Mental Illness and Leadership Positions

Benedict Carey of the New York Times has a fascinating piece on the apparent prevalence of mental illness among U.S. presidents. (Carey, "West Wing Blues: It's Lonely at the Top," N.Y. Times, 2/14/2006). According to a new study by the Duke University Department of Psychiatry, almost half of American presidents from 1789 to 1974 suffered from a mental illness at some point in life, and more than half of those presidents struggled with their symptoms — most often depression — while in office. According to the study, their illness was typically evidenced by excessive consumption of alcohol. Yet the study identifies a hopeful slant that works to combat the common stigma of mental illness: if people with mental illness can function at the presidential level, then perhaps we shouldn't so summarily dismiss or ostracize those with mental illness.

But reading this piece made me wonder about whether we might find a similar trend among coaches, and particularly among pro coaches or college coaches in high-pressure/high-profile situations. Just speculation on my part, but I suspect that coaches and presidents may share some of the same personality traits -- high ambition, tireless work ethic, an exaggerated sense of self-critique -- so it seems at least plausible that they might share in a hyper-tendency to suffer mental illness. It would certainly make for an interesting study, if such a study hasn't already been conducted. Moreover, if we found evidence that coaches were similar to presidents in suffering from mental illness, then think about the powerful social message that would send about how we should regard the employment capabilities of the mentally ill. And lastly, I wonder: might there be something endemic about "leadership positions" that attracts certain personalities, and do those personalities share the same positive and negative traits regardless of the type of leadership position they hold?

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