Psychiatry and politicians: the ‘hubris syndrome’ (2018)

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-psychiatrist/article/psychiatry-and-politicians-the-hubris-syndrome/46643F663C0E79B9CE3FFE0A0F97F09B

by jka • 4 years ago

63 43 4 years ago

cambridge.org

wuschel2• 4 years ago

Interesting read, especially now that long term deficient political activities show their symptoms in the form of Brexit, Ukraine, etc.

Basically, look out for these clinical features of the hubris syndrome when it comes to people in positions of leadership and power:

1/ sees the world as a place for self-glorification through the use of power

2/ has a tendency to take action primarily to enhance personal image

3/ shows disproportionate concern for image and presentation

4/ exhibits messianic zeal and exaltation in speech

5/ conflates self with nation or organisation

6/ uses the royal ‘we’ in conversations

7/ shows excessive self-confidence

8/ manifestly has contempt for others

9/ shows accountability only to a higher court (history or God)

10/ displays the unshakable belief that he will be vindicated in that court

11/ loses contact with reality

12/ resorts to restlessness and impulsive actions

13/ allows moral rectitude to obviate consideration of practicality, cost or outcome, and

14/ displays incompetence with disregard for the nuts and bolts of policy-making.

Don’t vote for them. Remove them from power.

netizen-9368242• 4 years ago

Sounds like most US politicians. Especially Republicans

refurb4• 4 years ago

“Yes we can”

Pretty sure that’s the royal “we”

bilbo0s2• 4 years ago

It's pretty much all politicians. Not only American politicians.

matthewmorgan• 4 years ago

Complete drivel to compare the invasion of Ukraine to brexit

dane-pgp5• 4 years ago

Do you not see the consistent psychology behind:

* Make America Great Again - we've been cheated by the globalists

* Make Britain Great Again - we've been cheated by the EU

* Make Russia Great Again - we've been cheated by the West

* Make Germany Great Again - we've been cheated by the Jews

refurb4• 4 years ago

A number of these seem to nicely summarize a number of social media influencers.

hprotagonist• 4 years ago

The Orders are composed of persons all hung up on authority, security and control; i.e., they are blinded by the Aneristic Illusion. They do not know that they belong to Orders of Discordia. But we know.

- The Military Order of THE KNIGHTS OF THE FIVE SIDED TEMPLE. This is for all the soldiers and bureaucrats of the world.

- The Political Order of THE PARTY FOR WAR ON EVIL. This is reserved for lawmakers, censors, and like ilk.

- The Academic Order of THE HEMLOCK FELLOWSHIP. They commonly inhabit schools and universities, and dominate many of them.

- The Social Order of THE CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR CONCERNED CITIZENS. This is mostly a grass-roots version of the more professional military, political, academic and sacred Orders.

- The Sacred Order of THE DEFAMATION LEAGUE. Not much is known about the D.L., but they are very ancient and quite possibly were founded by Greyface himself. It is known that they now have absolute domination over all organized churches in the world. It is also believed that they have been costuming cabbages and passing them off as human beings.

A person belonging to one or more Order is just as likely to carry a flag of the counter-establishment as the flag of the establishment-- just as long as it is a flag.

Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton.

rtkaratekid• 4 years ago

If, like me, you had no idea what this was…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Discordia

antattack• 4 years ago

It seems to me that government needs more checks and balances so people can recall their candidates if they misrepresented themselves or their intentions.

bilbo0s2• 4 years ago

We can recall our leaders. (At least in the US we can.)

Of course, you have to get enough people to agree with you that the leader should be recalled. You can't recall him/her because you want to recall him/her. You can only recall a leader if we want to recall him/her.

johnsimer2• 4 years ago

Can anyone explain what’s wrong with using the royal “we” in conversations?

imranhou• 4 years ago

I think he is talking about him/her referring to his/her self (singular), using "we".

daniel-cussen• 4 years ago

Wework for example. Adam Neumann was always about "we".

So what it means at a basic level is speaking on behalf of a group that is united against the opposing "I", basically a team or gang versus an individual.

someweirdperson• 4 years ago

I don't have any personal experience with politicians.

But it all sounds very familiar when reading it as "Psychiatry and Architects (or any other technical persons voted into power by management)".

jackcosgrove• 4 years ago

I have some experience. During college I had an internship with a county planning agency. I was staffing the welcome table where they hand out nametags at a conference the agency was sponsoring.

A smartly dressed woman walked up to me and said nothing. I welcomed her and asked what her name was so I could give her a nametag. She gave me a weird look, then stepped back and conferred with what looked like a retinue. I heard her say, "Who is that there?" (referring to me) "What is going on here?"

My supervisor rushed up and saved the day, handing her the appropriate nametag and explaining that I was an intern. Turns out she was some elected county official. Of course I should have known her name.

This was a county, the little leagues.

tiahura2• 4 years ago

Yes and no. County politics and politicians can be a little unintuitive. Because there’s almost no reporting of things that get done by county government - and there’s so little accountability, compared to city state and fed, an unbelievable amount of corruption and patronage occurs. Therefore personal connections are more important and ego plays a disproportionate role (where the baseline is already overinflated egos).

throwawy57772• 4 years ago

Interesting that two of the cases discussed mention a prescription of amphetamines, which they describe as harmful. Did these differ substantially to the doses we prescribe for ADHD nowadays?

amanaplanacanal• 4 years ago

I don’t have an answer to your question, but I will point out that the effects of stimulants on someone with adhd are different from the effects they have on a neurotypical person.

