Mood Disorders Can Help Us Get through Crises

There are valuable gifts that come with depression and bipolar disorder.

It turns out there’s an upside to having depression and bipolar disorder and Nassir Ghaemi discusses it in his 2011 book A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness. Ghaemi’s study of historical leaders and how they responded to war and other crises revealed to him that certain mood disorders can be helpful when things are at their worst.

Ghaemi identifies four traits that are especially helpful in horrific circumstances: empathy, realism, creativity and resilience. According to him, a person in mania has the last two and a person in depression has all four. These traits heighten understanding of what’s happening, the potential consequences of various actions and the solutions that others miss.

Ghaemi discusses several leaders and shows how some — such as former English Prime Minster Winston Churchill and civil war general W.T. Sherman — had mood disorders that gave them the strength and skills to succeed in their crises, while others — like Neville Chamberlain and George W. Bush — did not have mood disorders and did poorly in crisis.

Chamberlain was England’s prime minister from 1937 to 1941. He was unable to conceive of the…