Information about Patty Duke was taken from her book, A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness, written with Gloria Hochman. (See note 1 at bottom.)

In addition to the link above for the Woolf paper, I have written papers on other forms of mental illness. Here are those links:
Manic Depression as Reflected in the Life and Works of Robert Schuman
Attempted Assassin John Hinckly--Was He Schizophrenic?
William Styron and Clinical Depression
Alfred Lord Tennyson and Lifelong Depression
2012: Thirteen More Examples of Schizophrenia

We should start by making a working definition of this illness. Some one suffering from manic depression swings fairly continuously between two mutually exclusive states: one, a severe, disabling depression, and the other, a highly energized enthusiasm. The latter is characterized by little sleep, precipitous actions, creativity, immense productivity, and a glut of ideas.

The individual in depression doesn’t just feel down, he feels immobilized, worthless, and despairing to the point of suicide.

The individual in his manic phase doesn’t just feel good, he feels unbelievably great and self-confident. He feels he has stepped free from common human limitations to become a superhuman.

Now that we have a definition of manic depression, I will make my astrological statement. Manic depression--bipolar disorder--is a disorder also characterized by definite astrological conditions.

Bi-polar means two poles. Evidence is clear, even with traditional astrology, saturn is the sponsor of the depressed pole. (See William Styron article for more on saturn and depression.) That solves half the problem.

Its manic pole must be represented by some other planet(s). And it is. Mania for manic depression is represented by one planet--uranus.

Let’s look at some key words for qualities associated with saturn and uranus:

These qualities are not limited to describing an individual’s mind. Depending on which chart(s) they predominate in, saturn and uranus can describe alternations in, for instance, his relationships to others, his experience of money, his sex life, and so on.

With manic depression, we are interested in their influence on his mind, and, we believe, his body-identity. When the energy between the two columns is unequal--less for Column 1, and more for Column 2, as is the case with manic depression, which, among other things, is a condition of alternating extremes of energy and its lack--their qualities become exaggerated. The more exaggerated they become, the more they describe the experience of the manic depressive.

Saturn and uranus defining the condition of manic depression creates several problems for those who suffer from this illness.

First, the qualities they describe--which the manic depressive experiences in alternation--are nearly complementary opposites. Those in Column 1 are yin to the yang of Column 2. They are the original, first poles out of which so-called duality (see note 2 below)--so necessary for life at this level--was created. When a planet has very powerful influence on consciousness--as is the case with this disorder--other forms of consciousness recede into oblivion. Earlier forms may be remembered, but that is it. They can rarely be called back into the present state to balance it. We all experience this. For example, when very unhappy, it is difficult to recall and use our prior joy as a means to balance our unhappiness. So, states represented by the contradictory planets saturn and uranus--powerless and all-powerful, respectively--must be bewildering, indeed.

Second, neither saturn nor uranus is a planet of personality. When we make a list of their qualities, the list is really one showing how their qualities show up filtered through personality. They affect the personality, but do not create it. They are necessary for life, but at a very deep, abstract level.

Theoretically, we could build a personality out of all mercury, all venus, all mars, or all jupiter (representing relating, doing, thinking, and incorporating, respectively and very simplistically)-- all planets of personality. True, any individual made up only of one of them would be strange, indeed. He would undoubtedly bewilder us, but we would recognize some kind of kinship. Not so with saturn or uranus.

Saturn is really a “not.” It represents the “place,” coming into incarnation, where the individual is split off from Everything-That-Is. Saturn, therefore, represents a radical cutting off from Source. An individual experiencing excessive saturn, as happened with William Styron, is really, in a sense, returning to Source. When doing that, he should, then, be having a great mystical experience, right? Not quite. He is having an extremely dark and painful one. He is having an experience impossible to describe. Why? Because his consciousness is at a place that exists before our kind of language is created. He is returning to Source, but in the process, is losing all his planets of personality. That is, he has been shorn of planetary consciousness necessary for this level of existence without having yet attained the consciousness that existed before personality was created. Where does that leave him? Suspended over an extremely dark abyss, in the experience called clinical depression.

When saturn is less excessive, and working with the rest of our personality, it has positive qualities. For one, it enables stabilities of all kinds. Two examples are tradition and culture. Without tradition and culture, we would all be have to re-invent the wheel from birth. So, good comes out of the fact that--primitive or industrial--we conform (saturn) to most of tradition (also saturn). This is true even if we switch traditions--say, convert from one religion to another. In doing that, we are really passing from one saturn influence to a different saturn influence. After all, both involve tradition, so both involve saturn.