CoastalCoder• 4 years ago

FWIW, I have ADD and sometimes take (prescribed) Adderall, i.e. amphetamine salts.

They absolutely have an unwelcome impact on my mood and thoughts. I judge the tradeoff to be worthwhile, but it's a close call.

throwawy57772• 4 years ago

Me too, and also I think the trade-off worthwhile, which is why I ask this question. I hope in the future people will have found a better treatment for ADHD. Maybe they'll look back at the medications currently used in a similar way as this article does.

briHass• 4 years ago

I would wager the amphetamine doses given in those 2 examples were quite different than what is typically prescribed by (responsible) Drs treating ADHD today.

In Eden's case, it mentions that he was actually using Dexamyl[1], which is actually a amphetamine mixed with a barbituate. Though the dose isn't given, I'd imagine it was 'as needed' and largely uncontrolled. Uppers + downers tends to lead to bad results.

In JFK's case, he was treated by Max Jacobson a.k.a. 'Dr Feelgood'[2,3], and it wasn't just amphetamines; he made up injections of all kinds of vitamins, steroids, and speed. Again, it was 'as needed' and likely overdosed. Dr Jacobson would ultimately lose his medical license.

For ADHD, the maximum daily limit for amphetamine salts is 60mg in adults, and the recommended dose for ADHD is no more than 40mg/day. At those levels, there isn't a ton of evidence of deleterious effects, certainly not psychosis, as long as sleep isn't overly impacted. A carefully controlled max dose of 40-60mg a day is a far cry from the days of 'poppin' bennies' ad libitum.

As a side note, one has to wonder if the last, and almost certainly the current, US Presidents were/are prescribed stimulants. President Trump speaks for himself, but even President Biden seems to range widely in his level of energy and lucidity. With a job so important, where appearances matter, and with a team of doctors that can give you whatever they want, I think it would be naive to think they don't write Adderall scripts.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexamyl [2] https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/john-f-kennedy-ma... [3] https://www.historynet.com/jack-kennedy-dr-feelgood/

T-A• 4 years ago

The mention of physical health reminded me of this story, which briefly flared up a couple of years ago:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/6/kremlin-spokesman-d...

Even common painkillers can have bad effects on mental health:

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20180206/do-otc-pai...

chiefalchemist• 4 years ago

The hubris syndrome has great appeal to psychiatrists, partly because it is a new concept.

New? That's hard to believe that its taken this long to construct such a syndrome.

In any case, while hubris might be an issue for some (minority?), being generally disconnected from those they serve seems to be the current state of leadership.

Look at Congress, all or nearly all are millionaires. CEOs and other C Level executives are paid record amounts (as a ratio of what staff compensation). Those in charge of The Fed? When was the last time any of them rubbed elbows with the victims of their system?

Hubris is a problem, and evidently a new one. But ignorance is more common and far more damaging.

tgv• 4 years ago

This

The first example of Kennedy's lack of political skill was the failed attempt to destabilise Fidel Castro in Cuba.

is presented without any evidence. The 'syndrome' itself is based on highly biased, out of context judgement of third party observations. Perhaps they should look up the classical concept "projection."

brnaftr361• 4 years ago

What is the first step in assuming a power role? I think in terms of leadership you've got to somehow address the span of authority. Even having a few people under limited authority is a pretty substantial undertaking. But having counts in the tens of thousands and having considerable power? I don't think there is a way to reconcile that without detachment of one sort or another. I know if I were in that sort of position, nothing would get done lest some injury to even a single individual be precipitated, thus making me morally culpable in their hurt.

It's funny, but most of the senior staff ripe for promotion that I've had the pleasures of interacting with were always disinterested in moving "up" to a leadership position. I think most people have an intuitive sense of the real responsibilities that one has to engage with. So the idea that these people have some underlying pathology I don't think is too far from the mark. I've also considered the concept of pathogenic careers, and the assumption of particular frameworks of justification that need erected to assume certain roles. For instance a surgeon takes life and death into their hands every day, how they reconcile the high-stakes, the successes and the failures, as well as the known- and unknown in the performance of their duties may contribute to a conditioned pathology. I suspect CEOs and politicians are no different. Of course this is all speculative.

ComradePhil• 4 years ago

This reads like an article written by lowest of the human social hirearchy who have such low status that they don't even understand it (I don't mean conceptually, I mean experiencially)... or maybe it is just crafted for that audience.

In any case, I don't want to constructively criticize it because they'll just learn more... which they will then use to pick a clown they control and install them as leaders, CEOs of large corporations etc. much more than they have been doing already.

I can add one thing though... which may or may not be related. If you want to support a politician, make sure you have listened (preferably watched) to them in a long unscripted unplanned conversations with several people. These people can teach them how to stand, how to talk, how to use vocal inflections etc. and give them talking points and reharshals... but watch them for long enough and they'll break character. The anti-dote to fake leaders is long-form podcasts.

Psychiatry and politicians: the ‘hubris syndrome’ (2018)

Related Stories