiliations): Tipper Gore, Barbara Bush, Betty Ford, Monica Lewinsky, Marilyn Monroe

—Royalty who may or may not have despised each other: Princess Di, Queen Elizabeth II

—Athletes who grunt while playing and/or had a trend-setting hairdo in the 1970s: Monica Seles, Dorothy Hamill

—Women who sing about sad stuff: Shirley Manson of Garbage, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Sinead O’ Connor

—Women who sing about happy stuff: Sheryl Crow, Melanie C

—Women who sing about hot stuff: Donna Summer

—Women who sing about the importance of holding on: Carnie Wilson

—Actresses who may have been involved with devious men: Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry

—Writers: Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf (Wait, why is this list so short?)

—The most beautiful women who have ever lived: Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn

—Funny women: Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres, Janeane Garofalo

—Women who have gone head-to-head with Tom Cruise: Brooke Shields

—Women who beat up their star athlete husbands: Tawny Kitean

—Women who played sunny moms on 1960s television: Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch)

—Women who in reality married the fictional son of the woman above: Adrianne Curry

—Women who have been in movies with Johnny Depp: Christina Ricci, Winona Ryder, Helena Bonham Carter

—Women who provide the voice of Lisa Simpson: Yeardley Smith

—Women who would rather be with chimpanzees: Jane Goodall

—The Judds: Ashley, Wynonna and their mom, Naomi

—Seemingly sunny, upbeat women: Dolly Parton, Goldie Hawn, Mandy Moore, Drew Barrymore, Marie Osmond, Suzanne Somers

—Women we’re rooting for because of powerful crushes upon seeing Little Darlings as a kid: Tatum O’ Neal, Kristy McNichol

—Women we weren’t sure thought enough to get depressed: Paris Hilton

—Women who could theoretically get psychiatric help from their own characters: Lorraine Bracco

Do any of these women surprise you? Does knowing that your favorite author or singer has her own issues give you more insight into them as a person vs. their celebrity?

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