1. Running head: THE LINCOLN DIAGNOSIS 1
The Lincoln Diagnosis;
How even Successful Men can suffer Depression
Austin Cords
California Baptist University

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The Lincoln Diagnosis;
How even Successful Men can suffer Depression
Introduction:
With any historical figure myth begins to be attached to facts and soon an inaccurate
picture of the person is created, often epic in proportion. When looking at Abraham Lincoln, the
16th president of the United States, recclaimer of the South, declarer of freedom to the slaves, and
unexpectantly assassinated just after the war, it is easy to make him a legend in one’s mind a
man beyond reproach. This research attempts to bring a more full understanding of Lincoln, no
longer relying on the villainous John Wilkes Booth to elevate Lincoln, but looking at him as a
man. He like any other human suffered, and with his tough stance on the war and state secession
it would be no wonder if he experienced distress due to his circumstances. While looking at his
humanity, religious views, and correspondences written to friends and loved ones, Lincoln is
shown to have much more pain in his life than sweetness. Foner (2008) states that Abraham
throughout his life dealt with “anxious self-examination” as well as moral quandaries (p. 227).
As a self reflective man, Abe likely dealt with issues of self esteem and worth, learning how to
best understand himself and function likely prepared him for the solemn role of president but
made life less frivolously enjoyable and carefree.
Literature Review:
The first topic of interest when reviewing the life of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
beyond this vastness of volumes of recorded information about his life (comparable to that of
Shakespeare), is his love life. Instead of being seen as a desirable gentleman in his day, he often
had difficulties with his looks or ability to attract women. A stunning such example would be

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that of Mary Owens, whom he wrote of in a letter to Mrs. Browning in 1838 (Doren, 1942, p. 21-
4). In this letter he presents (in the most dignified manner at first), how after being set up to
propose to Miss Owens by her sister, he was crushingly rejected. He even restated his intent
several times but Miss Owens had no interest in pursue Lincoln as a mate. Lincoln declares that
because of this refusal “I finally was forced to give it up, at which I very unexpectedly found
myself mortified almost beyond endurance. I was mortified, it seemed to me, in a hundred
different ways. My vanity was deeply wounded…” (Doren, 1942, p. 24). This situation brought
him to a point of humiliated exhaustion, sounding similar to a depressive state, where he non
longer to pleasure in the world and felt overwhelmed on all sides. He was not the kind of person
to brush off a hurtful situation but felt to hurt and distress of an expected relationship,
passionately, so much so in fact that he fumes in his letter, showing how affection was so
important to him and lack of it sent him spiraling into an out of control state. “I have now come
to the conclusion never again to think of marrying, and for this reason – I can never be satisfied
with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me.” (Doren, 1942, p.24). Going beyond
the normal level of frustration he complains about being stupid and rashly declares to never
marry again, much like a whining teenager. Lincoln’s age however does not much up with his
level of maturity, being 29 when this was written, it is evident that Lincoln had trouble regulating
his feelings on women.
A second incidence where Lincoln is seen to have exhausting difficulties in his
relationships with women is seen with his fiancé, Mary Todd. This one is a doozy. After being
engaged to Mary Todd for sometime, Lincoln found himself lusting after her brother in law’s
cousin, so much so felt the need to confess this struggle to Miss Todd, being afraid of the
consequences of not divulging this sexual passion (Zall, 1999, p. 46). Though Lincoln is

