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49% of US Presidents suffered mental illness in Duke study
The Chronicle ^ | February, 2006 | Haley Hoffman
Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:05:20 PM by Torie
23/02/2006 - Duke: Duke study posits presidents had mental illness
U-Wire via NewsEdge Corporation :
By Haley Hoffman, The Chronicle (Duke)
DURHAM, N.C. -- No one would ever expect the general who led the Union army
to victory in the Civil War to have a debilitating fear of blood.
But Ulysses S. Grant was among the 49 percent of former U.S. presidents
afflicted by mental illness, according to an article published recently by
psychiatrists at the Duke University Medical Center.
Jonathan Davidson, professor of psychiatry and director of the Anxiety and
Traumatic Stress Program, has a particular interest in history, especially U
.S. presidents.
After culling data from presidential biographies, Davidson was joined by
Kathryn Connor, associate professor of psychiatry, and Marvin Swartz,
professor and head of the social and community division of psychiatry, to
analyze the information. Together, they diagnosed the commander-in-chiefs
from 1776 to 1974.
According to the study, published in January in the Journal of Nervous and
Mental Disease, of the 37 presidents researched, 18 were found to suffer a
mental illness of some form. Depression was the most prevalent disorder
among presidents, occurring at a rate of 24 percent.
The researchers wrote that the 49 percent rate mirrored national mental
illness statistics, but the rate of depression was high for a male
population.
"A fairly high number of people have mental disease at some level, so it
would be surprising if presidents didn't," said John Aldrich, professor of
political science. "Certain things, like depression, are associated with
artistic accomplishment."
Other diagnoses included anxiety, alcohol abuse, bipolar disorder and social
phobia. Howard Taft apparently suffered from sleep apnea.
At least 10 presidents were affected by episodes while in office, and the
study found evidence that symptoms interfered with their performance in
almost all cases.
To make their diagnoses, the researchers used the criteria of the DSM-IV,
the Diagnostic Statistical Manual all psychiatrists use to treat patients.
They examined the data to identify symptoms, determine if they were
persistent and caused dysfunction and then establish their own levels of
confidence that mental illness existed.
Such remote diagnosis through secondary research, however, can be
problematic.
"Using biographical materials may be an imperfect way to gauge mental
illness," Aldrich said.
Swartz explained that detailed analysis of primary sources, while ideal, was
outside of the scope of the study but that the published article elaborated
on its own relevance and weaknesses.
"You have to rely on what historians reported based on their research," he
said. Still, Swartz estimated that their sources erred on the side of
undercounting illness among presidents.
The troubles of certain presidents are already very well known. Abraham
Lincoln famously suffered from symptoms of depression, though he triumphed
politically more than Franklin Pierce, whose more modest legacy the study
attributed greatly to his illness.
Having witnessed the violent death of his son in a railway accident just
before he assumed office, Pierce suffered from symptoms indicating
depression or post-traumatic stress during his term. The study noted that
his associates accused Pierce of being a different person than the one who
had energetically campaigned for office.
While personal tragedy and the weight of the presidency may have incited the
problems of some presidents, others were apparently afflicted long before
they moved into the White House.
According to the article, contemporaries of Grant, James Madison, Rutherford
Hayes and Woodrow Wilson who watched them as young men would have thought
that these men would do very little with their lives based on their seeming
mental problems or deficiencies.
Whether they were suffering from an illness before they entered the White
House or not, presidents' afflictions raise questions about their ability to
do the executive job.
"The extensiveness of Richard Nixon's alcohol abuse was pretty remarkable
and alarming, given the authority he had," Swartz said.
Though Calvin Coolidge's hypochondria may not have had the most profound
effect on affairs of state, Coolidge, Grant and Thomas Jefferson were
diagnosed with social phobia by Davidson and his associates.
"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.
The study noted among its implications that no national calamities seem to
have been a result of presidential mental illness.
It also considered the possibility that knowledge of these afflictions might
lessen the stigma of psychological treatment. But there remains a question
about the public's right, and need, to know the psychological state of the
president, in an age of increased psychological vigilance.
"It's obviously about as stressful and physically demanding a job as there
is for mature adults, so it has to at least exacerbate any [already existing
] problems," Aldrich said. "You know, the president is not a person, he's an
institution.... There are a lot of checks and redundancies to make sure he
doesn't do anything foolish."
##30##
((Distributed on bahalf of U-Wire via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com)) ((U-Wire - http://www.uwire.com))
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TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bs; mentalillness; presidents
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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.
1posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:05:23 PMby Torie
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To: Torie
Does Clinton count twice for being a pathological liar AND a sexual deviant?
2posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:09:32 PMby DemforBush
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To: Torie
Are they now going to say Bush is crazy?
3posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:10:35 PMby Howlin
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To: Torie
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.
4posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:13:01 PMby furquhart(Time for a New
Crusade - Deus lo Volt!)
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To: Torie
Howard Taft apparently suffered from sleep apnea.
That's a mental ilness?
5posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:14:35 PMby Graybeard58(Remember and
pray for Sgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: Torie
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.
6posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:15:06 PMby Old Professer(The critic
writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: furquhart
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.
7posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:15:37 PMby Torie
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To: Torie
Howard Taft apparently suffered from sleep apnea.
How is sleep apnea a mental illness or was that just a filler sentence?
8posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:16:03 PMby conservative cat
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To: Graybeard58
That's a mental ilness?
Guess I was slow to post! My question, too.
9posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:17:01 PMby conservative cat
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To: conservative cat
Taft suffered from the "mental illness" of gluttony.
10posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:17:28 PMby Torie
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To: Torie
Good grief.
11posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:17:35 PMby onyx(It's easier to
indict a ham sandwich or Tom DeLay than it is to indict a Democrat.)
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To: Torie
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?
12posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:17:35 PMby I still care("Remember...
for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
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To: Torie
"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.
13posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:18:16 PMby BostonianRightist(I
probably haven't read the entire article, or checked my html.)
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To: Torie
Half of the Presidents have been liberals. Liberalism is a mental disorder.
14posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:18:44 PMby hawkeye101(There's room
in Hell for everybody.)
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To: I still care
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?
15posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:19:51 PMby Torie
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To: DemforBush
And a very thoroughgoing narcissist.
16posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:20:02 PMby SAJ
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To: conservative cat
According to the article, just about anything is mental illness.
17posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:20:58 PMby Moonman62(Federal creed:
If it moves tax it. If it keeps moving regulate it. If it stops moving
subsidize it)
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To: Torie
I know one recent President who was a psychopathic liar and a serial sexual
offender.
18posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:21:31 PMby ozzymandus
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To: Howlin
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.
19posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:21:49 PMby Springman
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To: Springman
Never talked about it? What the heck does that mean? They talk about Robin
all the time.
What a crock.
20posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:22:56 PMby Howlin
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To: Howlin
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.
21posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:29:08 PMby Springman
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To: Torie
How many psychiatrists at the Duke University Medical Center suffer from
mental illness?
22posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:31:27 PMby Berlin_Freeper(ETERNAL
SHAME on the Treasonous and Immoral Democrats!)
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To: I still care
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.
23posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:34:25 PMby singfreedom("Victory at
all costs,.......for without victory there is no survival."--Churchill--that
's "Winston")
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To: onyx
Good grief.
My thought exactly. There's nothing like defaming the dead to grab headlines.
24posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:35:38 PMby hsalaw
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To: Berlin_Freeper
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%?
25posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:36:00 PMby Torie
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To: Springman
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.
26posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:36:26 PMby Howlin
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To: singfreedom
Should read "Sometimes". Sorry.
27posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:37:51 PMby singfreedom("Victory at
all costs,.......for without victory there is no survival."--Churchill--that
's "Winston")
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To: Torie
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.
28posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:39:19 PMby x
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To: Torie; nicollo
Taft suffered from the "mental illness" of gluttony.
That's ironic, right.
29posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:40:22 PMby x
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To: Howlin
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.
30posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:42:46 PMby Springman
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To: Torie
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.
31posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:45:07 PMby raygun
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To: Torie
Carter was and is definitely mentally ill...but even more so are the people
who idolize him.
32posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:46:42 PMby WestVirginiaRebel(Common
sense will do to liberalism what the atomic bomb did to Nagasaki-Rush
Limbaugh)
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To: Torie
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.
33posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:48:24 PMby F.J. Mitchell(The tree
never falls far from the apple.)
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To: Graybeard58
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.
34posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:52:29 PMby metmom(Welfare was never
meant to be a career choice.)
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To: 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.
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.
35posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:56:46 PMby Ursine_East_Facing_North
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To: Torie
"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.
36posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:57:07 PMby Berlin_Freeper(ETERNAL
SHAME on the Treasonous and Immoral Democrats!)
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To: DemforBush
"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.
37posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:04:04 PMby GSlob
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To: Howlin
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.
38posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:06:11 PMby woofie
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To: Ursine_East_Facing_North
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.
39posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:06:58 PMby Sonny M("oderint dum
metuant")
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To: WestVirginiaRebel
Carter thought his mother was a peanut
40posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:07:13 PMby woofie
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To: Torie
49%?
That means that 21.07%
The real debate is which president was 0.07% mentally ill.
41posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:10:46 PMby uglybiker(Don't blame me.
I didn't make you stupid.)
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To: Torie
Psycho-history is lame. But it's sure a heck of a lot better than socio-
cultural history.
42posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:20:15 PMby Cyclopean Squid(History
is a work in progress)
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To: Torie
43posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:29:51 PMby M. Espinola(Freedom is
never free)
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To: Old Professer
Well said, Professer!
44posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 12:16:09 AMby spyone
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To: Sonny M
Thom Jefferson spent all his time thinking ... reading, writing, inventing,
planning, creating ... who can do that with a bunch of people around wanting
to party?
45posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 12:42:52 AMby Rte66
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To: Torie
49% of US Presidents suffered mental illness in Duke study
100% of LIBERALS are nuts.
46posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 2:18:02 AMby beyond the sea(Oh, for the
days when "disrespect" was just a noun.)
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To: DemforBush
Does Clinton count twice for being a pathological liar AND a sexual deviant?
---
****
LOL
47posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 2:18:42 AMby beyond the sea(Oh, for the
days when "disrespect" was just a noun.)
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To: BostonianRightist
proving once again why psychiatry is a useless field of study
agreed
48posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 2:21:37 AMby beyond the sea(Oh, for the
days when "disrespect" was just a noun.)
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To: Torie
Elect Hillary and get an even 50%.
49posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 3:16:23 AMby thoughtomator(That new ring
around Uranus is courtesy of the IRS)
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To: Old Professer
Projection is the refuge of the self-absorbed Liberals
There. I fixed it. But, very well put!
50posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 3:43:40 AMby rlmorel("Innocence seldom
utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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