This idea was clearly conceived by a man living in an era in which our understanding of bipolar disorder was exceptionally underdeveloped–a man who quite obviously was ill-informed about the illness, even among contemporaries.

If his claim has any validity, it’s only with respect to a certain variety of mania–a “mixed episode”–during which patients often have delusions and ideas of reference, engage in risky behavior, and, quite frequently, experience extreme irritability.

His speculation–which is all it is–doesn’t even remotely pertain to the prototypical manic episode, a state in which the patient frequently experiences ideas of reference, inflated confidence, delusions of grandeur, flamboyance, and maverick tendencies. These symptoms frequently give one nearly palpable charismatic magnetism. These are not traits commiserate with depression. Not even remotely.

I don’t disagree that there is likely a psychological dimension to the cycles of booms and busts, but I would describe it in different terms: it seems to draw upon the human tendency to overreact (think here about occasions when you nearly crossed the center line after nearly veering off the other side of the road). Another psychological factor not mentioned is our innate tendency to think about the short-term rather than the long.