I don’t think there’s ever been a time in U.S. history when a president’s mental health was as deeply scrutinized as it is with the current occupant of the White House. Donald Trump doesn’t read Intel reports, and briefings, and yet he has the time to rage at the world on Twitter. Trump has no impulse control and doesn’t seem to acknowledge boundaries. Trump’s speech is often slurred and his manner is abrasive, sometimes more aggressive than necessary. But, I’m a blogster, not a psychiatrist — however, at least 350 professionals weighed in and three of them are willing to testify at the impeachment hearings.
A group of mental health professionals led by a trio of pre-eminent psychiatrists appears to note Trump’s fragile ego, and they are urging the House Judiciary Committee to consider the “president’s” “dangerous” mental state arising from his “brittle sense of self-worth” as part of its inquiry into whether to approve articles of impeachment against the former reality show star, according to The Independent.
“We are speaking out at this time because we are convinced that, as the time of possible impeachment approaches, Donald Trump has the real potential to become ever more dangerous, a threat to the safety of our nation,” said Yale Medical School Professor Dr. Bandy Lee, George Washington University Professor Dr. John Zinner, and former CIA profiler Dr. Jerrold Post in a statement that will be sent to House Judiciary Committee members on Thursday, and will include a petition with at least 350 signatures from mental health professionals that support their conclusions.
The statement goes on to warn that “[f]ailing to monitor or to understand the psychological aspects [of impeachment on Mr. Trump], or discounting them, could lead to catastrophic outcomes.”
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“[W]e implore Congress to take these danger signs seriously and to constrain his destructive impulses,” the psychiatrists write. “We and many others are available to give important relevant recommendations as well as to educate the public so that we can maximize our collective safety.”
Dr. Lee told The Independent that the psychiatrists felt it necessary to come forward because Trump is “is ramping up his conspiracy theories” and “showing a great deal of cruelty and vindictiveness” in his “accelerated, repetitive tweets,” which Lee determined to be signs that he is “doubling and a tripling down on his delusions.”
“I believe that they fit the pattern of delusions rather than just plain lies,” she said then pointed to the claim Trump made during a meeting with NATO’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg that “many legal scholars” were “looking at the transcripts” of his controversial July 25 phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and agreeing with his description of the call as being “absolutely perfect” as an example of his pathology, according to the news outlet.
Dr. Zinner, a former National Institutes of Mental Health researcher who has taught about and consulted with intelligence agencies on narcissistic personality disorders, described the “president” as a textbook case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
“Impeachment is the greatest threat to his self-esteem that he’s experienced so far, and we’re very worried that his rage will be even more destructive than it’s been in the past,” Zinner said.
Dr. Post, who founded the CIA’s Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior, warned of Trump’s connection with his followers, which, to the rest of us, seems as if they are part of a cult
“Watching his rallies, there’s an almost palpable connection between Trump and his followers, who have taken his invitation to externalize and project their problems upon [other groups],” Post said. “He’s basically saying he understands where their problems are coming from and he will rescue them, so to hurt their rescuer is very painful [for his followers] indeed.”
Post then noted Trump’s affection for war criminals.
“He’s identified with these war criminals because he knows that he’s being seen as a criminal,” Post continued. “So he’s trying to redefine them as heroes, just like he is. People challenge his intelligence, so he accuses Maxine Walters of being ‘low IQ’ and says, but I’m a stable genius.”
And we’ve all seen Trump supporters nod their heads with approval after each bizarre claim of being a stable genius. Trump’s fragile ego and sense of entitlement have been on the stage for the world to see, and yet his supporters remain blind to the obvious. And while the rest of us laugh at his claims, as the psychiatrists point out, he’s a dangerous man. Trump was just diminished on the world stage at a NATO summit gathering, and lashing out is all he has left.
Also, he has the nuclear codes.
Featured image via Political Tribune’s gallery
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