When Power Breaks: The Mental Health Crisis of Leaders and the Cost to Their Followers…

Mentally Healthy Leaders shape lives, and Mentally Unhealthy Leaders destroys lives. When judgment of leaders is impaired by unchecked ego, fear, grief, delusion or unchecked ambition, the damage can be catastrophic. This article examines how failures in leaders’ mental fitness—across politics, religion, business, law and culture—have translated into real-world harm. Ten concrete examples follow, each paired with a short analysis of the leadership/mental-health dynamics and a practical lesson for preventing repeat harms.

1) United States — January 6, 2021

What happened: A sitting or former political leader like Donald Trump refuses to accept an electoral outcome and repeated public claims of fraud helped catalyze an assault on the U.S. Capitol that caused death, injury and institutional trauma. To this day, Trump sees nothing wrong with his influence on what transpired as a result of his reckless public statement that led to death, arrest and compromise of American institutional credibility.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Grandiosity, malignant certainty and sustained public amplification of fear and grievance can radicalize followers.

Practical lesson: We must promote transparent electoral communication, there must be legal accountability for leaders who incite violence, and psychological literacy about demagoguery.

2) Russia–Ukraine war (2022– )

What happened: A decision by Russia’s top leadership led by President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine produced mass casualties, displacement and long-term regional destabilization.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Autocratic consolidation, threat-perception, and narratives of historical grievance can close off dissenting counsel and escalate conflict.

Practical lesson: Strengthen international early-warning diplomacy, protect independent domestic institutions, and fund mental-health-informed de-escalation mechanisms for leaders and negotiators.

3) Ukraine — wartime leadership pressures

What happened: Under existential threat, Ukraine’s leadership led by Volodymyr Zelensky has made decisions (e.g., mobilization, emergency policies) that have profound human costs even as they claim to defend sovereignty.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Acute stress and hyper-responsibility can produce burnout, impaired decision-making and moral injury in leaders who feel they carry a nation’s fate.

Practical lesson: Build leader-support systems (psychological care, advisory teams, stress management) during crises to sustain sound judgment.

4) Myanmar — military coup (2021)

What happened: Military leaders overturned civilian rule, triggering repression, civilian deaths and humanitarian collapse without due consideration of their own people.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Authoritarian reflexes, zero-sum thinking and paranoia about losing control can drive leaders toward violent consolidation.

Practical lesson: International pressure, targeted sanctions, and support for institutional resilience can counter impulses toward violent seizure of power.

5) Brazil — COVID-19 public-health response

What happened: Political leadership that downplayed a pandemic and promoted misinformation contributed to higher transmission, preventable deaths and public confusion.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Overconfidence, denialism and distrust of experts can amplify collective risk.

Practical lesson: Institutionalize independent public-health communication, hold leaders accountable for misinformation, and prioritize evidence-based crisis briefings.

6) Corporate leadership — Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos

What happened: A charismatic CEO’s deception about medical technology endangered patients, investors and employees.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Narcissistic charisma, risk-tolerance for self-aggrandizing narratives, and avoidance of contrary data led to systemic harm.

Practical lesson: Strengthen corporate governance, whistleblower protections, and independent technical audits to check charismatic founders.

7) Religion — Pastor Temitope (Tope) Omotoso and similar abuses

What happened: Trusted spiritual leaders who exploited congregants sexually or financially betrayed vulnerable followers, causing trauma and shattered communities.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Clerical privilege, boundary blindness, and predatory entitlement combined with institutional protection can enable abuse.

Practical lesson: Enforce safeguarding policies, external oversight of religious organizations, survivor-centered reporting and mental-health resources for communities.

8) Religion — Shepherd Bushiri and financial malfeasance

What happened: Allegations of fraud and flight by charismatic religious leaders left congregants defrauded and disillusioned.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Cults of personality, opacity in finances and leader-exemption thinking create high-risk environments for exploitation.

Practical lesson: Transparency in finances, regulatory oversight and financial literacy for congregations reduce vulnerability.

9) Judicial and political capture — Erosion of independent courts

What happened: Leaders who undermine judicial independence (by stacking courts or criminalizing dissent) shift legal systems toward protecting power rather than people, enabling human-rights abuses.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Impunity-seeking and zero-sum political paranoia can corrode safeguards and invite abuses.

Practical lesson: International legal norms, support for independent judiciaries, and civic education about separation of powers are crucial.

10) Media and social-media influencers — fueling mob acts and conspiracy movements

What happened: Influential figures online have spread conspiracies that led followers to harass, threaten or commit violence, and to make life-altering choices based on falsehoods.

Mental-health/leadership dynamic: Attention-seeking, reward-driven algorithmic behavior and emotional contagion can normalize extreme acts.

Practical lesson: Platform accountability, media-literacy curricula, and channels for rapid correction of misinformation reduce harm.

Conclusion — Toward Mentally Fit Leadership

Across spheres, the pattern is clear: when leaders operate from unchecked ego, fear, denial, or a culture of impunity, followers pay the price—lives, livelihoods and social trust. Preventing these harms requires systems that prioritize:

- Accountability: legal and institutional checks that apply to everyone.

- Transparency: open information on decisions, finances and motives.

- Oversight: independent bodies and civil-society capacity to intervene.

- Leader Support: accessible, confidential mental-health care and peer advisory structures for those in power.

- Public Resilience: media literacy, civic education and protective policy to reduce susceptibility to manipulative leadership.

A Final Provocation: we often screen leaders for resume and rhetoric but rarely for the psychological fitness needed to hold power responsibly. If lives and livelihoods hinge on leader decisions, investing in leader mental-health safeguards is not indulgent—it is essential public protection. One thing for sure, most leaders of society in different spheres across the world will do anything to cling to power at the expense of their supporters, followers and their families too. One of the greatest weapons leaders use against their own people is to keep them divided by creating chaos whilst they (leaders) thrive in the process, regardless of the consequences. The world has more selfish leaders than self-less leaders...