Presidents, candidates and mental health

With so little days left for elections in the USA and in Puerto Rico, this article stating that  No president should assume office without a mental fit exam brings me today a worrisome echo looking forward to the future of the USA and its global impact if President Donald Trump is re-elected even by a small margin. It is a well-established practice to provide a psychological review of corporations’ CEO, universities & seminary presidents, pastors, missionaries, and other non-profits executives when applying for the job. It is precisely due to the nature of their role and the impact of their decision-making process, as well as the impact over the people they manage or affect, that we need mental and emotionally balanced leaders in positions of power. Knowing that a mental or emotional illness in itself doesn’t incapacitate people to do their jobs and that we need to do it is important to address when it does. We also need to have some boundaries signaling a healthy mental state from a sick one such as for example a Dark triad. 

When the person behaves, acts, or talks endangering him/herself or other persons, or incite violence, harm, or aggression to him/herself or others; it is time to respond either by providing support or removing the person from office. This is not a simple difference of opinions gone rough nor a random or casual behavior we talk about. Power is a terrible reality in the hands of mentally or emotionally unstable persons. Since 2008 when Dr. David Owen coined the term 'hubris syndrome' to identify unhealthy behaviors in certain leaders, we have a map to the conduct of these leaders. These include arrogance, having preconceived fixed ideas, rejecting positions that are not related to their ideas, narcissistic behavior, inflexibility, the perception that others are inferior, believing that they are called to do great works and that they show a tendency to greatness, omnipotence being incapable of listening, showing themselves impervious to criticism and above all clinging sickly to power. But as some say, any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence! We do know that some mental illness has been linked to addictions and perceptions of power.

The public in general and the Medical, Psychiatric and Psychological Associations must pressure Congress in the USA to pass a mental and emotional fitting law regulation for all public offices from the president to senators, congressperson, secretaries, governors, and majors. The same also applies to Puerto Rico. I guess that if something like this gets done (unlikely so in the near future) many public servants from the governor down to majors in Puerto Rico will be forced to either leave their jobs or get treatment! So even when this is “soñar con pajaritos preñados” (dreaming with pregnant birds) it is a task that in the long run will benefit our society. Maybe, if we get healthy leadership our nations will become better guided. God! We really need to work on an overhaul of our political structures!