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Richard A. Friedman, MD

JAMA. 2008;300(11):1348-1350.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

On March 17, 2008, Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York resigned his office amidst revelations of his involvement with prostitutes.¹ In the days following this political upheaval, the media turned to various mental health professionals to help the public understand the former governor's puzzling behavior. Much of the public discussion focused on the role of risk taking. For example, Farley, a psychologist at Temple University, was quoted as saying: "Look at Spitzer: he's Mr. Rectitude, the terror of Wall Street, and he busts prostitution rings, and yet he allegedly goes into that very lions' den—the prostitution ring—and partakes. If that isn't risk-taking I don't know what other label to put on it."²

Other mental health professionals speculated about possible unconscious psychological factors that might have played a role in the governor's downfall. Accuracy aside, the psychological commentary on Spitzer raises an important question: What is the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Background

Author Affiliation: Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York.

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