Reddit reviews A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness

On Amazon, A First Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness.

> This New York Times bestseller is a myth-shattering exploration of the powerful connections between mental illness and leadership. Historians have long puzzled over the apparent mental instability of great and terrible leaders alike: Napoleon, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, and others. In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorders Programme at Tufts Medical Center, offers and sets forth a controversial, compelling thesis: the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders also make for the best leaders in times of crisis. From the importance of Lincoln's "depressive realism" to the lacklustre leadership of exceedingly sane men as Neville Chamberlain, A First-Rate Madness overturns many of our most cherished perceptions about greatness and the mind.

I read this a few years back and thought it was good.

I read it in this book. Obviously it was historical conjecture but the author's arguments were very well supported and I was convinced. It's a good read too, I highly recommend it for people who like history and/or psychology.

https://www.amazon.com/First-Rate-Madness-Uncovering-Between-Leadership/dp/0143121332

>Anti-authoritarians question whether an authority is a legitimate one before taking that authority seriously. Evaluating the legitimacy of authorities includes assessing whether or not authorities actually know what they are talking about, are honest, and care about those people who are respecting their authority. And when anti-authoritarians assess an authority to be illegitimate, they challenge and resist that authority—sometimes aggressively and sometimes passive-aggressively, sometimes wisely and sometimes not.

>...

>Many people with severe anxiety and/or depression are also anti-authoritarians. Often a major pain of their lives that fuels their anxiety and/or depression is fear that their contempt for illegitimate authorities will cause them to be financially and socially marginalized; but they fear that compliance with such illegitimate authorities will cause them existential death.

>...

>Americans have been increasingly socialized to equate inattention, anger, anxiety, and immobilizing despair with a medical condition, and to seek medical treatment rather than political remedies. What better way to maintain the status quo than to view inattention, anger, anxiety, and depression as biochemical problems of those who are mentally ill rather than normal reactions to an increasingly authoritarian society.

These sections of text all rang very true for me, personally.

I've been un-medicated as someone who was diagnosed with Bi-polar Type 2. I also have ADHD, which I choose to take medicine for. I've since learned to cope, and a lot of it had to deal with learning how to respect and follow my own judgements about the authorities who's control I was under, even if it meant resisting aggressively. I eventually learned to find my own solution within the boundaries of my authorities, which meant everyone won; I got to bypass incompetence, and they got someone who could be obedient within bounds. It's been a valuable resource in my successes, and has been the cause of many issues in my life.

This article provided a lot more context as to how I interpret myself and my place in life. Reading the portion about Einstein reminded me a lot of A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi (which talks about people with bi-polar depression being the best type of leader during times of crisis). Knowing the root causes of what makes you "you" helps provide new understanding, and with it, coping mechanisms to move beyond your shortcomings.

If you want to hear a more anecdotal story about a life of a successful bipolar person with her fair share of psychosis and depression, I read this super quickly and I had been having a hard time reading: An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

This book is about a journey through anxiety. The author is young and she was actually inspired by the author of the book above. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety

If you want to read stories about great leaders who suffered through mental illness, including bipolar, along with the argument that those experiences made them the dynamic people they were with special abilities to be empathetic and reach people in ways others couldn’t, A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness.

I bought this Bipolar Workbook but haven’t had the discipline to do it yet.

The book A First Rate Madness talks at length about great leaders in times of crisis who went through depression. Having to endure enabled, or rather forced, them to develop a deeper level of empathy or resolve. It's a great read about the positives of mental illness that not many people are discussing.
Here's a link to the book on Amazon if it piqued your interest:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0143121332/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459228791&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=a+first+rate+madness&dpPl=1&dpID=518LWMl9xBL&ref=plSrch

Hey friend,

Try to meditate. It really helps. But be careful, that you don't sit with your eyes closed, and start to think about how you are anxious about everything. No. Just sit there for 20 minutes (set the timmer) and count your breath. Try focusing on it being long enough, and not abrupt as in panic attacks.

You have to accept one thing. Nothing will make you happy in the outside world. You need to be happy with yourself. Our time on this planet is limited, if you want to be friends with one person, let it be yourself.

I don't want to force any religion upon you, and I am atheist myself, but living on this planet with nothing to put faith in can be really hard. If you believe in something, trust it with your whole heart. Say 'Jesus, I believe in you' or even better, 'I believe in myself'. And really do. Act as you know best for yourself. Never do anything for others. Have the courage to do as you want.

And remember. You are not worst than anyone. The greatest leaders were all depressed in some time of their lives. In order to be happy,
one has to feel down sometimes. I haven't read this book yet, but if you feel like it's interesting give it a try A first-Rate Madness

This book looks at Lincoln, Hitler, GWB, a couple of civil war generals, homoclites (which was really interesting), and others.

https://www.amazon.com/First-Rate-Madness-Uncovering-Between-Leadership/dp/0143121332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506404345&sr=8-1&keywords=a+madness+ghaemi

https://www.amazon.com/First-Rate-Madness-Uncovering-Between-Leadership/dp/0143121332

is "a first-rate madness" (amazon link) considered a credible book?

written by psychiatrist nassir ghaemi with due diligence on primary historical sources (will edit to add details, but currently on mobile) hitler discussion in the book is a digression from "first-rate" leaders who had neurodiverse leadership styles in times of crisis: resilience, originality and high empathy.

hitler never displayed high empathy... not surprisingly.

> The person Adolf Hitler is not very interesting.

I don't think he was neurotypical. examples from the book include grandiose discussions of destiny with his childhood friend.

> Let me expand: The private thoughts of Adolf Hitler do not hold the key for understanding Nazism and the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler, like any of us, is in his political convictions, in his role of the "Führer", in his programmatics, and in his success, a creation of his time.

agree that he was interacting with a weak political system and a culture ripe for revenge ideology. World War II being the revenge war for World War I.

edit: ghaemi used august kubizek's memoir "the young hitler I knew" for his commentary "beginning with symptoms, hitler had clear manic and depressive episodes throughout his life." kubizek's memoir was written 10 years after hitler's death and "most historians accept the general veracity of kubizek's account." that's what ghaemi wrote about the source.

edit 2: to clarify, "hitler never displayed high empathy"... I meant "us vs them" mentality which was violent even in the beginning.

While not specifically sociopathy, the a book A First Rate Madness addresses the link between leadership and mental illness. I found it fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/First-Rate-Madness-Uncovering-Between-Leadership/dp/0143121332