Ted Turner: What the Tributes Leave Out

"The media entrepreneur Ted Turner died this month at age 87. The obituaries barely mention, or completely ignore, that Turner was diagnosed with bipolar illness and treated with lithium. Michael Smerconish finally made that point on his CNN show, something almost all other obituaries ignored. That's what we don't want to admit as a culture: that effective leaders often have manic-depressive illness. Instead we want to view all mental illnesses as bad, purely bad, nothing but bad - hence the stigma against them."

"Ted Turner suffered from symptoms consistent with manic-depressive illness, with which he was once diagnosed. His mood symptoms are consistent with benefits for crisis leadership. Obituaries are ignoring his psychiatric struggles, reflecting stigma. Turner clearly had manic highs and depressive lows, well documented in his memoir Call Me Ted."

"Turner reached middle age before seeing a psychiatrist in 1985 - Dr. Frank Pittman in Atlanta - who diagnosed him with bipolar illness and started him on lithium. The effect was remarkable. As Time magazine reported in 1992, Turner's girlfriend J.J. Ebaugh described the transformation:"

"We don't admit that there are positive qualities to some mental illnesses, especially MDI. Mania produces creativity and resilience to stress; depression produces empathy and makes one more realistic. These are the traits of great crisis leaders, which makes them more effective than normally mentally healthy leaders, who are less creative, resilient, empathic, and realistic."

Ted Turner died at age 87. He was diagnosed with bipolar illness and treated with lithium after reaching middle age. His manic highs and depressive lows were described in his memoir. His father also had manic-depressive illness, was psychiatrically hospitalized, and died by suicide. The account argues that obituaries largely omit these psychiatric details, reflecting stigma. It claims that manic-depressive illness can provide leadership-relevant strengths: mania can support creativity and resilience under stress, while depression can support empathy and realism. It also links these traits to effective crisis leadership and suggests that leaders with such conditions may be more effective than leaders without them.

Read at Psychology Today