They are NOT mentally ill. But what are they? What do you call them?

Sociopathy, psychopathy, narcissism, etc. It’s not the same as mental illness.

No amount of therapy will help.

DSM also considers ADHD a mental illness, and used to consider homosexuality a mental illness.

Personality disorders absolutely can be treated with therapy and medication.

I don't know you, but I suspect you are not qualified to diagnose personality disorders in a clinic, much less remotely... in millions of people you've never met.

But hey, I could be wrong. You might want to get on the horn with the American Psychiatric Association. If their figures on the prevalence of individual personality disorders (around 2-8%) are low, I imagine they'd want to hear about it.

enough said.

Too gentle a term for people who want to destroy my country and probably kill me and mine.

for such people. How about "Trumped"?

I'm frustrated by them. I want them all to just go away. Ok, back to reality.

They are indeed crazy...but crazy doesn't go far enough imho.

Some people do come back to reality from cults.

I also have felt that calling them mentally ill doesn't help matters. Mentally ill people have a host of issues to deal with.

It gives evil people an out and does damage to those with real, non-self inflicted mental illness. I just wish "cultist" sounded harsher or something. I so want to stand on the street corner and yell at them. Does that make me mentally ill or clearly sane?

it's an evil reality. Unless I want to stay in bed and never come out, not that won't work either. One way or another I have to co-exist with them and their warped and f'd up thinking.

They live in the same country, the don't live in your house. Same as murderers, gangs, rapists, child molesters, general crooks, liars, etc. No one can force you to participate in anything.

I just saw West side story, and the song popped into my head when I saw your post.
Seems appropriate.

Their motivating values are totally corrupt.

Mental illness is not, in fact it diminishes intent

they are doing it to "own the libs." They don't care what happens to the country, they elected TFG to own the libs. If that's their motivation, it may not be mental illness. But it would be a negative trait of personality.

For example, Trump and many of his helpers are classic sociopaths.
If their lips are moving they are lying to manipulate others to get what they want.

They know they are lying, but other people are just suckers and losers and deserve what they get.
Trump and his ilk believe they are special, deserving and owed a good life.

Their goal is power and money, but no amount will ever fill the holes in their souls.
So they keep going and won't stop until someone stops them.

Some of their followers actually believe the lies despite considerable evidence to the contrary.
To the point they are delusional. They are no longer in touch with reality. They will break the law and commit violence for Trump. It is like a cult, and the cult followers are mentally ill.

Some of our leaders who want money and power also crave unlimited adoration and attention.
These are the narcissists. And some of the followers are the same.

I could go on and on but you get the drift.

I used to talk just about politics but now politics has turned into Abnormal Psych 101.

today as they seemed to be 50 some years ago. Otherwise, your post is far too sensible and intelligent for where my brain is this afternoon. But it's always a good thing to listen to an adult, even when I want to be a belligerent child. I'm angry and frustrated with having few ways to take that angry and frustration out. I'll be better tomorrow, in the mean time I've got a few new names to call those that are trying to tear my country apart.

If I started cussing about all of this, I would never stop.

People who join a cult are mentally ill on some level. I call what is going in in this country currently a combo of fascism, narcissism, stupidity and a form of mass insanity.

Or have some sort of intellectual impairment.

Yes I think you summed up the analysis quite well:

Mass insanity is our fav description of it because things have gotten so crazy. It is also the kind of crazy that you see when fascism takes hold.

who seemed to have a pressing need to be angry about something. It's like they were mad at the world. They complained about anything no matter how small. Didn't look for solutions, just talked about problems. Held grudges. And so forth.

I have no idea what it is or what causes it, but it's very noticeable.

And nowadays, with the RW media stoking them, they're in heaven.

Hadn't thought about it that way, but makes sense.

There was so much change so quickly they just lost it. A black President, gay marriage, hell gays were actually being celebrated and, generally, snickering jokes about people being gay weren’t okay and they knew it.

Trump comes along and plays them (Fox News too) like a fiddle.

and self-perpetuated.

Are those that lean authoritarian, mentally ill?

Apparently anything that is not in the realm of "normal" (whatever that really is) is now mentally ill. It's the go to excuse for EVERYTHING. Thing is, norms change. Tattoo's once were very taboo. Now they are common, a norm. Same with divorce, affairs, latch key kids, being gay, being trans, and a whole host of other things. Sociology describes behavior that doesn't fit societal norms as Deviant Behavior. The right can't seem to accept the societal changes that have taken place over the last 50 or so years. They believe everyone BUT them are deviants. When in reality, it's actually them who are the deviants, longing for a Puritan past.

I'm not entirely sure I'm sane enough (sometimes) to wield the mentally ill axe

They just piss me off and I wish I had they perfect word/name to call or describe them that would make me feel better. Unfortunately, Death Cult Members just makes me feel insecure because I believe they really are.

