A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness?by Nassir?Ghaemi was a fantastic book, one that I wish I could convince every person in?America to read, because I feel that too many Americans don?t understand mental illness at all, or they simply refuse to acknowledge the signs of illness in themselves or others due to the stigma surrounding it.
Too many people out there in this world believe that people who have been diagnosed with a?mental illness are just completely crazy, unworthy souls who are completely unreliable and incapable, which just about kills me. Why do we judge others like this? I can?t tell you how many times I?ve seen people sit in judgment of others who were diagnosed with a mental illness, watching those same individuals demonstrate?extremely clear signs of mental health issues themselves. I?m sure many people would be shocked to see the prevalence?of mental health in our country. Did you know that in a lifetime, 55% of 30-44 years olds have some form of?mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health? In fact,?1 in 4 adults suffer from?one or more conditions.?
What I like about this book is that it is extremely readable and not overloaded with statistics on each page?although I will tell you that the author included?63 pages at the end of the work that includes?his notes, a bibliography and an index, in order to back up his research in this book. Ghaemi?has done his homework, and I feel he does a wonderful job in proving that?having a mental illness doesn?t stop people from being?great leaders and?contributors to our society. Ghaemi?talks about many historical leaders with mental illnesses,?and his?research and opinion is not only refreshing, it is remarkable. He writes,
?The thesis of this book runs counter to a deep cultural stigma accompanying mental illness. I suspect that it may be among our species? deepest biases, more so than even racism or sexism. Even those who realize the problem of psychiatric?stigma, like doctors, cannot escape their inherent stigma. Some studies show that physicians attach as much stigma to mental illness as the general population. Even mental health professionals, who attach the least stigma to mental illness, have negative attitudes toward some mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. And even some mentally ill people themselves harbor stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness.?
I can?t even begin to tell you how happy I was to be able to receive a review copy of this book. I love to read psychology?books, as my childhood best friend has a sister who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, and my own mother is an undiagnosed (but clearly suffers from)?bipolar disorder. I know what mental illness is really like. My friend and I have?both seen the way people have reacted to us once they heard about our mentally ill relatives, and it is terrible, if not at times almost humorous. I?spent my entire childhood hiding who my mother was and how it affected me, and I?got sick of hiding. In my old age, I love nothing more than to tell people, yes, I?m related to someone who is (in your mind) CRAZY. ?I think people need to learn how to be more empathetic and understanding of mental illness, and my desire is that this book will help others to do just that.
Ghaemi?describes the history and details surrounding the?mental illnesses in many great leaders such as President Lincoln, General Sherman, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Ted Turner, while even sharing failed leadership stories of some mentally healthy leaders like George McClellan, and even the devastating?results of bad treatment of mental illness and how it affected all of us,?as?with?Adolf Hitler. Ghaemi?goes on to describe an interesting theory of mental illness:
?Inverse Law of Sanity: when times are good, when peace reigns, and the ship of state only needs to sail straight, mentally healthy people function well as our leaders. When our world is in tumult, mentally ill leaders function best.?
This book was so damn interesting, and I wish I could write a 5,000 word review to capture all of my enthusiasm and most of the interesting stories inside of it, to better convince you to buy a copy, but who would read a book review that long??I will tell you that I loved?learning more about FDR, who has always been one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite president.?I was shocked to learn MLK?attempted suicide twice. I was grossed out by Kennedy?s sexual behavior, and yet I can?t imagine what life must have been like for him, living with a fatal illness he was forced to hide, not to mention?dealing with and hiding his mental illness. I had no idea Hilter?was bipolar, and that his medications and treatment basically morphed?him into a hateful, evil monster. I really thought Hitler was a psychopath, but again, I was educated by this book, absolutely?shocked?when Ghaemi?goes on to share that most of the Germans who worked for?Hitler weren?t even mentally ill.
I?d like to leave you with a few more quotes from the book, which I found to be extremely insightful and interesting, and I hope that?you will think about all the leaders in your own life, in addition to all of the past leaders Ghaemi talks about.??I love knowing that there is plenty of research out there that shows that depressed people are better than non-depressed people when it comes to assessing threat and predicting the future, or that bipolar people have creativity. What would all of our lives be like without those people and their?visions?
?Four key elements of some mental illnesses?mania and depression?appear to promote crisis leadership: realism, resilience, empathy, and creativity.?
?As we have seen throughout this book, the greatest leaders are often abnormal, even flat out?mentally ill. We should accept, even celebrate, this possibility. Being normal is great in a friend and a spouse and in one?s daily life; but leaders of nations and armies and businesses are faced with tasks and crises that no one else faces in normal life. For abnormal challenges, abnormal leaders are needed.?
Purchase your copy of A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness on Amazon.com now.
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Visit the author?s website, NassirGhaemi.com.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nassir?Ghaemi is a professor?of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and the director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He trained in psychiatry at, and also serves on the faculty of, Harvard Medical School, and has degrees in history (BA, George Mason University), philosophy (MA, Tufts), and public health (MPH, Harvard). He has published more than a hundred scientific articles and several books on psychiatry.
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