Hubris syndrome: definition, symptoms, what to do?

Is he mad? The question comes back on all the lips of the populations who attend, dumbfounded, the war led by the Russian president Vladimir Putin in Ukraine since February 2022. Many rumors circulating on his state of health: cancer, Parkinson’s disease…None have been confirmed. Lately, doctors who observed it evoked the possibility of Hubris syndrome. narcissism, arrogancethe lying and handling are part of its characteristics. This syndrome can affect anyone, at any age. “Whether it’s a abusive husband, of one entrepreneur megalomaniac or a militaristic head of state, those are extremely dangerous personalities for others and of immense fragility“ explains Dr. Bertrand Gilot, psychiatrist. Discovery.

Definition: what is Hubris syndrome?

Hubris syndrome is a personality disorder, not a mental illness. “Hubris” (or “hybris”) in ancient Greek meant “excess” and in English “Pride”. This syndrome is inextricably linked to power, it is a prerequisite. When power passes, the syndrome lessens. A “hubristic” personality is particularly common among heads of government. In psychoanalysis, we speak of “hubris syndrome” when a person shows “narcissism, arrogance, pretentiousness, egotism, even manipulation, lies and contempt” in reaction to his power. This person has the feeling of being invulnerable and having omnipotence. “The person exceeds the limits of the admissible in the perception of himself and in the relationship to others. There is a overvaluation of self and permanent undervaluation of others. In the notion of hubris, in Greek mythology, there is also always the notion of violence, it is a archaic return to raw violenceto one Powerful uniquely destructive which exceeds what humans should be satisfied with” explains Dr. Bertrand Gilot, psychiatrist.

What are the symptoms of Hubris syndrome?

Several behavioral symptoms are associated with Hubris syndrome. According to the doctor and former English minister David Owen, you must have at least three or four of the following list to be considered to have this syndrome:

• Narcissistic propensity to see the world as an arena in which to exercise power and seek glory
• Predisposition to engage in actions likely to present themselves in a favorable light, i.e. to embellish one’s image
• Disproportionate appeal for image and appearance
• Messianic way of talking about what one does with a tendency to exaltation in speech and manners
• Identification of oneself with the nation insofar as the perspectives and interests of the two are identical.
• Tendency to talk about oneself in the third person or use “we”
• Excessive reliance on own judgment and disregard for the advice or criticism of others.
• Exaggerated self-confidence, bordering on a feeling of omnipotencein what they can achieve personally.
• Conviction that instead of being responsible to public opinion, the only tribunal to which he will have to answer will be that of history often accompanied by an unshakable conviction that in this tribunal they will be vindicated
• Restlessness, carelessness and impulsiveness.
• Loss of touch with reality, often associated with progressive isolation
• Tendency to give importance to one’s “vision”, to one’s choice, which avoids considering the practical aspects or evaluating the costs and undesirable consequences.
• Incompetence, when things go wrong because excessive self-confidence has led the leader to neglect the usual workings of politics, of law.

Symptoms usually subside when the person no longer exerts power. It is less likely to develop in modest people, open to criticism, who have a certain cynicism or a well-developed sense of humor.

“We often have to do with great paranoids and / or great perverts”

What are the characteristics of a person with Hubris Syndrome?

“If we link this syndrome to what we observe in humans who have had a lot of power and who have exercised it in a tyrannical way, we often have to do with great paranoids and/or great perverts”, continues the psychiatrist. The paranoid “more often a man” is the one we hear about in the various facts: the man convinced that his neighbor is doing things on purpose to harm him, who goes to tell everyone about it, and who, seeing that no one takes him seriously, ends up kill his neighbor and commit suicide behind. He never questions himself. “These are people who reason in a fair, structured way but whose reasoning is based on a starting postulate which is false. We see the same logic in tyrants. Hitler, Stalin… These are people intimately convinced of being right from the start and who will put all their power at the service of this certainty of being right. Anyone who opposes, challenges or even just questions this certainty is going to be placed in their enemies.” Sometimes the characteristics of the pervert are added: “The pervert does not consider the other as another, the other only exists as a tool or object that we can use or damage if we want to.” The other is perceived as an extension of oneself with which one can do what one wants, he is not perceived as a being in his own right.

There is no room for failure, doubt or nuance.

“Whether it’s a abusive husband, of one entrepreneur megalomaniac or a militaristic head of state, they are extremely dangerous personalities for others and of immense fragility“ continues Dr. Gilot. The person who has a “hubristic” profile leaves no room forfailure, doubt, nuance : “Everything is extremely brutal and in the event of confrontation with their failure it is generally the suicide, violent suicide, which occurs. Possibly by sowing destruction around them before committing suicide. This position of omnipotence is there to defend itself from a reality which is powerlessness.

Who are the personalities affected by Hubris syndrome?

Hubris syndrome is particularly common among government leaders, but it can affect any other person in private life, at work… and manifest itself at any age. In his book “In Sickness and in power”, the English doctor David Owen considers that the following four heads of government have developed this pride syndrome: Lloyd George,
Margaret Thatcher, George W. Bush and Tony Blair. In March 2022, doctors who observed the attitude of the Russian president Vladimir Poutineat war with Ukraine, believes that he has it.

Are there treatments for Hubris syndrome?

There is no treatment in the “medicinal” sense to “cure” Hubris syndrome. According to Dr. David Owen, the symptoms usually subside when the person no longer exerts power. She would also have to be surrounded by critics to counter her feeling of absolute “omnipotence”. But still it is necessary that this person hears these criticisms and that it manages to modify its reasoning which is rarely the case.

“Silence is always more dangerous than speech.”

What to do with a person with Hubris syndrome?

“It’s necessary get away to protect themselves” answers Dr. Bertrand Gilot straight away. At work, the best thing is to quit your job. In the couple become toxic, it’s the same thing, you have to separate yourself from this person. “Every time you try to reason with the other, you’ll be lost anyway. because it is not played in the dialogue or so just the time to imagine other solutions. In a geopolitical conflict with a person assured of his omnipotence and the merits of his actions – as we observe with the President Russian at war with Ukraine – “it is difficult to imagine a calm outcome” explains our interlocutor. “We are only in the balance of power with total contempt for the other where we are certain to be victorious. There is an illusory race, a limitless headlong rush. If the Russian President annexes Europe, he will need Africa, then Asia… However, the more he is victorious, the more his potential for dangerousness increases”. So what to do?

• Do not react and let him do it? “This is dangerous because the omnipotence is increased. The more successes he obtains, the more power and therefore danger he takes.. We saw with Hitler what happened. There is a psychic need to comfort oneself, the demonstration of force towards others aims above all to reassure oneself. Behind this great danger, there is an immense internal fragility. We are no longer in a rational logic.
• Resist ? To oppose ? “If we resist, he will get angry. If we oppose him and defeat him, he will face a collapse of his certainties and he can also be extremely violent.
• Dialogue? “Dialogue does not always help much but not to dialogue is worse. Silence is always more dangerous than speech, it is always true even in the face of this kind of personality. We can hope that dialogue instills a little little doubt, a tiny bit of nuance. Do not hope that the person comes to his senses but that he rounds off some angles a little bit.”
• Put him face to face with his failures so that he goes from omnipotence to impotence? “Being faced with a failure impossible to deny destabilizes but we do not know what real information he has to assess this failure, we cannot know in advance the tipping point between the two.”

Thanks to Dr Bertrand Gilot, psychiatrist.

Sources:

Hubris-syndrome. David Owen. ClinMed 2008;8:428–32

In Sickness and in Power: Illnesses in Heads of Government During the Last 100 Years Hardcover – May 30, 2008. David Owen.