49% of US Presidents suffered mental illness in Duke study

The Chronicle ^ | February, 2006 | Haley Hoffman

[Torie]

Michael Medved mentioned this on his radio talk show today, and I did a Google, and found this. Medved said the Duke shrinks diagnosed Coolidge, Grant, and Lincoln as ill. Medved said that the only politician around today he thought was really nuts was Gore. And so it goes.

[DemforBush]

Does Clinton count twice for being a pathological liar AND a sexual deviant?

[Howlin]

Are they now going to say Bush is crazy?

[furquhart]

I don't know about the rest.

But I think that any fair reading of Lincoln's life (and I've read more than a few biographies) would likely suggest that he was clinically depressed. Coolidge also seems to have suffered from severe depression as a result of the death of his son while he was in office.

[Graybeard58]

Howard Taft apparently suffered from sleep apnea.

That's a mental ilness?

[Old Professer]

Doctor's offices are littered with depression literature, being sick doesn't exactly lead to gaiety; the archetypal fool is the madman of the past, today's nut case is so sad he's as serious as a heart attack.

Projection is the refuge of the self-absorbed.

[Torie]

Abe had his ups and downs. But he did not allow his downs to interfere when it really mattered. It was a triumph of the will. Abe's worst down happened before he became famous.

[conservative cat]

Howard Taft apparently suffered from sleep apnea.

How is sleep apnea a mental illness or was that just a filler sentence?

[conservative cat]

That's a mental ilness?

Guess I was slow to post! My question, too.

[Torie]

Taft suffered from the "mental illness" of gluttony.

[onyx]

Good grief.

[I still care]

Junk science.

Sleep apnea is mental illness? And social phobia - Isn't that just shyness? If it's so bad they are truly phobic, I doubt they could get through a campaign.

Now people may have a tendency towards certain problems, but who doesn't?

[BostonianRightist]

"Social phobia is kind of remarkable in a president. It meant he was shy and avoided social circumstances, and yet he was president," Swartz said.

Shyness is a mental disorder? Duke psychiatrists: proving once again why psychiatry is a useless field of study.

[hawkeye101]

Half of the Presidents have been liberals. Liberalism is a mental disorder.

[Torie]

I take it you are not sold on the notion that half of our presidents, including some of the leading lights, were nutters? Is that a fair synopsis of your opinion?

By the way, where is LBJ on the list?

[SAJ]

And a very thoroughgoing narcissist.

[Moonman62]

According to the article, just about anything is mental illness.

[ozzymandus]

I know one recent President who was a psychopathic liar and a serial sexual offender.

[Springman]

Funny you asked the question. A couple days ago, made the mistake of listening to Randi Rhodes on Air Amerika. (There wasn't much on during my lunch break)

She had on some shrink, he said Pres. Bush was mental ill.

Can't remember everything, but a lot had to do with his sister that died, had no funeral and the family never talked about it.

[Howlin]

Never talked about it? What the heck does that mean? They talk about Robin all the time.

What a crock.