A First-Rate Madness Uncovering the Links between Leadership and Mental Illness

Nassir Ghaemi, Sean Runnette

eAudio - 2011

In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, who runs the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center, draws from the careers and personal plights of such notable leaders as Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., JFK, and others from the past two centuries to build an argument at once controversial and compelling: the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders—realism, empathy, resilience, and creativity—also make for the best leaders in times of crisis. By combining astute analysis of the historical evidence with the latest psychiatric research, Ghaemi demonstrates how these qualities have produced brilliant leadership under the toughest circumstances. Take realism, for instance: study after study has shown that thos...e suffering depression are better than "normal" people at assessing current threats and predicting future outcomes. Looking at Lincoln and Churchill, among others, Ghaemi shows how depressive realism helped these men tackle challenges... more