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accredited with honesty, this is not the type of situation people engrave him in. Being beyond
ability to regulate his emotional lusts towards women he finds his only option is to reveal is ill-
gotten desire and ultimately break off the relationship with Mary Todd (Zall, 1999). This
breakup does not alleviate his problems however. Immediately following this unfortunate
circumstance, Lincoln falls into a state of high anxiety and requires a doctor at his side for
several days because of, according to him, irrational “hypochondriaism” by which he felt shame
and foolishness (Zall, 1999, p. 46). Even though he knew that it was best to hedge off the
engagement because of his twisted humanity, he is unable to prepare himself to support his
emotional side which necessitates hospitalization. Not only did this anxiety of sickness plague
him after his break up, but soon after came the depression he had previously experienced. His
closest friend, Joshua Speed, in order to treat Lincoln’s depression (which Speed stated as “two
Cat fits and a Duck fit”) moved Lincoln into his Kentucky home for supervised recovery (Zall,
1999, p. 46). Lincoln was easily shattered by a breaking of pace and Speed found it necessary to
protect his livelihood to keep him in one sense or another under suicide watch. The only person
who perhaps saw Lincoln critically dangerous depressive state more accurately than Speed was
Lincoln himself. He states in a letter three days following his anxiety issues, “I am the most
miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there
would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I
awfully forbode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better” (Zall, 1999,
p. 47). Suicidal ideation is not considered possible to have by a hero of the United States, but
Lincoln 20 years before becoming president fought regularly with anxiety and depression.
Lincoln’s depression was so apparent that he was unable to work and all sharp objects were
taken from his vicinity (Current, 1958). Even though he was eventually to marry Miss Todd the

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following year, it was done in secret and Lincoln continued to have misgivings about the union,
stating “before I resolve to do the one thing or the other, I must regain my confidence in my own
ability to keep my resolves when they are made… that gem I lost- how, and when, you too well
know. I have not yet regained it; and until I do, I can not trust myself in any matter” (Basler,
1946, p. 147). His disenfranchisement with life destructed himself for over a year; his self esteem
had been crushed. When asked where he was going on his wedding day, he indicated “To hell”
(Doren, 1942), showing he still hadn’t resolved conflicts within himself and was unable to justify
the marriage. His relationship with Mary Todd, though ending well was inscribed with the scars
of Lincoln’s emotional struggles against depression and self doubt.
Case Conceptualization
In undertaking a patient that has such depressive states and self worth issues, it is crucial
to choose a therapy method that is able to address his inward reflection as well as immediately
deal with the symptoms at hand. The most direct approach to begin healing then would likely be
Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) as proposed by Albert Ellis.
Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy builds upon using rationality to combat faulty
emotional triggers and ingrained mindsets which the client is experiencing (Gladding, 2009, p.
228). According to Ellis’ theory, which gains much influence from philosophy, cognitive
elements (Ashcraft, 2006), and Adler’s ideas of inferiority shows human beings as biologically
founded in irrational pressures that affect behaviors, emotions, and thoughts (Ellis & Dryden,
1997). This theory of therapy would work on emotional unsettling that Lincoln experienced,
adjust the rash behavior of cancelling the wedding, and address thoughts of inferiority and need
of cognitive enhancement that are shown in his earlier statement “I can never be satisfied with

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anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me”. Since Ellis’ focus of therapy is to adjust
the unhealthy beliefs that underpin dysfunctional behavior (Ellis & Dryden, 1997), Lincoln
would be able to address his unhealthy belief of being unworthy of all women’s affection, and
rather than generalizing understand better the situation and how to make adjustments. Ellis seems
to direct the needs of correction in Lincoln’s cognitive realm by stating “in ego disturbance a
person …becomes disturbed by damning ‘self’. As I [Windy Dryden] have shown, self-
damnation involves the process of giving my ‘self’ a global negative rating” (Ellis & Dryden,
1997, p. 7). With Lincoln’s view of going to hell because of the issues surrounding his marriage,
he has given himself a negative view of the entire event resulting in a type of self loathing and
regret that needs to be changed. Lincoln should not brood and increase his irrational thoughts but
must address them head on, with the help of REBT in order to overcome his difficulties with
women. With his irrational thoughts of rejection and inadequacy, Lincoln developed emotionally
tides of distrust that periodically wrecked havoc on his proceeding relationships. Ellis’ stance of
using rationality to combat this divisive thinking would likely improve Lincoln’s condition.
A specific understanding of Ellis’ way to address depression is privy to knowing how a
therapist would treat Lincoln. According to REBT the thought pattern often behind depression
begins with a failure, a requirement of never failing, and a self-infliction sentence of punishment
because of the failure (Yankura & Dryden, 1997, p.49). With this sort of progression (though the
second step could be already present but begin presenting at a failure incident), a failure will lead
to a downward spiral of loss of enjoyment and self abasement. The first step in addressing
Lincoln’s depression will be to have him recognize these three factors as ways the depression is
continuing. Once this step is completed he must begin dissociating bad outcomes with self
identity of a bad person, his attribution of hate towards himself has limited the actions he is able

