Can we put Romney on the couch/

[LongTomH]

The more I hear about Romney's behavior over time, the more I'm led to believe there is something clinically wrong with him!

One possibility is that he's an early dementia or Alzheimer's case. A lady I talked to last week remarked on Romney's gait, the extremely short steps he takes, and his gaffes. She maintains that a person's walk can be a clue to early development of Alzheimers.

A quick Google search on Alzheimers and gait turned up a number of articles, like this one from Business Week: Changes in Gait May Be Early Signs of Dementia in Older People.

One study of more 1,100 people with an average age of 77 found that people with Alzheimer’s disease walked more slowly and with a more irregular pattern of steps as their minds declined. Even people with a pre-Alzheimer’s condition, called mild cognitive impairment, walked more sluggishly and variably than the normal elderly, according to the study led by Stephanie Bridenbaugh, from the Basel Mobility Center in Switzerland.

Quite a few people here have been willing to label him a psychopath or sociopath. Sociopathy is a disorder that is part of the antisocial personality disorder spectrum, defined as: "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood."

His bullying behavior, expressed in the episode where he held a young classmate down to cut his hair, may be a sign of sadistic personality disorder: "....a behavioral disorder characterized by a callous, vicious, manipulative, and degrading behavior expressed towards other people." George W. Bush seems to be a prime example of this disorder.

His social ineptness might be indicative of Asperger syndrome (AS), a condition characterized by "...significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests."

Or, maybe he's just a twit! Are there any mental health professionals who'd like to comment?

[Rambis]

1. IMO if he weren't rich and running for president

he would be a serial killer or a pedophile. Not a mental health care professional but the man is CREEPY!

[JHB]

2. Can we put that couch out to the curb?

Let me know quick! Tonight's haul-away night.

[hifiguy]

3. I don't think it's Asperger's,

and I am diagnosed Asperger's. It is of course possible that he has some spectrum traits, but all in all I see him as falling within the narcissistic/antisocial group of psychological disorders. Watching the guy for a few months and learing about his background has convinced me that he is not right in the head, and I mean that in a clinical sense. I am not joking.

[siligut]

9. I don't see Asperger's either

I generally have an affinity toward people with Asperger's and I can barely tolerate looking at Romney. I am voting narcissism or borderline.

[nichomachus]

4. I think the gait can be attributed

To the fact that the enchanted undies tend to ride up.

[Maraya1969]

5. I recognize narcissistic personality. The lack of empathy I suppose

covers narcissism and sociopath and some others but narcissism has the symptom of phoniness. He is such a fake. He tries to fit in and he just fails all the time.

I dated a guy,briefly who told me the doctor dx'd him with narcissistic traits . Romney reminds me of him.

[libodem]

6. He is so sheltered from the real world

He is very out if touch with most of our realities. He is in a cocoon of being part of the only true church on Earth, just to start with.

Mormons are discouraged from interacting with the secular world. They stay within their culture and we are not included no matter what they say. It's also very exclusive within the church, very much a hierarchy based on your wealth and status.

[libodem]

7. Delusions of Grandure?

Anyone running for prez has to have a touch of that.

[backscatter712]

8. Count me in as one who thinks Rmoney is a psychopath.

The gait is part of his act - he doesn't want to show his true emotions, so instead, he has that goofy expression on his face and that stiff walk to hide what he's really thinking "I think of you as nothing but prey, and when you question me, I'll give you what you deserve - bullshit!"

[magnifisense]

10. Skip the couch.

Go right to the straitjacket.