Tradition can, of course, become so restricting that it denies all change, even that necessary for life. That’s the negative aspect of saturn at the non-excessive level. Still, without saturn’s influence we would have no heritage.

Uranus is even further from personality than is saturn. Strictly speaking, we cannot even hypothesize a purely uranian individual, other than to say "he" would undoubtedly be “not this, not that.” Uranus is a planet of great irony. Its influence, in the form of independence and individuality, drags us from the crowd to make us stand shivering, naked and alone. Yet, shorn of the support of the homelier planets of personality, we wouldn't even recognize its existence! The principles involved in the creation of uranus existed before the principles involved in the creation of individuals. That is, uranus is more outer than saturn, where individuals become defined.

As uranus works with other planets, filtering through personality, we can say its influence is toward the unconventional, the not normal, and anything but the status quo.

Positively, it is anti-tradition. Negatively, it is also anti-tradition, but then just for the sake of being anti-, which makes it perverse. Still, without uranus’ influence, cultural and psychological--and perhaps even physical--evolution would cease.

Our uranian individuals--our visionary inventors and discoverers--are the ones who move the whole planet, step by step, discovery by discovery, from one stage of development to the next (see note 3 below). Without them, humanity would have suffered the same fate as a butterfly pupa caught in an iron cocoon (saturn). Just because they advance our evolution, however, doesn’t mean we usually treat them kindly. We don’t.

As I mentioned in the Styron paper, saturn is Job's planet. Uranus is Solomon's. And just as Job had some mars mixed into his "pure" saturn type, Solomon had some venus and jupiter mixed into his "pure" uranian type. Although we "command" neither planet, stability and the gifts of uranian consciousness come from God, if we are worthy, as the story of Solomon illustrates.

Returning to the effects of saturn and uranus on mental function, when excessive they create problems. What constitutes excessive? For manic depression, it is when each planet’s influence is (1) preponderant, and (2) so configured they alternate in expression.

When saturn and uranus are in the same set--especially conjunct--they create a some-what solvable problem. Because they are in the same aspect (set), their influence does not alternate so violently. As different as they are, when conjunct they are some-what forced to work together. When they do, each informs the other. Each modulates the extremes of the other. Stated another way, the individual learns (at least some...these are tough teachers) to handle their energies.

When they are in two (or more) separate but equally influential astrological sets, they express independently. So, they cannot modulate each other. Therefore, their action through the individual’s consciousness is one of alternation. He swings from exclusively saturnine consciousness to exclusively uranian, to saturnine, to uranian, ad infinitum.

How does all this show up in the astrology for manic depression? Research has shown two charts the locus of the expression of this disease. They are the harmonic charts for the 1st and 3rs houses. The former defines the individual’s identity as well as some things about its somatic consequences. It is his “I am this,” probably a direct outcome of what he learned about himself in the first five years of his life. The latter, his chart of his 3rd house, shows important information about the way his mind functions.

Research has also pinpointed there are two different ways manic-depressive excess shows astrologically.

(1) When light/saturn and light/uranus, are in separate aspects, rule Angles, and rule 3rd houses. When that happens, their influence is preponderant and alternates.

(2) When the lights--suns and moons, I did not use nodes--within the two charts are in mutually exclusive relationships with saturn and uranus. This latter condition appears decisive even when none of the lights or planets rules Angles and 3rd houses.

Condition (1) above is typical for the mind chart (third house). Miss Duke has this, plus more of condition (2) than usual in her mind chart.

Condition (2) is typical of the identity chart (first house). Miss Duke has this, plus more of condition (1) than usual in her identity chart.

Symbolically and astrologically, the lights are our consciousness. When they are in a set with a planet, they bring our consciousness an awareness (experience) of the qualities of that planet. Normally, the lights are in contact with a variety of planets. The effect is one of a variety of experiences.

In Condition (2), most of the (eight) lights per chart are in aspect to either saturn or uranus, with few, or no, other planets of personality involved.

We can now look at the charts of Patty Duke. Before we do, below are a few technical definitions for those who can use them:

All charts on this site are ones combining birth and conception. Conception is knowable because it is always in a mathematical relationship to birth, and birth is certainly knowable. Harmonics are done on all these planets.

Below c represents conception planets; b, birth. Numerals following b or c identify the position as a harmonic one, where 1 represents the harmonic for the 1st house chart and 3, the harmonic for the 3rd house chart. B and c planets notfollowed by a numeral, therefore not harmonic, exist in all charts. Harmonic planets exist only in the chart they are the harmonic for. For instance, the c3 uranus exists only in the harmonic chart of the 3rd house.

