Abe Lincoln: The First Psychologist?

Lincoln’s Methods to Beat Depression Can Still Be Used Today

(Washington, DC)—Historians agree that Abraham Lincoln suffered from periods of severe depression, including suicidal thoughts. But prominent psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen says the 16th president was so efficient at healing his own mental health issues he should be called the first Psychologist in Chief.
Lincoln didn’t have the benefit of modern medicines and psychotherapy. But in looking back at Lincoln’s life, it’s clear that despite his struggles, he benefited from many self-taught healing principles. He may have been his own best therapist.
Dr. Amen says the principals Lincoln used to overcome depression and rise to greatness can still help people today. Here are just three of the ten principals:
1. Laughter is healing – Lincoln spent days in bed in severe mental anguish, unable to work. Yet laughter was Lincoln's Prozac and he often used humor to treat his severe depressions.
2. Work helps overcome grief – Lincoln was no stranger to grief. His mother died when he was nine. Work for Lincoln was his connection to meaning and purpose. Work is often healing.
3. You ultimately choose how you feel – Death was too frequent a companion. In addition to his mother, Lincoln lost both a sister and a sweetheart while in his twenties. Two of his children died from disease. Ultimately, Lincoln came to believe that we choose how we feel. He wrote, "I believe it is the inalienable right of man to be happy or miserable by his own decision and I for one make the decision to choose the former." These words wisely foretold one of the most effective modern treatments for depression, now termed cognitive therapy
"The Lincoln Principles" continue to be as relevant today as they were many years ago. Never stop doing your best. As Lincoln said, "I do the very best I know how, the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end," which he did.
Dr. Amen is a psychiatrist, director of the Amen Clinics and author of Making A Good Brain Great. Lincoln’s story is perfect for President’s Day. He is available to discuss this topic.

Media contact: Maddy Pinckert, (240) 423-8378, maddy@onthemarcmedia.com

Lincoln: The First Psychologist

Attitudes and Actions for Everyday Success

Daniel G. Amen, MD

“I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better, it appears to me.” (Abraham Lincoln, 1841, from a letter to his law partner John Stuart.)

It is no secret that Abraham Lincoln suffered from periods of severe depression, including suicidal thoughts. In 1836 he told a friend that there were times he was "so overcome with mental depression that he never dare carry a knife in his pocket." As a psychiatrist, I have wondered what I might do to help Lincoln during one of his dark times if he came for help.

Of course, I would start by taking an extensive history and learn about his symptoms, medical history, family background and the many losses and stresses that provided the seeds for his depression, such as the death of his mother at age nine, the distant relationship with his father, business setbacks and political losses and the struggles with body image and romantic relationships.

Naturally, since I am also a brain imaging specialist, I would look at how his brain works. Odds are I would find a significant brain injury. Most people do not know that at age 12 while Lincoln was working with his horse one evening at a grist mill he was kicked in the forehead, knocked out and taken for dead. He lay unconscious all night. Brain injuries significantly increase the risk for depression, dark thoughts and may explain his tendency to stare off in space.
After the evaluation, I would likely suggest supplements such as fish oil, physical exercise and perhaps some medication to help balance his brain and soothe his mood. In addition, we would explore healing psychological principles, the software so to speak, to optimize the hardware of his soul (brain). In looking at Lincoln's life in retrospect, it is clear that he learned many of these healing principles, and in reality, became his own best therapist.
In this article, I will share with you my version of the 10 healing psychological principles that Lincoln used throughout the rest of his life to overcome depression and rise to greatness. At some level they can help us all.
1. Learn from your mistakes: Lincoln made many mistakes in his life. Yet, his ability to learn from them helped him to mature as a man. In 1842, Lincoln and his soon-to-be wife Mary decided to poke fun at a political candidate by the name of James Shields. Lincoln thought that this outspoken Irishman was too arrogant to hold office. In a local newspaper they wrote an anonymous letter calling Shields a "conceited dunce" and "a fool as well as a liar." Outraged, Shields wrote to Lincoln and told him to either retract his statement or face the consequences. When Lincoln refused they actually met, with their seconds, on an island in the Mississippi River to face each other in a duel. At the last moment their friends interceded and Shields accepted Lincoln's apology. Afterwards, Lincoln was so distressed by the affair that he never again wrote an anonymous letter that personally attacked other politicians. He learned this could be dangerous and embarrassing. He also learned that he did not have to respond to the challenges to fight. When later someone would try to pick a fight with him he would just laugh and walk away. Lincoln learned from his mistakes.

2. Don't take yourself too seriously: Lincoln had a rare ability to laugh at himself and he often said that if he ever met anyone uglier than himself, he would shoot the wretch and put him out of his misery. When it came to women, a subject that caused him much grief in his early life, Lincoln would say, "Others have been made fools of by the girls; but this could never be said of me. I most emphatically, in this instance, made a fool of myself." Once in a lecture he said, "I find quite as much material for a lecture in those points wherein I have failed, as in those where I have been moderately successful." Humility and the ability to poke fun at himself were traits that ultimately helped to endear Lincoln to the American public.

