Holman reportedly suffered from depression because of: the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the presidential election loss by Eugene McCarthy, the deaths of young men in the Vietnam War, the death of her son, and the illness of her friend Jane Bowles. Friends said she lost her vitality after the death of Montgomery Clift in 1966. The deaths of multiple people close to her, combined with the Vietnam War and the turbulent political situation took a toll on her mental health.