David Freeman

Are Politicians Psychopaths?
►http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-freeman/are-politicians-psychopaths_b_1818648.html

Superficially charming, psychopaths tend to make a good first impression on others and often strike observers as remarkably normal. Yet they are self-centered, dishonest and undependable, and at times they engage in irresponsible behavior for no apparent reason other than the sheer fun of it... Psychopaths routinely offer excuses for their reckless and often outrageous actions, placing blame on others instead.

Hmm. That description could probably describe more than a few politicians — though you and I might not agree on whom to nominate for psychopath status. But before indulging in any armchair analysis, I reached out to Dr. Martha Stout. A clinical psychologist who was long affiliated with Harvard Medical School, she’s the author of The Sociopath Next Door and other popular books on emotional disorders (including a forthcoming text that explores the link between emotional disorders and politics). By the way, Dr. Stout tends to use the term sociopath instead of psychopath, explaining to me that the terms are often used interchangeably by mental health professionals.

Anyway, when I asked Dr. Stout if there’s any truth to the contention that politicians are more likely to be psychopaths, she said in an email that no solid statistics were available to prove or disprove the hypothesis. Yet despite the lack of proof, she gave a surprisingly definitive answer to my question:

Yes, politicians are more likely than people in the general population to be sociopaths.