49% of US Presidents suffered mental illness in Duke study

The Chronicle ^ | February, 2006 | Haley Hoffman

[Springman]

IIRC, from what was said on the show, the family never talked about, at the time.

Of course I thought that was BS, even I had heard about her, just could remember her name.

I didn't listen very long, sure they came up w/more stuff.

Hey the President's bon again, that would be enough for the Rats.

[Berlin_Freeper]

How many psychiatrists at the Duke University Medical Center suffer from mental illness?

[singfreedom]

I dare say these shrinks could/would determine nearly anyone has a tendency to "mental illness". Aometimes the diagnosis is all "in the eye of the beholder".

How come they haven't used their lacrosse team as subjects? I think they might be good objects of a study.

[hsalaw]

Good grief.

My thought exactly. There's nothing like defaming the dead to grab headlines.

[Torie]

How many psychiatrists at the Duke University Medical Center suffer from mental illness?

The researchers wrote that the 49 percent rate mirrored national mental illness statistics,

49%?

[Howlin]

I didn't listen very long

That's probably a good idea; you never can tell what might happen to you if you listen too long.

[singfreedom]

Should read "Sometimes". Sorry.

[x]

It looks like they have a hard time separating mental from physical conditions, or illnesses from vices or moods. Of course, when you want to know what Washington or Lincoln was like, you don't turn to these guys. You go to a good biography that can tell you more than a long distance diagnosis.

I have to wonder about the "Captain Queeg" factor, though. If a candidate really does have some sort of neurosis or disorder, it would be a good idea not to elect him. The long campaigns we have may do something to weed out candidates who have some mental problems -- though some disorders may actually work to a politician's advantage, at least until they get elected.

Some conditions, though, may not show up until a crisis happens. The idea that you can separate out those the determined from overly rigid, or the easy-going from the spinless before hand is a delusion, since those who write such long-distance analyses are usually influenced more by their own prejudices than by actual objective data.

[x]

Taft suffered from the "mental illness" of gluttony.

That's ironic, right.

[Springman]

Notice I have to turn up radio volume when I listen!!!!! However I don't hear the neighbors dog that much any more!!

Time for bed, good night.

[raygun]

That's really not suprising at all. I'm certain that every modern President (and any national leader for that matter) has to be neurotic at least (and we all are to some extent). How can anybody live in he fishbowl known as the U.S. Presidency? What do they know about reality? I believe it was Nixon who somehow slipped out of his room at some hotel somewhere. The Secret Service was horrified to discover that he was missing. They finally found him in the cafeteria sitting at a table and talking to some guy while both were munching hamburgers.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Carter was and is definitely mentally ill...but even more so are the people who idolize him.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Luckily those Presidents didn't have any self declared geniuses around telling them how sick they were, or they may have perished from hypochrondia before their time.

[metmom]

Howard Taft apparently suffered from sleep apnea.

That's a mental ilness?

Aren't these the same people who think *homophobia* is a mental disorder? That should about settle the question.

[Ursine_East_Facing_North]

"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.

My roommate has social phobia. It's more than just shyness - you almost have to put a gun to his head to get him to get him to leave the house. It's kind of like agoraphobia (sp?) but he's not afraid of open spaces, he's afraid of people.

That said, I don't disagree with you - the conclusion in the OP is bunk. I seriously doubt that anyone who had this condition could aspire to be the town dogcatcher - let alone the President.

[Berlin_Freeper]

"The researchers wrote that the 49 percent rate mirrored national mental illness statistics,"


Didn't Bush get 51% of the vote against Kerry's 49%?

That right there proves who would have been the next mental President.

[GSlob]

"Does Clinton count twice for being a pathological liar AND a sexual deviant?"
Nah. For a politician it is normal - about par for the course. Abnormal politicians would be those closer to the common norm of a normal person, for being a politician is in itself a form of mental disease. And having to deal with the rest of that crowd could drive almost anyone to alcoholism and depression. Luckily for the Republic, they have not gone postal, at least not yet.

[woofie]

Breaking :

Only 4 % of Crazy People approve of George W Bush. Its the lowest approval number so far in his 6 years in office ...Lower even than yesterday when 5 % of Crazy People approved of George W Bush.

[Sonny M]

My roommate has social phobia. It's more than just shyness - you almost have to put a gun to his head to get him to get him to leave the house. It's kind of like agoraphobia (sp?) but he's not afraid of open spaces, he's afraid of people.

These presidents did NOT have that kind of social phobia, they simply were shy, and Jefferson wasn't even that, he was just an elitist.

You can not run, nor serve as President, if you can't meet and talk to people and the examples given (like Coolidge) do not fit the bill.

They have taken true terms, but expanded the definations so far out that everyone could reasonably fit in.

[woofie]

Carter thought his mother was a peanut