Is Bipolar Disorder Linked to Leadership Qualities?

Many anecdotes and a few studies have suggested that individuals in leadership positions are at higher risk for bipolar disorder. In a Swedish epidemiological study, investigators examined this hypothesis by analyzing 1973–2009 census registry data for diagnoses and professions of patients and their healthy siblings and, in men only, compulsory military conscript recruitment records on IQ and semistructured personal interviews for “officer suitability,” which were conducted among men with average or higher IQ (N=1,126,519).

The researchers limited their examination to executive professions and a “political profession” subgroup. There were 22,980 individuals classified as having “pure” bipolar disorder — i.e., no psychiatric comorbidities (42…