Comments on: Are the Crying Spells of John Boehner Signs of Depression?

By: Marisol Perry

Marisol Perry — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 02:44:16 +0000

Maybe it’s simply an allergic reaction to whatever tanning cream he uses to make himself so orange… nasty stuff if one gets it in one’s eyes.

By: Sara Stein MD

Sara Stein MD — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:30:56 +0000

The word Bipolar comes to mind.

By: JoeMomma

JoeMomma — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:27:31 +0000

I think he’s “EMO”. Emo Boehner.
He probably sits at home and listens to The Cure and counts his payola from corporations.

By: mosh

mosh — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:09:07 +0000

i think this guy is gay
maybe thats how he got a bad back discharge

(comment edited)

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:52:58 +0000

His emotional lability seemed to me to be pathological.

By: Greg P

Greg P — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:29:41 +0000

If anything, it might suggest some frontal lobe issues, or perhaps something like a mild version of pseudobulbar affect.
If he is doing Ok in terms of frontal lobe function, it’s hard to make too much out of it.

By: Chairman Meow

Chairman Meow — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:35:35 +0000

I agree – the act of crying itself is certainly not a sign of weakness. When it is so prevalent, (especially in a person in power) i do think it raises some red flags.

Put in the context of his job, and his lack of morality (aka, affair with lobbyist Lisbeth Lyons, passing out $30k checks from the tobacco lobby on the floor of congress, etc) I’d say you have someone with issues. Kind of reminds of a Jimmy Swaggart figure.

I hope they find an altar boy in his closet.

By: James Ph. Kotsybar

James Ph. Kotsybar — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 22:22:41 +0000

Maybe it’s simply an allergic reaction to whatever tanning cream he uses to make himself so orange… nasty stuff if one gets it in one’s eyes.

By: becca

becca — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 05:10:08 +0000

I find it completely disgusting that anyone would judge him because of the tears. Emotional expression per se is not evidence of being ‘unstable’. Indeed, I think it’s only people who suppress their emotions in pathological ways that behave erratically when they are startled by emotions surfacing violently.

That said, even if I *wanted* to be kindly disposed toward him because of his crying, the fact that he’s John Boehner totally ruins it for me. I don’t like him. I don’t think his crying is noble or emotionally deep. But I also don’t know it to be evidence of any particular mental habits or psychological conditions at all.

By: Dr. Psychobabble

Dr. Psychobabble — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 20:18:15 +0000

I just wanted to throw in my 3 cents. I don’t believe that crying is in any way a sign of depression. Of course, as you said, it could be a sign of melancholia, or worse. But taken alone, it’s not really significant.

I cry about once a week. I’m easily moved. I always have been. I cry when I’m happy, sad, mad, and confused.

I know that I’m not clinically depressed.

I’m of the mind that expressing one’s emotions is a whole helluvalot healthier than keeping them bottled up inside.

I think we should all cry more often. And not be embarrassed to do so! Let there be tears!

(Yeah, I know…what a load of psychobabble!) 😉