And the Impotence Came Crashing In

[DrW]

I don't know if he [Donald J. Trump] is mentally ill.

I do. And so does his psychologist niece, Dr. Mary L Trump. A leading psychoanalyst and clinical professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. John Zinner, agrees. Both have claimed that Donald Trump suffers from narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 65856.html

In the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), NPD is defined as comprising a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), a constant need for admiration, and a lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by the presence of at least 5 of the following 9 criteria:

- A grandiose sense of self-importance (Check)

- A preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love (Check)

- A belief that he or she is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people or institutions (Check)

- A need for excessive admiration (Check)

- A sense of entitlement (Check)

- Interpersonally exploitive behavior (Check)

- A lack of empathy (Check)

- Envy of others or a belief that others are envious of him or her (Check)

- A demonstration of arrogant and haughty behaviors or attitudes (Check)

In a proposed alternative model cited in DSM-5, NPD is characterized by moderate or greater impairment in personality functioning, manifested by characteristic difficulties in 2 or more of the following 4 areas:

- Identity (?)

- Self-direction (Check)

- Empathy (Check)

- Intimacy (Check)

- In addition, NPD is characterized by the presence of both grandiosity and attention seeking. (Double Check)
____________________________

Trump scores 9 out of 9 (5 required) on the DSM standard criteria for NPD and 4 out of 5 (2 required) on the alternative model requirements.

There can be no doubt that Donald J. Trump suffers from florid NPD. He is not now, and never was, mentally qualified to be president of the United States. It is also worth noting that NPD seldom if ever responds to treatment and is generally considered as refractory to incurable.

[canpakes]

At this point, the Trump faithful believe that there was election fraud and that Trump actually won. However, the faithful will leave if he cannot make his case and he will then concede.

I don’t think so. There’s a relationship in play here.

On one side are folks who do not have a functional relationship with facts, who seem to need/crave conflict or tend to cultivate a narrative of being persecuted.

On the other side is a con man who will be dependent upon retaining a large audience that will unquestioningly follow his every utterance and who will spend their money and time supporting his brand.

Trump knows what his Base needs, and his Base is not going to be willing to ditch their fix. And he knows what will keep his own family brand in the black, while simultaneously feeding his own ego. It’s a win-win for both of these sides even as it’s going to be a growing loss for Democracy, sanity, and the future of this country.

[Res Ipsa]

At this point, the Trump faithful believe that there was election fraud and that Trump actually won. However, the faithful will leave if he cannot make his case and he will then concede.

I don’t think so. There’s a relationship in play here.

On one side are folks who do not have a functional relationship with facts, who seem to need/crave conflict or tend to cultivate a narrative of being persecuted.

On the other side is a con man who will be dependent upon retaining a large audience that will unquestioningly follow his every utterance and who will spend their money and time supporting his brand.

Trump knows what his Base needs, and his Base is not going to be willing to ditch their fix. And he knows what will keep his own family brand in the black, while simultaneously feeding his own ego. It’s a win-win for both of these sides even as it’s going to be a growing loss for Democracy, sanity, and the future of this country.

I think what we have is a significant group of Americans who have signed on to a conspiracy theory -- there was a conspiracy among the media, democratic officials, and RINOS to cheat Trump out of his certain reelection. Conspiracy theorists are relatively impervious to contrary facts. Evidence against the theory will be reinterpreted to support the theory. Every judge that rejects Trump's claims will be demonized as being part of the conspiracy. Every piece of evidence offered by election officials will be dismissed because those officials are part of the conspiracy.

I think Dr. Exiled has the causation backwards. The faithful will not let go of this conspiracy theory until Trump does. And even then, a significant number will believe he really won but conceded under pressure of threats to himself and his family.

[Jersey Girl]

I don't know if he is mentally ill.

He is, without a doubt, mentally ill. Dr. W. covered it perfectly above. I've written about it myself on other threads here and the previous board, and so has EA.

He is experiencing a series of events that cause narcissistic injury. This is when narcissists are their most dangerous and unstable. Best be keeping an eye on the man. He won't concede and take part in a peaceful transfer unless he figures out a way to elevate himself by doing so.

Best guess...he'll start discarding people and very likely try to damage the country in an effort to discard US.

[Some Schmo]

Obama was elected and the GOP became the party of "no."

Trump was elected and they became the party of "so?"

Biden was elected and now they're the party of "d'oh!"

I'm sure if they retain the senate, they'll resume being the party of "no."

[Some Schmo]

The faithful will not let go of this conspiracy theory until Trump does.

The thing is, it's true there was a conspiracy to remove Trump from office... a HUGE conspiracy, involving over 74 million voters.

[Dr Exiled]

I don't know if he [Donald J. Trump] is mentally ill.

