Incredible Types - what Virginia Woolf, Ludwig II, and Ronald Reagan have in common. Were Vincent van Gogh and Ludwig II really schizophrenic? Is Ernest Hemingway's work a result of his affective disorder? And to what extent were mental illnesses influential in the lives of many well-known personalities? The renowned doctor and psychologist Thomas Köhler describes the various mental disorders - from bipolarity to schizophrenia - in detail and vividly using examples from numerous famous figures in politics, music, art, and literature. The ups and downs of Ernest Hemingway's mood strikingly illustrate what it means to suffer from bipolar disorder. And few are better suited than Friedrich Nietzsche to illustrate the dramatic course of syphilis. Filled with many anecdotes and eyewitness accounts, it provides insight.