PolitiKO, a job with high mental risk

“I can not anymore“he confessed Elsa Artadi. And she left. The woman who could be a candidate for president, who could be a ‘consellera’, who aspired to the mayoralty of Barcelona, ​​a politician without respite or weekends off, present in all the decisions of the independence movement and beyond, says enough. What is behind this goodbye? Do politicians – whom democracy places both at the center of power and at the target – have the right to say that they can’t do more, that they are not motivated, that they have made a mistake or that the adversary was right? Would his press officer allow it? Would the public understand? Isn’t it contradictory to claim politicians with a human profile when in reality they are required, by land, sea and tweet, to be our guide, our therapist, our educator and the best manager of public money? The Artadi case opens a Pandora’s Box that, unlike the mythological box, does not contain all the evils but all the uncomfortable truths and the mirror of a society installed in post-truth, hypercriticism and volatility.

First, let’s go to the specific case: Artadi. “She’s a workaholicit is difficult for him to delegate tasks, he wants to have control over everything at an extreme level and the fact of not having children means that he also works on weekends”, they describe in his environment. He had been thinking about the decision for some time, and had accumulated ten years doing everything what was entrusted to her. With one small detail: it was not what she wanted. She was empty inside and she was not happy.

The psychologist José Luis Pérez, after viewing the images of Artadi’s moving goodbye to the media, notes: “This ‘I can’t take it anymore’ comes from a protective place, the syndrome of burn out (burned) is a mechanism of the brain to protect itself. It lowers the bar on tolerance for pain and frustration.” Indeed, returning to Artadi’s environment, she had been feeling tired, exhausted for a long time, she was physically fragile, behind the façade of an ultra-demanding woman with herself and with her surroundings. “Self-demand is an essential factor to be where Artadi and others like her were, but the fundamental problem is frustration, because in high places the frustration is continuous. Frustration is something natural, but when it becomes chronic, it wears you down a lot. If I were president or mayor, I would be more satisfied, but being in the trenches for so long simply cannot be sustained,” she describes. Perez.

Are there many Artadis?

Of course. If one in four people will suffer a mental health problem throughout their lives, if the pandemic has increased these pathologies and if professional policy contains risk elements in mental health such as stress, competitiveness, overexposure to the public and veto any sign of weakness or frustration, the conclusion is that Artadi is no exception. as it says Victor Perezhead of the psychiatry service at the Hospital del Mar: “There are certainly many more Artadis, but not only among politicians. In her case, I find it very brave. Politicians have a locus of very external control, they depend a lot on what is thought from outside, in a few hours they go from the crest of the wave to being a disaster, these cases are covered up a lot, I know many politicians with a tremendous spirit of sacrifice but they cannot be allow weaknesses & rdquor ;. José Luis Perez finishes off, with an overwhelming logic: “Failure doesn’t have a good reputation., and the marketing departments camouflage it because the public does not want to see themselves reflected in a person who says that they have done it wrong or that they have made a mistake. It is a matter of narcissism, we have created a way of doing politics tied to the idea of ​​the absolute winner.”

Carles Fabrowho has been chief of staff for all the presidents of Catalonia since 1980, reflects: “Over the years, cases have been happening, people have been withdrawing, more or less discreetly, announcing that they have another project…ha past not only in politics but in sports. Politicians are great unknowns unless you work very closely and see the day to day and the sacrifices that it entails & rdquor ;.

For a #metoo in politics

Itziar Gonzalez, architect, activist, former Barcelona City Council member who resigned in protest against corruption and lack of internal support, hails Artadi’s resignation as yet another symptom that “the party machinery wants people committed to a project, but They don’t commit to what it means for these people to accept the challenge. They see their elected officials as expendable personnel: I use you, then I don’t need you anymore and I look for someone else.” That is why he celebrates Artadi’s attitude: “There are many like her, mostly women, resignation is a gesture of struggle and the beginning of victories, we are showing the limitations of the system“. For this reason, he asks that a #metoo be started “of people who say ‘I have tried to represent the citizenry, I have had pressures and limitations, I have felt alone or little supported’. And that the debate not be reduced to the psychological issue .

In this sense, the former ERC deputy Joan Tarda reflects: “It is possible that if a person says ‘I don’t see myself strongly’, this is frivolous because it has probably been the same political class that has made a perverse use of these arguments”. A “captive” political class; he admits, of the press officers and communication ‘gurus’, with a way of communicating that goes beyond the will of the politicians themselves. Trapped, then, by not being able to tell the truth. Tony Airaprofessor at UPF-BSM and former head of communication for a political party, is sincere: “It has to come naturally to you because otherwise the idea of ​​apologizing or assuming responsibilities as a rhetorical exercise can be counterproductive, no one will thank you, for the dialectic of the confrontation we live in. The first ones who won’t give you anything good will be the other parties, and the media will gossip. People tend to hide candidates’ weaknesses, which puts them under extra stress.“.

Because, does the public want perfect leaders or does it want the truth? “Both things,” replies a prominent Parliament deputy who prefers anonymity. “Politics is so demanding that authenticity is required but also leadership, strength… the reactionary culture calls for leadership even if it is a lie“. For this reason, this parliamentarian grants an exceptional value to the step taken by Artadi. And he assumes that this world also creates junkies: “it generates dependency, without a doubt, it is addictive, both because of the political task and because of the circus& rdquor ;, with risks such as “the volatility of everything, the enormous external exposure of the networks, internal political wear and tear (greater than that caused by adversaries ), and the Catalan political rollercoaster moment”.

not believe it

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This politician, who has not made this job his vital profession, recommends “not believing it completely”, avoiding personalization, thinking as a team. “And take a deep breath, try to be yourself in front of yourself and those around you“. “Who best solves these situations is the one who has the ability to separate the public from the private. It is a certain dissociation between these two aspects of life in order to sustain them, describes the psychologist José Luis Pérez.

In addition, the cases of corruption, the degradation of the political message, the lack of answers to the economic crisis… are ingredients that do not contribute to the citizenry sympathizing with the politicians’ problems. “This happens in all groups – Fabró points out – and It’s a shame because the day people get completely away from politics, who will we have in charge?“.