In his interview with the Archive of American Television, Winters reported that he suffered a nervous breakdown and spent 8 months in a private mental hospital in the late 1950s. Despite not being given a diagnosis in the hospital, he was diagnosed with manic depression later on (known today as bipolar disorder). Winters referred to this incident obliquely in his stand-up act, most famously on his 1960 comedy album "The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters". During his classic "flying saucer" routine, Winters mentions that if he wasn't careful, the authorities might put him back in the "zoo", referring to the institution.