Planets are affecting each other (in aspect, in a set), that is, describing a condition together, when their relationship is one of 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees to each other, plus/minus five degrees.

Midheaven is also written MC; Ascendant is also written Asc. Together they are referred to generically as “Angles.”

Non-astrologers could find reading the following worthwhile by simply ignoring the too astrological.

C suns rule c 3rd house.
C uranus rules C MC.
B suns rule B Asc in c 3rd house (a simultaneous light/3rd house influence).

Total number of suns is four. Total number of moons is four. Their sum, as lights, is eight. Here, adding the lights together, she has 3 light/saturn conditions, and 5 light/uranus ones. Only row (6) shows a light aspecting both saturn and uranus. The remainder are all in aspect to saturn or uranus.

Since uranus is influencing both Angles and 3rds--a condition not required for forefront influence in this chart--as well as has the higher count, its influence is stronger than that of saturn in this chart. Her identity-soma shows more tendency toward mania and hyperactivity than toward depression.

Her Harmonic Chart Her 3rd House of Mind
Read across the rows to see relationship of lights with saturn or uranus.

C suns rule c 3rd house.
C uranus rules C MC
B suns rule B Asc in c 3rd house (a simultaneous light/3rd house influence)

Adding her lights together, Miss Duke has 3 light/saturn and 4 light/uranus aspects. Each influences 3rds and Angles, so each is equally effective. All are aspecting either saturn or uranus. None aspect both together. Her mind tends equally to mania and depression, in alternation.

She has a schizoid condition (see Hinckley for astrological definition of schizophrenia). It is:

Planet	Position
b3 sun	22 Pisces 51	ruler of B Asc in c 3rd house
b3 neptune	22 Pisces 57
C Asc	20 Gemini 13
c mars	20 Gemini 43
c saturn	24 Gemini 10

With light/mars/neptune influencing both an Angle and 3rd house, she is subject to schizoid experiences. Indeed, with such a strong influence, why isn’t she outright schizophrenic? Some guesses are: First, she also has powerful positive conditions in this chart, allowing her mind positive expression. Second, she has no neptune influence to 3rd houses in her identity chart (the biological basis of schizophrenia?). Third, her mania so predominates that her schizophrenia is weak by comparison. We suspect, however, her strong positive conditions are decisive. Only controlled studies can establish what strengthens and what weakens expressions.

By the way, her mars in Gemini, above, conjunct her Ascendant is one of the aspects that can mimic mania. People with this condition are always involved in multiple projects.

Duke also has a condition which represents her sensitivity to anesthetics and drugs. It is in her harmonic chart for her 1st house, where such sensitivities show as the somatic component of identity:

Mars/neptune influencing an Angle--shown here conjunct an Angle--in this chart expresses as environmental sensitivity. (See note 5 below.) On July 1, 1965, after having had anesthesia, she had her first experience of mania. At that time she had progressed conception Midheaven at 19 Pisces 04, aspecting the set above, and giving her another Angle/mars/neptune.

Why did this sensitivity set off manic depression? For now, that is not clear. This astrological condition does confirm, however, Duke’s claim to drug sensitivity.

Patty Duke’s chart is so divided between saturn and uranus as influences, that even her 7th house chart (one-on-one relations to others) shows it:

C suns rule c 3rd house.
C uranus rules C MC.
B suns rule B Ascendant in c 3rd house (a simultaneous light/3rd house influence)

*Largest orb in all three tables is b1 moon to b1 saturn: 4 degrees 50 minutes, in (6) above.

Adding them together, she has 4 light/saturn, and 4 light/uranus aspects. Each involves aspects with either saturn or uranus, but not both. This chart is not fundamental in defining manic depression. Its 3rd houses, rather, describe the way we relate to (or think of) others. So, for instance, William Styron has here a conjunction of moon, mars, and saturn in Libra in his 3rd house. He uses it in his writing to describe conditions of his characters. Mars/saturn (problems, friction, arguments, breakdowns) in Libra (relationships) are all plentifully represented in his novels.

Before leaving manic depression, a few words should be said about its present classifications as they were put forth in A Brilliant Madness.

The Types According to the Book
We list them with brief definitions: A Brilliant Madness contains much more explanation. Comments in italics show astrological perspective.

(1) Bipolar I: Classic Highs and Lows. This type sets the standard for manic depression, the experience of which originally led to its name. Duke has this type, mostly, with schizoid states mixed in. Bipolar I is what this paper is about: the astrological conditions which create the two extreme poles of manic depression.

