Wealth, power or lack thereof at heart of many mental disorders

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-12/uoc--wpo120814.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 8-Dec-2014

Contact: Yasmin Anwar
University of California - Berkeley
Wealth, power or lack thereof at heart of many mental disorders
UC Berkeley study finds self-worth key to diagnoses of psychopathologies

Donald Trump's ego may be the size of his financial empire, but that doesn't mean he's the picture of mental health. The same can be said about the self-esteem of people who are living from paycheck to paycheck, or unemployed. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, underscores this mind-wallet connection.

UC Berkeley researchers have linked inflated or deflated feelings of self-worth to such afflictions as bipolar disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, anxiety and depression, providing yet more evidence that the widening gulf between rich and poor can be bad for your health.

"We found that it is important to consider the motivation to pursue power, beliefs about how much power one has attained, pro-social and aggressive strategies for attaining power, and emotions related to attaining power," said Sheri Johnson, a UC Berkeley psychologist and senior author of the study published in the journal Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice.

In a study of more than 600 young men and women conducted at UC Berkeley, researchers concluded that one's perceived social status - or lack thereof - is at the heart of a wide range of mental illnesses. The findings make a strong case for assessing such traits as "ruthless ambition," "discomfort with leadership" and "hubristic pride" to understand psychopathologies.

"People prone to depression or anxiety reported feeling little sense of pride in their accomplishments and little sense of power," Johnson said. "In contrast, people at risk for mania tended to report high levels of pride and an emphasis on the pursuit of power despite interpersonal costs."

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Overall, the results showed a strong correlation between the highs and lows of perceived power and mood disorders.

"This is the first study to assess the dominance behavioral system across psychopathologies," Johnson said. "The findings present more evidence that it is important to consider dominance in understanding vulnerability to psychological symptoms."