The psychopathologies of the political class

                           Power feeds personal psychopathological risk factors within a ghetto that normalizes them

 By Writing: Human beings are political by nature and need political leaders. The profile of a politician should be that of a person who feels committed to her community and who is willing to serve it to improve her quality of life. However, many people who suffer from different mental disorders, most of them personality disorders, have found in politics the ideal context in which to develop. 

 When their respective psychopathologies would represent a difficulty of adaptation in the society of ordinary citizens, the political system offers them the possibility of personal development in which the psychopathology is nourished by the microcosm of the political class, without representing a problem for the person. who suffers from it 

 Thus, the narcissistic personality disorder is satisfied with the notoriety of being political and the subjective perception of power over others. Antisocial personality disorder is finding a very comfortable context with the rise of the extreme right, or even histrionic personality disorder finds the ideal place to stage its shows in parliamentary venues. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder has found its space in the politicization of justice. The same happens with psychopathy, sociopathy and severe self-esteem deficits, which find the best antidote in power. Mental illness in the political arena 

 The psychiatrist and professor at the Complutense University of Madrid Francisco Alonso Fernández already wondered in 1978: 

 “How many politicians, led by personal factors, have made mistakes in their efforts? (…) When a politician does not enjoy an acceptable state of mental health, his conduct oozes dangerousness ”. 

 Are there certain mental illnesses that find an ecosystem of development in the political arena? Are the parliamentary chambers the same as the canvas and the brush with which Salvador Dalí was able to turn his “madness” into art? In any case, a surreal work of art does not have the same consequences as a decision-making biased by a possible distortion of reality. 

 We can also see it in the opposite direction. Is political activity a risk factor for developing "madness"? Neurologist David Owen studied the brains of political leaders for seven years and concluded that:  

"Power intoxicates so much that it ends up affecting the judgment of the leaders." 

 Risk factor's

                                                                                                                                                                     The sequence would be as follows: a citizen with risk factors for certain psychopathologies enters politics and abruptly reaches levels of power unimaginable for him. Perhaps at first he feels doubts about his ability to manage that power, but the group of stalwarts who recognize his worth quickly appears to him, precisely because of the power he holds.

  From here he begins to believe that he is there on his own merit and that therefore he is placed above other mortals. At this point he enters the megalomaniac moment, believing himself to be infallible and irreplaceable (hence why so few politicians resign, denying their own mistakes, and clinging addictively to power).  

The next step is to carry out great plans for which he may have the need to perpetuate himself, even changing the laws that limit his permanence in power. And finally the paranoid stage is reached, in which he perceives that the whole world is against him. He no longer distinguishes between ideological differences, but he is only capable of understanding “if you are not with me, you are against me”.  

This distances him and completely isolates him from the society that he chose for him. The only way out for him is to stop listening, to move forward at any price, even if it implies the sacrifice of thousands of human lives, making decisions without allowing advice and oblivious to the loss of self-criticism in the face of one's own mistakes. Finally he "falls" from power and the reality check implies a duel that is impossible to elaborate, so that he most likely develops a depressive disorder. 

Hubris syndrome: excessive pride and arrogance 

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This symptomatology was already observed in classical Greece and has been defined as the Hubris syndrome. In ancient Greek, húbris (ὕϐρις) means excessive pride, arrogance and presumption. It is characterized by an exaggeratedly oversized ego, boundless ambition, a defiant and reckless attitude, insolence, and a cognitive bias that makes those who suffer from it believe that they deserve much more than other human beings, whom they despise.

  Symptoms of Hubris syndrome: 

 Excess self-confidence. 

 Reckless conduct. 

 Great feeling of superiority. 

Arrogance, arrogance and cockiness.  

Exaggerated concern for personal self-image. 

 Passion for luxury and eccentricities. 

 Conviction that anything goes; the rival must be defeated at any cost.

  Irrational belief of infallibility. Inability to self-criticize and assume responsibility for his decisions, which he will never recognize as wrong. 

 Contempt for professional advice, which would imply recognizing that other people know more than they do. 

 Gradual detachment from reality. Lack of empathy, humanity and compassion. 

 Absolute inability to grieve for the loss of the role of power, which is resolved through the so-called “revolving doors”, or that is mitigated through substantial lifetime payments.

  Despite the fact that Hubris syndrome responds more to a sociological characterization, psychology and psychiatry have always recognized the effects that power can have on mental health. As the proverb says, “he whom the gods want to destroy, they first drive him mad”. 

 A problem that feeds back

 

  We find ourselves, then, before a circular problem that feeds itself. The risk factors of certain psychopathologies push the subject to find in the political arena an ecosystem that would have the function of normalizing the symptoms of mental illness. 

 Once within the political class, the current aristocracy, power feeds personal psychopathological risk factors within a ghetto that normalizes them, but the cost is paid in Hubris symptoms. 

 Undoubtedly, a spiral from which it is almost impossible to get out, which increasingly distances the subject from reality. And this is precisely the simplest definition of psychopathology.  

E. Soler Labajos – The Conversation