They won't care when it's Republican women dying due to abortion bans either.

How utterly cruel and inhumane.

So long as someone they hate is hurting they don't care about any of the other consequences. This goes to everything.... They vote against their best interests every single election.

After reading this page, I see similarities between the Jonestown cultists and trumpers. Jackie Speier might too.

https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=29478

I was raised in the 50s to be a lady. Long past that now. Now I just want to feel an occasional sense of satisfaction.

Ego driven, lacking in empathy. Immersed in the white supremacy they won’t look at because they benefit from it and the misogynistic codes they espouse with every word.

Bigots. Every one of them

They are not mentally ill, they are fucked up bigots. I might actually be able to let my soul rest on those words.

They know exactly what they are promoting. Their choices are not due to neurological malfunction but rather their own lack of character.

Remember that mental illnesses are biologically based. They are due to faulty brain mechanisms, whether neurotransmitters or something else. When you call them mentally ill, you not only insult the mentally ill but you give them a pass for their behavior.

the question bothering me is why people are unable to recognize evil: ignorant, stupid, cult-involved, well paid, etc.

The less we see, the easier life is. Not conflicts of interest, no moral qualms, nothing to make us uncomfortable, no need to
question what is going on. Life is sooo much easier that way.

really?

That is often given and certainly one I was fed growing up. The more you see the more you have to think and then you start seeing more and more.

It's easy to like someone who agrees with you, thinks like you, or is useful to you in some way.

Empathy towards people you dislike, really don't agree with, and generally have a low opinion of takes a bit of doing. It requires challenging yourself to step outside your own biases, assumptions, pride, and righteousness.

Most people don't do it.

It reminds me of that good dating advice. Don't take note if your date is nice, kind, attentive, and generous with you. Watch how they treat the help. Watch how they treat people who mean nothing to them. That's where you'll see their true character.

People speak prolifically to their flaws and general insular rottenness every single day. They just have zero idea they're doing it. And people who are doing similar will never point it out. Peril of the spaces we inhabit, be it a family, religion, community, or online environment. It's something that needs to be actively worked against because support of it is so widespread.

The people on the Right aren't crazy. They're not mentally ill. They're operating out of a very, very different foundational frame than people of our political persuasion and ideology. They simply see the world much differently. It all starts with confirmation bias. Every news article they see and read is geared towards telling them what the world is like. We're really not very different in this. Every day, I can pull maybe a dozen articles from right here, go through them, and realize that objective reality is not close to what is being claimed to be true. The "narrative" comports.

We're basically two sides telling radically different stories. Obviously, I think our side is right on more things or I wouldn't be on it.

But if you can't empathize, you can't argue. Then it's just talking at each other, shouting at each other, then running back to one's own group for validation and approval.

Not super useful.

There's no need for a pejorative to describe them. They can simply be "the other side" or "the opposition" or just "the Right." Sometimes I'll just call them assholes if they're doing something egregious.

But, I'm in my early 40s. I outgrew childish name calling and cutesy online nicknames ages ago. It's not cute nor particularly clever.

There's a really old joke involving some Disney characters. It's not really about this but maybe the punch line would apply. You'll see. You can make up your mind at the end. (It's funnier if told in character voices, of course!)

Mickey Mouse goes to see a lawyer and tells him he wants a divorce from Minnie Mouse.
Lawyer: "But Mickey, you can't divorce Minnie just because you say she's crazy."
Mickey: "That's not what I said"
Lawyer: "Yes you did. You said Minnie was crazy."
Mickey: " I didn't say she was crazy, I said she was FUCKING GOOFY!"

So maybe these people are just FUCKING GOOFY.

They are people ruled by base impulses and irrational fears, prone to magical thinking, personal mythologizing, and miserly cognition.

The thought police can come and get me for all I care.

Credit to Hawkeye and BJ of MASH

I know a repeat.

Marketing works. Google (Alphabet) is proof, they gave us an index to the internet at no charge and became one of the wealthiest companies ever. We are the product. Another name for marketing is propaganda. (Your life will be fabulous with whiter teeth!! Your life would be even more fabulous without those pesky minorities!)

We have been targeted; by big business, by big crime, by our government, by foreign governments, by religion. It is to all their benefit to have a receptive audience. We have been conditioned for decades to accept and to be receptive to marketing.

When you willfully endorse things that are not true, you have been brainwashed. An empty mind is easy to fill.
The Internet Research Agency had easy targets. Once you have opened your mind to one conspiracy theory, believing the next one is easier.

Unfortunately, more powerful people direct the messages. So long as it is more profitable to keep us fighting, we will continue to feed the wealthy.

(Perhaps)