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to take in other areas of his life (Yankura & Dryden, 1997, p.52). Lincoln has undeniably begun
to equivocate his actions or thoughts with the entire person, creating a dogmatic and impossible
self to like. Ellis’ therapy methods would include the separating of self from actions, temporary
justification of actions, and teaching Lincoln to have more normalized standards. These specific
techniques will keep Lincoln from generalizing his need for perfection, lower amount of anxiety
from faulty actions, and give him a more relativistic method in which to view the world and
therefore be better able to forgive himself.
It is important to recognize that that REBT is useful beyond addressing an individual’s
depression but can effectively treat a plethora of symptoms including but not limited to, anxiety,
phobias, mid life crises, and obsessive compulsive tendencies (Ellis & Dryden, 1997).
Regardless of the difficulty the client is facing, (unless neurological, or uncontrollable
hallucinations) it is fair to say that REBT will be effective in treatment because it addresses,
though with differing terms, the mind (thoughts), body (actions), and soul (emotions). Because
of this universality, REBT has been used in many settings, whether it be intensive marathon type
therapy, group therapy, disability therapy, or family therapy (Yankura & Dryden, 1997, 2) In
each case the therapy is seen as effect with different setting emphasizing different aspects. For
example, a group therapy type may increase the level of discussion raised about one’s irrational
thoughts and cause a higher likelihood of them being dismissed. Overall REBT research has
been extensive in multiple settings and symptomologies.
Discussion
One of the most outstanding weaknesses I see in Ellis’ ability to treat Lincoln would be
the fact that he believes that religious adherence causes disturbances and dependency (Ellis &

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Dryden, 1997, p.5). Though this may mesh with Lincoln’s apparent atheistic tendencies (Foner,
2008), it would be unhelpful in the way of giving Lincoln a view of eternity. Lincoln being an
atheist still did not keep him from respecting or memorizing the Bible and having him use the
wisdom he had learned from these writings could assist him in overcoming his downcast spirit.
Eternity, gives perspective to help one overcome trials of the day and with the relativistic view
that Ellis puts forth, it leaves the clients with nothing to truly believe in. Everything becomes a
thing relevant in specific situation and therefore segmented away from the person’s life. An
objective reality is a necessary one to have if there is to be a unity and peace of mind for Lincoln.

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References
Ashcraft, M.H. (2006). Cognition (fourth edition). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Basler, R.P. (1946). Abraham Lincoln: His speeches and writings. Cleveland: The World
Publishing Company.
Current, R.N. (1958). The Lincoln nobody knows. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press
Publishers.
Doren, C.V. (1942). The literary works of Abraham Lincoln. New York: The Press of the
Readers Club.
Ellis, A., & Dryden, W. (1997). The practice of rational emotive behavior therapy (second
edition). New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc.
Foner, E. (2008). Our Lincoln. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Gladding, S.T. (2009) Counseling: A comprehensive profession. New Jersey: Pearson Publishing
Inc.
Yankura, J., & Dryden, W. (1997). Using REBT with common psychological problems: A
therapist’s casebook. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc.
Yankura, J., & Dryden, W. (1997). Special applications of REBT: A therapist’s casebook. New
York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. (2)
Zall, P.M. (1999). Lincoln on Lincoln. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky.