These Trump Tirades Get More Unsettling For Someone Who Has The Biscuit.

[TheMastersNemesis]

You really have to wonder who is minding the store. And it is not just about Trump. It is the people around him. we have no idea what is really going on in the White House. What we do see of Trump in the public sphere gets scarier each day.

And the GOP has a responsibility to act responsibly considering the situation. Yet even they show signs they will do nothing. There agenda is more important than the safety of the country. Their stance means they are being derelict in their duty.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I think maybe he's starting to decompensate.

I'm not a psychiatrist and I don't play one on TV, but he seems increasingly unhinged. I don't think he can handle the fact that he is being criticized and he can't control people the way he could in business.

"In psychology, the term (decompensation) refers to the inability to maintain defense mechanisms in response to stress, resulting in personality disturbance or psychological imbalance. Some who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder or borderline personality disorder may decompensate into persecutory delusions to defend against a troubling reality." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompensation

[pat_k]

4. DT has traits of both NPD and ASPD

DT exhibits numerous traits of both Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder (I think more than enough for diagnosis, or at a minimum, to score very high on the psychopathy scale).

The irrational conduct I've noticed since DT moved into the White House is consistent with NPD/ASPD. i can only take so much, and need to "tune out" for days at a time, so I know I'm missing all sorts of things. I'd be curious to hear the things you see as symptoms of decompensation (rather than manifestations of his disorders).

What is see is a man who:
-- Lies and distorts reality to rationalize and justify his wrongful conduct.
-- Puffs up his over-inflated ego by stereotyping and denigrating those he sees as "out-groups."
-- Weaves grandiose tales of his fearsome power, omnipotence, and unequaled brilliance.
-- Is proudly abrasive and offensive.
-- Takes delight in humiliating and embarrassing others
-- Reacts to any perceived slight to his own person, appearance, or accomplishments aggressively and vindictively.
-- Has a sense of entitlement that appears to know no bounds.
-- Exhibits a callous disregard for others.

I have an impression that ASPD people are pretty stable. I could be off base, but I wonder if some ASPD characteristics actually protect against breakdown?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Since I am not a psychiatrist I can't say for sure, but my impression is

that he seems even more intensely and irrationally angry than previously. It's hard t tell whether he really believes that he won the popular vote or that his inauguration was the yuugest ever, or that he's just lying like he usually does as part of his self-aggrandizement. If he really believes those things he's become delusional - and he seems really wound up and angry about those things. I just get the sense that he's getting weirder and weirder and more out of control than ever.

[pat_k]

7. He does seem to be getting more out of control.

Whatever's going on -- whether it's a magnification of his pathology, or a breakdown of defenses -- I think you are right. He is looking sicker. Perhaps enough so that the right-wing noise machine starts to turn on him.

But, given the way they wrote off some truly bizarre behavior, or characterized it as "telling it like it is" or as a demonstration of "strength," I think he'll need to go a lot further off the deep end for the noise machine to turn.

It may already be happening. For my own mental health, I do more "tuning out" then "tuning it," so am not up on trends. At the moment, my focus is limited to finding/joining efforts to lobby Dems to filibuster Gorsuch. I'd also like to do some things to help lobby media orgs to boycott the WH Correspondents' Dinner. That may not seem like a critical thing, but something tells me it's important. The effort itself could help some pund-idiots wake up a bit. And turning media against DT is our biggest chance of turning more of the public.

[dchill]

5. We are ALL suffering from...

"...a troubling reality."

[pat_k]

2. Bannnon is minding the store.

Nightmare.

Absolute Nightmare.

This is happening. It's real. But there are still times that it feels so impossibly unreal.

Could we be trapped in some national "Reality" TV nightmare? I can almost hear the showrunners: "Let's see what they do if we (insert event crazier than the last crazy event)."

[longship]

3. Trump's biscuit is rubber!