General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe psychiatrist who wrote the definition of narcissistic personality disorder says Trump doesn't ha
by Harry Cockburn
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/psychiatrist-allen-frances-donald-trump-mentally-ill-world-class-narcissist-a7582131.html
"SNIP...........
He may be a world-class narcissist, but this doesnt make him mentally ill, because he does not suffer from the distress and impairment required to diagnose mental disorder, he said.
Psychology Today notes that 50-75 per cent of the people diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder are male.
It also warns that it is common for many adolescents to display the characteristics listed above but says this does not indicate that they will later develop narcissistic personality disorder.
Professor Frances, who is currently professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Duke University Medical College, finished his letter with a withering verdict on Mr Trumps cognitive impetuses and indicated that challenging the Presidents mental health would be unproductive.
He wrote: His psychological motivations are too obvious to be interesting, and analysing them will not halt his headlong power grab. The antidote to a dystopic Trumpean dark age is political, not psychological.
.............SNIP"
kwassa
(23,340 posts)Trump is highly impaired, and not as successful as this psychologist believes.
Many other psychologists disagree with this guy, and say that it is narcissistic personality disorder.
drray23
(7,638 posts)Where has he been ? Trump displays it daily. He is incapable to focus on a topic, cannot string together sentences outside of a vocabulary of about 50 words ( tremendous, great, unfair, unbelievable, etc... ), can not exercise enough discipline to avoid spewing nonsense on twitter, etc....
applegrove
(118,832 posts)And a liar and selfish manbaby on top of that.
drray23
(7,638 posts)That dyslexia is something to be ashamed of. I am quite familiar with it. My thesis advisor who is now retired was a very prominent physicist, yet he was dyxlexic. He could not write anything without missing or swapping words, yet his oratory skills were flawless. It was so bad that he had to get a special note from doctors back in the 50's to be able to finish high school. Back then it was not widely known and a lot of stigma was attached to it.
I ended up correcting a lot of his publications to make them readable before submitting. This did net me a fair number of extra publications...
Trump is beyond that. If he does have dyslexia, he has a unique opportunity to put it front and center and further reduce the stigma associated with it. Instead, he makes fun of people with disabilities.
applegrove
(118,832 posts)Remember we as humans have only been reading en mass for 200 years. So dyslexia was likely not an issue before then. It is a different perspective. Lots of politicians are dyslexic. But Trump seems to be playing to its weaknesses like the slow learning curve of dyslexics as they learn in 3D. Not on paper. I meant dyslexia as a type of intellect. On top of that he is selfish and a liar which don't have anything to do with dyslexia.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Figures.
FDT.
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)Usually to qualify for a mental health diagnosis, the subject must exhibit clinically significant impairment in role functioning and distress. Like Hannibal Lecter, Trump serenely watches his environment and responds instinctively to stimuli. He does not experience distress, or any noticeable affect. Except rage. Rage! Rage and apathy. And boredom. And emptiness.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,771 posts)Looks to me like Trump has more than five of these:
-Exaggerates own importance
-Is preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence or ideal romance
-Believes he or she is special and can only be understood by other special people or institutions
-Requires constant attention and admiration from others
-Has unreasonable expectations of favourable treatment
-Takes advantage of others to reach his or her own goals
-Disregards the feelings of others, lacks empathy
-Is often envious of others or believes other people are envious of him or her
-Shows arrogant behaviours and attitude
I don't see where the DSM says "distress and impairment" are "required to diagnose mental disorder."
I'm all for taking stigma away from mental illness, but this is not clearing things up, as least for me.
LeftInTX
(25,595 posts)Personality disorders are pervasive, but people are often able to function with them, although they make everyone around them miserable. Among personality disorders NPP is probably one of the more benign. More debilitating personality disorders exist such as sociopathic and borderline.
Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's etc would probably warrant removal from office.
pandr32
(11,625 posts)He covers the checklist well, and if he did not have the tremendous luck and cover of a wealthy and connected family his personality disorder would likely have landed him in and out of prisons--not just military school due to his incorrigible behavior in his teens (sent there by his exasperated and wealthy family).
Besides, narcissistic traits are commonly found in psychopathy.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)If not, does he feel competent to diagnose at a distance?
TrekLuver
(2,573 posts)what but something.
bdamomma
(63,928 posts)matt819
(10,749 posts)And if he isn't impaired, the s he plain fucking evil, whether or not there's a DSM diagnosis for that.
FigTree
(347 posts)he should know, or at least mention, that the defining characteristic of personality disorders is to be ego-syntonic, meaning that individuals in these categories typically see little if anything wrong with them. Therefore, they rarely experience distress or impairment. Which would be ego-dystonic.They wind up in the system due to difficulties with others (e.g. spouses, co-workers, problems with the law). As a result, they are typically resistant to treatment, pharmaceutical or otherwise. And as another result, they are considered by us, clinicians, as severe cases with generally poor prognosis.
This is why the ICD 10, not the American Psychiatric Association cash-cow called the DSM, adds "the disorder leads to considerable personal distress but this may only become apparent late in its course". The use of the word "may" also indicating that it may not.
The point is not to "challenge" this individual but to acknowledge the fact that a clearly disturbed person has access to the highest level of power in this country. Not through some sort of a coup or some physical manipulation, like Putin or other mafiosi around the world, but through the use of institutional channels.