(2) Bipolar II. Individuals have recurrent depressions, but without the psychotic manic episodes. They instead experience brief hypo-manic episodes (mildly euphoric, lots of self-confidence and energy). See (b) below. Should this really be termed bipolar? Isn’t it likely an individual suffering from recurrent depression is going to be over-excited and enthusiastic (and afraid of returning to depression) when not depressed?

(3) The Cyclothymes: Mild Ups and Downs. High and low cycles last only afew days or weeks. Sudden switches from apathy to sharp and creative thinking. Described as “perpetual dilettantes,” they start things but don’t usually finish them; attach themselves to various movements, then become disenchanted. This is partly addressed by (c) below. There are many astrological conditions which could create this which have nothing to do, astrologically, with mania, and only a little to do with depression. We might even call this one “life,” with special emphasis on certain immature behaviors.

(4) The Mixed States. This catch-all is just what is says--it labels those who experience all kinds of mental fluctuations not considered normal (?), the definition of which is not given.

(5) Medicated into Mania (anesthesia, steroids). As happened at least once with Duke. The medication does not cause mania. It just, for some reason, activates (always? sometimes?) any underlying astrological predisposition to it. Sensitivity to drugs and mania are not at all identical astrologically even if drugs do sometimes set off manic episodes.

(6) Unipolar Depression. A fancy term for depression, as if depression without mania were half an illness. Depression is as old as Man is. It is as old as Man because astrologically Man has always been “created” with all the planets. “All the planets” includes saturn, which in excess lends itself to depression. If we call depression without mania unipolar, then we should call depression without compensatory initiative or aggression (mars) another “polar”, and depression without balancing joy (venus/jupiter) another “polar,” and so on. Depression can be just depression--too much saturn.

(7) Reactive Depression, normal response to a major trauma. Among other things, one of the stages of grief. While grief undoubtedly has its saturn (depression) component, excessive grief appears neurotic, unlike manic depression which appears a mind and body problem.

(8)Schizophrenia and schizoid states. These are totally different mental problems from manic depression. Schizophrenia, astrologically, is too much neptune; paranoid schizophrenia, too much mars/neptune. They do not belong with the classification manic depressive. If a bipolar individual shows schizoid behavior, it is because he has schizoid influences, not because manic depression also manifests as schizophrenia. The excessive self confidence which comes with mania is not the same as the delusions of schizophrenia.

In further exploring how the above list of different types of “manic depression” could come into existence, I adduce some astrology:

As stated above, saturn wins hands down as the planet for creating depression. Other planets can and do modify saturn’s influence, but without saturn, the experience of depression could not exist. (Disappointment is another matter.)

Mania, however, is mimicked by other astrological situations. Here are some:

(a) Some one struggling between equal but separate mars (for mania) and saturn (for depression) influences could appear bipolar. Mars also represents energy and initiative, so it can mimic conditions of mania and uranus. However, even though mars’ energy, e.g., in a trained athlete or emergency situation, can become intense, it rarely hits the extremely high, constant outpouring of energy that is mania. Even trained or in emergencies, mars’ energy is, relatively speaking, normal. Mania energy is not. It is extraordinarily intense, with unusual psychological qualities.

(b) Some one with one Angle influenced by light/venus/jupiter and another influenced by light/saturn is going to appear bipolar. He swings from happy, productive periods to depressed, dysfunctional ones. Light/venus/jupiter is the set that describes all kinds of lucky and joyful situations. Any one would want to stay under its influence. However, with this kind of split, it will likely be experienced in alternation with depression, depending on which is set off by conditions as well as astrology. Naturally saturn/Angle is more painful following the joy and ease produced by light/venus/jupiter. Joy and ease are not mania. They are, in fact, components of our normal experience of being charismatic, successful, and lucky.

(c) Schizoid states can appear manic. Schizoid people can be very excited, and, if paranoid, even very, very excited. However, their energy is coming from mis-directed mars (fear, defense, anger) inflamed by hallucinations (neptune), not the high energy with convictions of unstoppability of mania. Manic people are not schizoid unless they also have mars/neptune influencing 3rd houses of mind, as does Patty Duke.

(d) Some one with a high emphasis of afflicted, Angular Leo planets can appear manic. They have an unconscious need to remain the constant center of attention. They will fight to maintain it, even when it makes them unpopular. In alternation with saturnine aspects it could look bipolar.

(e) An individual who has angular light/uranus in Gemini can appear manic. His mind often goes a mile a minute (Robin Williams would be an example). Without seeing more of his chart, we do not know if he is truly manic, or simply focused on the more exciting, interesting part of his chart.

