Of Madness and Power

London : Being mad does not always get sent to an institution. Sometimes it gets you to the very top of your profession.

Experts believe that millions of us are, at least to some extent, displaying the signs of madness.

In the vast majority of cases, it does us no real harm. In fact, some kinds of 'personality disorder' could even be an advantage, especially at work.

Psychologists believe there is a huge scale of so-called personality disorders. And in reality, they say very few people would satisfy all the criteria for being 'normal'.

.......... consistent with the idea of 'successful psychopaths' able to function unrecognised in society and even to obtain positions of power.

...........Findings from an earlier Canadian study also suggested that many psychopaths could be 'snakes in suit' who thrive in high-powered professions. - DM

Ahem, so to all the 'mad' people out there, there is hope. Somehow, it's comforting to know that it is ok to be a bit insane, yet at the same time disturbing to know that many other crazies are out there. :P

Postscript : I think this is consistent with the notion that success comes after risk taking and there are certain things that people do that may not seem rational to achieve that. A certain degree of madness perhaps help us deal with uncertainty. Or take a big leap (not off the ledge). But then again, other forms of mental disorder may cause a person to be risk adverse and uncertainty may drive him/her insane in such instances.