“Does it Matter if Newt Gingrich is Bipolar?”

[4dog]

From blog article:
So if we’re going to elect a president who’s been diagnosed with a mental illness, we need to be sure the illness is under meticulous control. That excludes Newt Gingrich. Politicians, pundits, journalists and even friends describe him with words like grandiose, erratic, crazed, intemperate, inconsistent, unreliable, narcissistic, self-deluded, exaggerated … the list goes on. We simply can’t elect a person whose behavior has caused him to be perceived that way. But the diagnosis alone wouldn’t exclude him from consideration.

Source:
http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2012/01/24/gingrich-bipolar/

The list of symptoms [Bipolar II – DSM] reads like a fundamental description of the history of Newt Gingrich’s behavior. His many statements that consist of variants on the he certainty that he is unique individual in the history of mankind–those made by Gingrich himself, and those reported by others. His repeatedly noted signal tendency to leap from idea to idea; his inability, noted by staff and colleagues, to focus, and to be distracted by any new attractive idea; his grandiose, uninterrupted, goal-directed drive, and very notably, his tendency to engage in reckless, pleasurable behaviors without regard for consequences.

The heritability of his mother’s bipolar disorder, and the behaviors that indicate Bipolar II in her son raise extreme concern. While we should note that he has not been fully evaluated to our knowledge, nor have medical records emerged, and so we should regard any final diagnosis as dependent upon such evaluation, we are considering an individual for the office of president of the United States during a fundamental and crucial time for our nation.

Source:
http://politipsych.com/?p=228


Gail Sheehy, Newt Gingrich’s Bipolar Mother Kit Gingrich and His Difficult Childhood - The Daily Beast

The most detailed article of the three linked here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/22/newt-gingrich-s-bipolar-mother-kit-gingrich-and-his-difficult-childhood.html

[gateley]

1. Eagleton's mental health history certainly mattered. nt

[Missy Vixen]

2. There are many suffering from mental illness that seek treatment and lead productive lives

My late mother-in-law was bipolar. To say that her diagnosis and treatment (especially when she refused to take her medication, for instance,) affected the entire family is an understatement.

If Gingrich has untreated bipolar disorder, he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the White House. It'll be interesting to see how the GOP deals with this.

[cbayer]

3. As much as Gingrich sickens me, I think it's inappropriate to label others with

psychiatric diagnoses without having examined them. It's foolhardy and hurtful to those that actually have these diagnoses.

FWIW, most people with true, treated Bipolar Disorder are fully functional, completely competent adults. This blog post marginalizes and condemns them.

[Uncle Joe]

5. I agree with your post except in the case of the Presidency, the job has so much

stress, power and responsibility I believe a person needs to be more than fully functional if such a thing is possible.

[cbayer]

6. IMHO, a severe personality disorder is much more dangerous than a well-controlled Bipolar Disorder.

[gkhouston]

11. I was about the post the very same thing. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

12. I agree re: the severe personality disorder aspect as being more dangerous but I believe

the question of "well controlled" is a relative thing, particulary once you're in the position of power.

[undeterred]

14. Barack Obama is one of the most fully functional psychologically healthy human beings

who has ever been elected to the American presidency. He's amazing.

[4dog]

8. The post is a question. Read the articles and decide

if his behavior influences your vote. It's the behavior that's important, not the diagnosis.

[aptal]

13. I agree.

[southernyankeebelle]

4. Now you can see the love he and Palin share. They both love themselves more then their mates

and both use their kids to deflect their own troubles.

[graywarrior]

7. Wasn't Lincoln considered bi-polar?

[hedgehog]

9. I think Lincoln suffered episodes of severe depression.

[undeterred]

17. I agree.

I don't think he was incapacitated by it. He had many things to grieve about, both on a personal level and for the country. I think he allowed the grief to move him in certain directions. Not that he was controlled by his emotions, but he didn't keep them boxed off. His sadness gave him wisdom.

[cbayer]

18. He did indeed.

[NMDemDist2]

15. i thought it was Mary Todd Lincoln that was bi-polar

although Abe certainly had depressive tendencies IIRC

[hedgehog]

10. Can someone who is always exhibiting manic behavior be called bi-polar?

[unblock]

19. yes.

although in newt's case i think hypomanic is more accurate.

[graywarrior]

22. Yeah, they can stay manic for months before crashing.

[Neoma]

16. Absolutely not.

The only reason Newt Gingrich shouldn't be president is because Newt Gingrich would be president.

Being president is like having all the world's problems on your shoulders. It's not unlike what some people with bipolar does already.

From personal experience, I watch a documentary and I immediately want to solve and help! But I have no means or resources, so I slump back down. Being president would be awesome!

[loyalsister]

20. Newt Gingrinch does not have a bipolar disorder

His behavior is not attributable to a legitimate mental illness. He's just elitist, racist, and wrong all around.

Attributing "bad" behavior, stupid ideas, racism, or an ideology I think is very very wrong lets them off the hook.

Now that people are more aware of what mental illnesses are, there is a tendency to try to fit anything seen as abnormal or disagreeable into a diagnosis.

Kind of like this:

"A New Orleans physician, Samuel Cartwright (1793–1863), believed that slaves sometimes suffered from a peculiar form of mental illness that he termed drapetomania, the abnormality that caused slaves to run away, from drapeto, meaning "to flee," and "mania," "an obsession." Clearly, however, Cartwright had subjective motives for his peculiar example."

http://www.enotes.com/mental-health-reference/mental-health

[4dog]

21. Well, he could be both wrong all around AND bipolar

It's not as if we can isolate the influences in a single person's character or personality. And the point is, would he make an acceptable leader, and can the generalization about mental illness give us any additional insight. Here's a quote that I hope is pertinent from the Sheehy article.

Dr. Frederick Goodwin, director of the Center on Neuroscience, Behavior, and Society at the George Washington University Medical Center and a national authority on bipolar disorder, said that “Gingrich’s quickness, his ability to pick things up quickly, is consistent with studies of first-degree relatives of manic-depressives.”

While stating that he was not making a diagnosis, he noted that in leaders, hypomanic behavior is “often intolerant and impulsive.” Studies characterize the thinking of a person in a hypomanic state as “flighty. He jumps by bypaths from one subject to another, and cannot adhere to anything.”

[loyalsister]

23. "can the generalization about mental illness give us any additional insight."

Generalizing is also known as stereotyping the only "insight" is based on ignorance.

[snagglepuss]

24. Drapetomania. I never heard of it. Absolutely fascinating. I think you're right on the money

about Gingrich not having a mental illness.