(f) The “perpetual dilettantes” of (3) above (the cyclothymes) are probably problems of conjunctions (of sun, or moon, or maybe a planet) to south nodes in Gemini, which have nothing to do with either mania or depression. They simply emphasize youth and beginnings with net losses in the area of maturity and completion. People have such problems with or without mental illness.

August, 2010: A reader sent this link for those interested in alternative therapies for this disorder. It also contains a learning center she recommends: More on Bipolar Disorder

Conclusion
Excessive saturn and uranus, defined above, in her two relevant charts amply confirm everything Patty Duke writes about her illness. Astrologically, she has powerful indicators for manic depression. She has some schizoid influences. She has sensitivity to drugs, gases, fumes, anesthesia,etc.

Although the excess in Miss Duke's bipolar disorder turned out to be through her suns and moons, the usual way this disorder manifests is through two separate sets involving light/saturn and light/uranus which influence both Angles and 3rd houses, especially in the mind chart. That leads to the see-saw between states of saturn and states of uranus.

Discussion
As for the above list of mental illnesses, it happened in a field devoid of understanding the principles and implications of astrology. What is wrong with that? Psychologists and psychiatrists do not even pretend to know astrology. Moreover, many of them even scorn it. So why should they show any understanding of its implications? What is wrong is, those implications occur for all of us all of the time in the diseases and disorders we experience. The astrological chart is highly correlated with the individual’s life. Its language of planets, signs, and houses is a universal one. With the right methodology, it's an entirely consistent one. That which consistently yields reliable information about Man must be valuable for understanding him. So, those interested in his healing might profit by being informed of his astrology.

It is true: excessive, or really skewed, conditions sponsor people’s problems. They do so because they are excessive--too much in one area, too contradictory, too painful, too convoluted. Such excesses exist on the ends of a presumed Bell curve of consciousness. People don’t mind excesses that are positive. On the other hand, our American drug problem may well be testimony to our belief any unhappiness is unnatural.

The fact is, however, every human being has the same aggregate of planets. We hate, love, and manage what they present us with depending on how they are distributed and their relative power. We also manage them according to the tools we were given in childhood or have acquired in living.

It is a mistake to define as mental illness qualities and conditions--not even excessive-- absolutely implied in our existence. Mankind is not created only for happiness. How can I tell? I can tell because some planets represent potentially distressing experiences. In excess, their potential for distress increases, and could properly be viewed as pathological. But, as a matter of fact, in excess even the benefics create problems. For one, the individual begins to believe he should never experience any unhappiness of any kind. For another, he believes he should only “take in” and “get bigger.” He fails to realize eliminating, curtailing, and excising are also sometimes necessary.

It is not for nothing that the planets mars and saturn used--in days long past--to be known as the lesser and greater malefics, respectively. (Or for that matter, venus and jupiter as the lesser and greater benefics, respectively.) These days their negative meaning is toned down. Contemporary depreciation of their capacity to harm has its purpose. It leads one to believe, however, that murder and hate and starvation and anger and rage and death and disease and mental illness have all ceased to exist. Ceased to exist? Hardly. Their astrological indicators became politically incorrect before they themselves were conquered. Perhaps because of that, we have carried the prohibition against discrimination into our scientific fields. What is needed is less pre-judgment, not less discrimination. That has led to our including under manic depression all kinds of symptoms having nothing to do with mania or depression.

Footnotes
(1) A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic-Depressive Illness, by Patty Duke and Gloria Hochman. New York: Bantam Books (Bantam Doubleday Dell), 1992.
(2) Examination of many of the “opposing” qualities in Columns 1 and 2 shows they actually represent the opposite ends of continuums or gradients.
(3) This is not the place to discuss whether the net result of their efforts--progress we call it--has been worth it. Clearly, invention needs to be accompanied with intelligent application.
(4) This methodology did notcome with a set of instructions. Almost every statement about it comes from actual research. Somatic components have shown up in several charts so far.
(5) Progressed Angle/mars/neptune--in this chart--was what Admiral Byrd had when he nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning when he wintered over alone at the South Pole. If one were to commit suicide using drugs, the drug part would also show up here as Angle/mars/neptune.

Data Acknowledgments
Patty Duke
Birth: 12/14/1946, 10:39 p.m. EST, Manhattan, NY. In Astro-Data IV, by Lois M. Rodden. From the birth certificate (Anna Marie Duke).
Conception:3/3/1946, 12:49:29 p.m. EST, Manhattan, NY