17 Comments

1. Scott# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 2:18 pm

   Of course they do. Delusional people generally think they’re perfectly normal.

2. Timothy Kincaid# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 3:51 pm

   By my observation… Democrat wackos know they have problems and get medication and help. Republican wackos think they are sane.

   But maybe I’m biased. I’ve spent too much time active in Republican political circles.

3. Norm!# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 4:03 pm

   Wow, what a pointless survey.

   Instead of self-reporting, a more interesting survey would be opposition-reporting (Dems rating the mental health of Repubs and visa-versa).

4. David Blakeslee# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 5:00 pm

   Gratifying….

5. Nemario# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 5:29 pm

   “Well, duh!”

   Huh?

6. Joe# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 6:41 pm

   Warren, please read the first sentence of the article that references the study: “PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent, according to data from the last four November Gallup Health and Healthcare polls.”

   Please read that carefully. This says that Republicans THINK or at least SAY that they are in “excellent mental health.”

   This was based on the Republicans rating their own mental health not an objective examination by a mental health professional. Earlier studies by mental health professionals have found that conservatives suffer more mental health issues than liberals. A 20 year study that followed a group of children through adulthood added much evidence to this. The study linked here only shows that Republicans think or at least claim that they’re in “excellent mental health.” I’d bet a lot of people in mental institutions think they’re in “excellent mental health”, too. It doesn’t mean they are! Please read the article. I have to bury this because your Digg post because didn’t bother to read what it said and posted something it didn’t say. I’m sorry, Warren.

   You claim that Republicans are in better mental health than Democrats and Independents because they don’t rate themselves as being in “excellent mental health.” If Democrats and Independents are open minded enough to recognize that as humans we all have problems I’d say that makes them more sane than someone who thinks their in perfect mental health. Such a person is probably delusional or at least has a very narrow understanding of their own limitations. Unfortunately, many Republicans I talk to have a rather inflated view of themselves and are quick to ignore the faults of their own party and the polices of the Bush Administration. They think that President Bush has been an excellent president despite facts to the contrary. So, their rating of their own mental health as excellent is somewhat questionable. Especially given other studies that didn’t rely upon self diagnosis. Again, sorry to have to inform you of this, Warren.

7. Drowssap# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 8:30 pm

   I didn’t need a study to know this.

   Five minutes at democraticunderground.com and it’s obvious.

8. David Blakeslee# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 9:19 pm

   Joe…breathe. Of course it is a measure of self-description and not the “truth.”

   That said, it is important to consider whether mental health theories and treatments have generally been accurate and helpful…especially if you are a democrat .

9. Ann# ~ Dec 4, 2007 at 9:55 pm

   yup

10. jayhuck# ~ Dec 5, 2007 at 2:22 am

    What happened to the article on Democrats being more educated? Does it follow then that those who are more educated. ie Democrats, are more prone to poor mental health? Perhaps there IS a correlation?

11. Nemario# ~ Dec 7, 2007 at 11:16 pm

    “What happened to the article on Democrats being more educated?”

    Was the article a commentary or a study?

12. Eddy# ~ Dec 8, 2007 at 1:20 am

    I’m not sure, but I think if you actually read the article, your questions will be answered. The very first sentence states: “Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent, according to data from the last four November Gallup Health and Healthcare polls.”

13. jayhuck# ~ Dec 8, 2007 at 11:20 am

    Nemario –

    I’m honestly not sure – It is probably just one of those things you see both political parties saying about each other. I doubt one is necessarily SMARTER than the other – although we’d probably have to come to some definition on the word smart

    Personally, I think its just humorous to watch the parties espouse things like this. Even this article about mental health doesn’t tell us if Republicans HAVE better mental health, just that they are REPORTING better mental health. And then we’d have to define what constitutes a Republican – I’m a registered Republican, but I’m “technically” a moderate, and I voted Democrat in the last election

    I try to keep things like this in perspective.

14. Eddy# ~ Dec 8, 2007 at 6:12 pm

    The Republican party didn’t espouse this…these are simply the results of a Gallup Survey. Republicans reported a better sense of mental health; Democrats reported a lesser sense. This article wasn’t about Republicans comparing their mental health to Democrats. Democrats and Republicans alike got the same questions. The comparison of their survey responses yielded the results.

    It’s a survey, not a study. It can only provide the comparisons and distinctions; it can’t tell us why those distinctions exist. For all we know, the mental health of both the Democrats and Republicans could be essentially equal; all we really know is that the Republican feel better about theirs.

15. Ann# ~ Dec 9, 2007 at 9:22 am

    Romney/Santorum ’08

16. jayhuck# ~ Dec 10, 2007 at 1:51 am

    Eddy,

    “For all we know, the mental health of both the Democrats and Republicans could be essentially equal; all we really know is that the Republican feel better about theirs.”

    That’s all I was trying to say. However, I think it would be more appropriate to say that according to this one study, Republicans feel better about theirs.

17. jayhuck# ~ Dec 10, 2007 at 2:10 am

    Eddy,

    Ooops – I meant SURVEY!