Andrew Yang, who ran an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential elections (and later lost in the New York mayoral race), describes his climb to fame in his upcoming book, which was excerpted in Politico on Sunday. In it, he talks about the pitfalls of his run, which include realizing that people cared how he looked. “I already had to get used to wearing makeup for television appearances that I often kept on for the rest of the day,” he lamented. “The most irritating thing was using hair product again after taking a 20-year break from it. Apparently, ‘hair gel’ was upgraded to ‘hair wax’ at some point, which seemed like an improvement from my old Studio Line gel from L’Oreal.”

But what worries the former hopeful even more is the psychological impact of egomania that comes with being recognized on the streets. Yang cites various studies that show that such a power trip can actually cause measurable brain damage. “On the campaign trail, I could clearly see how politicians become susceptible to growing so out of touch,” he wrote. “You function on appearance; appearance becomes your role. Empathy becomes optional or even unhelpful. Leadership becomes the appearance of leadership.”