3. Laughter is healing: Lincoln experienced periods of severe depression. He spent days in bed in severe mental anguish, unable to go to work. He had suicidal thoughts and a close friend said, "I never saw so gloomy and melancholy a face in my life." It's possible that Lincoln inherited the tendency for depression from his natural mother whom he described as melancholy with "eyes as pools of sadness." Yet laughter was Lincoln's Prozac and he often used humor to treat his severe depressions. If his friends could get him to laugh with a funny story or have him tell one of his humorous anecdotes Lincoln's mood would begin to brighten. On the election night of 1864 Lincoln was very nervous and tense, anticipating a bad outcome. He read a book of humor to calm his nerves. When a member of his cabinet saw what Lincoln was reading he left the White House in disgust, thinking that the President did not understand the seriousness of the evening. Apparently, Lincoln understood what
modern-day physicians are now just discovering -- laughter is healing.

4. Be tolerant of others: "With malice toward none and charity to all." Lincoln was tolerant of others and despised inhumane treatment of any person. Lincoln's law partner, Billy Herndon, said, "Lincoln had no ethnic prejudices...yet tolerating--as I never could--even the Irish." Rather than judge alcoholics as moral weaklings, like many of his day, Lincoln felt sorry for them and felt they needed understanding instead of ridicule. Also, Lincoln often said, "It's been my experience that folks with no vices have generally very few virtues." Even during the Civil War he showed mercy to run away confederate soldiers and would often search for ways to pardon the condemned. The ability to tolerate and forgive others is often the cornerstone of healing.

5. Maintain honesty and integrity: Honesty and integrity were very important to Lincoln and were acknowledged even by his rivals. One of the highest compliments paid to Lincoln was by his political adversary Stephen A. Douglas, who told a friend during the Senate race of 1858, "He is the strong man of the party...He is as honest as he is shrewd, and if I beat him my victory will be hard won." He once told a group of law students to resolve themselves to be honest in everything. He said, "If in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer." Facing yourself and your world honestly frees you to be you. It is also easier. Lincoln once said that, "No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar."

6. Work helps overcome grief: Lincoln was no stranger to grief. His mother died when he was nine. His sister and his sweetheart died when he was in his twenties and he lost two children to disease. After the death of his first son, Eddie, he poured himself into his law practice so that the grief would not overwhelm him. After the death of Willie, his favorite son, he again had to plunge himself into his work to maintain his sanity. His grief was so severe for Willie that he had the child's body dug up twice so that he could gaze upon his face. Without his work Lincoln felt he would not be able to go another day and might have had mental problems as did his wife during that time of sorrow. Work for Lincoln was his connection to meaning and purpose. Work is often healing.

7. You ultimately choose how you feel: It was out of the grief over losing Willie that Lincoln came to realize the power of a person's individual decision. He came to believe that we ultimately choose how we feel. He wrote, "I believe it is the inalienable right of man to be happy or miserable by his own decision and I for one make the decision to choose the former." These words wisely foretold one of the most effective modern treatments for depression, termed cognitive therapy. When people learn how to correct their negative cognitions and direct their thoughts toward gratitude they can often heal depression.

8. It's OK to be successful: Lincoln was a self made man. He had tremendous hope in the American system and even in 1850 felt that the door was always open for people to improve their situation in life. He said, "The hope for self-improvement is always there." Lincoln was clearly an ambitious man and felt it was every person's right to elevate themselves. He also became a man of substantial wealth from his law practice, earning more than $5,000 a year in the mid 1850s, which was the equivalent between one to two million dollars a year today*. Lincoln lived his belief that it is our right to be successful if we will work hard, be honest and give up a dependent nature.

9. Seek the council of informed people: Lincoln sought the advice of others. Even though Lincoln made the tough decisions himself, he asked questions and sought the feedback of others. Lincoln was terribly afraid of marriage, feeling he was not fit to be a husband. When one of his best friends, Joshua Speed, told him how happy and successful his own marriage was, Lincoln had renewed hope for himself and finally worked up enough courage to court Marry Todd. During the Lincoln-Douglas Debates he sought the advice of the Republican State Central Committee and other party leaders. They helped focus Lincoln's strategy and encourage him to "give him hell," which helped to catapult Lincoln to national prominence. Lincoln knew it was good to ask others if you didn't have the answers.

10. Don't spend much time looking back: Even though Lincoln came from poor "log cabin" roots, he never allowed that to interfere with his goals or ambitions. After he started his law practice in Springfield he spent very little time with his father and step-mother and he did not even attend his father's funeral. His family of origin was from an agricultural, depressed and unsuccessful world. He called it the "short and simple annals of the poor." Lincoln wanted to stay focused on the more modern, educated world. By dwelling on the present and the future rather than the pain in his past Lincoln was able to move his life forward in a positive direction. He once said, "I don't know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be."

"The Lincoln Principles" continue to be as relevant today as they were many years ago. Never stop doing your best. As Lincoln said, "I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end," which he did.

Daniel G. Amen, MD is a psychiatrist, director of the Amen Clinics and author of Making A Good Brain Great.

News Release: Abe Lincoln: The First Psychologist?
Submitted on: February 06, 2008 06:47:49 PM
Submitted by: Marc
On behalf of: onthemarcmedia.com