Madness and Leadership ─ From Antiquity to the New Common Era

Papacostas takes a biopsychosocial perspective as he searches for an answer to the question: Why do followers choose leaders with psychological deficits? Taking for granted that most political leaders are on the “odd”end of the personality spectrum, he argues that leaders are qualitatively different from followers and makes several points: these differences are biologically (genetically) determined; an important difference lies in their use of language; language itself is a uniquely developed human characteristic which is evolutionarily associated with the appearance of psychiatric disorders; we probably possess the capacity to activate certain genes at times of crisis which “allow” us to appoint paranoid leaders in charge because they appear to possess the “right stuff” to see us through our troubles. Nine chapters are: introductory remarks about leaders and leadership; genes, behavior, and the human speciation event; paranoia and historical interpretation; social deviance and the limits of tolerance; the role of language in defining normal behavior; abnormal behavior; politics and mental illness; psychotic disorders and paranoia; society and its leaders. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Savvas Papacostas, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Cyprus