I do. And so does his psychologist niece, Dr. Mary L Trump. A leading psychoanalyst and clinical professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. John Zinner, agrees. Both have claimed that Donald Trump suffers from narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 65856.html

In the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), NPD is defined as comprising a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), a constant need for admiration, and a lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by the presence of at least 5 of the following 9 criteria:

- A grandiose sense of self-importance (Check)

- A preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love (Check)

- A belief that he or she is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people or institutions (Check)

- A need for excessive admiration (Check)

- A sense of entitlement (Check)

- Interpersonally exploitive behavior (Check)

- A lack of empathy (Check)

- Envy of others or a belief that others are envious of him or her (Check)

- A demonstration of arrogant and haughty behaviors or attitudes (Check)

In a proposed alternative model cited in DSM-5, NPD is characterized by moderate or greater impairment in personality functioning, manifested by characteristic difficulties in 2 or more of the following 4 areas:

- Identity (?)

- Self-direction (Check)

- Empathy (Check)

- Intimacy (Check)

- In addition, NPD is characterized by the presence of both grandiosity and attention seeking. (Double Check)
____________________________

Trump scores 9 out of 9 (5 required) on the DSM standard criteria for NPD and 4 out of 5 (2 required) on the alternative model requirements.

There can be no doubt that Donald J. Trump suffers from florid NPD. He is not now, and never was, mentally qualified to be president of the United States. It is also worth noting that NPD seldom if ever responds to treatment and is generally considered as refractory to incurable.

I agree he is probably a narcissist. I don't know if that alone disqualifies him. I am sure Washington is full of narcissists.

[Jersey Girl]

I agree he is probably a narcissist. I don't know if that alone disqualifies him. I am sure Washington is full of narcissists.

Probably? He's a flaming malignant narcissist who is allowing American citizens to DIE via his negligence.

[DrW]

I agree he is probably a narcissist. I don't know if that alone disqualifies him. I am sure Washington is full of narcissists.

There are significant qualitative and quantitative differences between a garden variety narcissist (one who may meet at least one, but less than five, of the 9 conventional DSM 5 criteria), and the rare individual suffering from full blown NPD, like Trump, who meets all ten.

Consider the devastation that Trump has wrought on this nation:

- > 230,000 dead from a pandemic for which Trump was provided with an response plan from the previous administration, which plan he ignored while firing the pandemic response team that Obama left in place for him while he actively disregarded and even countermanded the science based advice of not only the best qualified pandemic control team in the country, but also the overwhelming majority of qualified scientists and clinicians.

- Caused severe damage to our relationship with our NATO Allies in Europe while actively courting the favor of the likes of Putin, Kim Jong-Un and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - praising Rodrigo Duterte, while denigrating Angela Merkel.

- Telling more than 20,000 documented lies while in his official capacity as president.

- Breaking the nuclear non-proliferation treaty with Iran.

- Withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Accords while claiming climate change is a Chinese Hoax.

- Initiating an ill advised (to put it mildly) trade war with China, the cost of which to our economy can scarcely be calculated, including billions paid to American farmers to offset the resulting loss of overseas markets.

- Separating families at the border while locking children in cages, more than 500 of which are unlikely to ever see their parents again.

- Giving "permanent" trillion dollar tax breaks to rich donors, ballooning the national deficit, while throwing a few "temporary" crumbs to the middle class.

- Attempting to implement fiscal policies that would bankrupt social security in less than ten years.

The above are top of mind items on a short list from a long litany. Credible academics have suggested that it may take up to 20 years to reverse the damage from 4 years of Trump.

Name someone else in Washington who you believe would be capable of causing such wanton and mindless damage.

[Dr Exiled]

I agree he is probably a narcissist. I don't know if that alone disqualifies him. I am sure Washington is full of narcissists.

There are significant qualitative and quantitative differences between a garden variety narcissist (one who may meet at least one, but less than five, of the 9 conventional DSM 5 criteria), and the rare individual suffering from full blown NPD, like Trump, who meets all ten.

Consider the devastation that Trump has wrought on this nation:

- > 230,000 dead from a pandemic for which Trump was provided with an response plan from the previous administration, which plan he ignored while firing the pandemic response team that Obama left in place for him while he actively disregarded and even countermanded the science based advice of not only the best qualified pandemic control team in the country, but also the overwhelming majority of qualified scientists and clinicians.

- Severe damage our relationship with our NATO Allies in Europe while actively courting the favor of the likes of Putin, Kim Jong-Un and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - praising Rodrigo Duterte, while denigrating Angela Merkel.

- Telling more than 20,000 documented lies while in his official capacity as president.

- Breaking the nuclear non-proliferation treaty with Iran.

- Withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Accords while claiming climate change is a Chinese Hoax.

- Initiating an ill advised (to put it mildly) trade war with China, the cost of which to our economy can scarcely be calculated, including billions paid to American farmers to offset the resulting loss of overseas markets.

- Separating families at the border while locking children in cages, more than 500 of which are unlikely to ever see their parents again.

- Giving "permanent" trillion dollar tax breaks to rich donors, ballooning the national deficit, while throwing a few "temporary" crumbs to the middle class.

- Attempting to implement fiscal policies that would bankrupt social security in less than ten years.

The above are top of mind items on a short list from a long litany. Credible academics have suggested that it may take up to 20 years to reverse the damage from 4 years of Trump.

Name someone else in Washington who you believe would be capable of causing such wanton and mindless damage.

I'm not here to defend Trump. So, carry on.