Newsweek publishes psych experts' opinion of Trump: 'The Most Dangerous Man in the World'

[highplainsdem]

Adapted from several experts' contributions to The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump:

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-most-dangerous-man-world-psychologists-671182

While there have surely been American presidents who could be said to be narcissistic, none have shown sociopathic qualities to the degree seen in Trump. Correspondingly, none have been so definitively and so obviously dangerous. Democracy requires respect and protection for multiple points of view, concepts that are incompatible with sociopathy. The need to be seen as superior and a lack of empathy or remorse for harming other people are in fact the signature characteristics of tyrants, who seek the control and destruction of all who oppose them, as well as loyalty to themselves instead of the country they lead.

-snip-

Through our observations, it was glaringly apparent that Donald Trump embodied a specific personality type: an unbridled, or extreme, present hedonist. As the words suggest, present hedonists live in the moment, without much thought of any consequences of their actions or of the future. An extreme present hedonist will say whatever it takes to pump up his ego and to assuage his inherent low self-esteem, without any thought for past reality or for the potentially devastating future outcomes. Our assertion that Trump is among the most extreme present hedonists we have ever witnessed comes from the plethora of written and recorded material on him.

The extreme present hedonist’s impulsive thought leads to an impulsive action that can cause him to dig in his heels when confronted with the consequences of that action. If the person is in a position of power, then others scramble either to deny or to find ways to back up the original impulsive action. In normal day-to- day life, this impulsiveness leads to misunderstandings, lying and toxic relationships. In the case of Trump, an impulsive thought may unleash a stream of tweets or verbal remarks that then spur others to try to fulfill, or deny, his thoughtless action.

-snip-

In Trump, we have a frightening Venn diagram consisting of three circles: The first is extreme present hedonism; the second, narcissism; and the third, bullying behavior. These three circles overlap in the middle to create an impulsive, immature, incompetent person who, when in the position of ultimate power, easily slides into the role of tyrant, complete with family members sitting at his proverbial “ruling table.”

In presenting our case that Trump is mentally unfit to be president of the United States, we would be remiss if we did not consider one more factor: the possibility of a neurological disorder such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, which the president’s father, Fred Trump, suffered from. Again, we are not trying to speculate diagnoses from afar, but comparing video interviews of Trump from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s to current video, we find that the differences (significant reduction in the use of essential words; an increase in the use of adjectives such as very, huge and tremendous; and incomplete, run-on sentences that don’t make sense and that could indicate a loss of train of thought or memory) are conspicuously apparent.

-snip-

The issue here is not whether President Donald Trump is mentally ill. It is whether he is dangerous. Dangerousness is not a psychiatric diagnosis. One does not have to be “mentally ill” in order to be dangerous. Trump may or may not meet the criteria for any of the diagnoses of mental disorders defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, or for many of them, but that is not relevant to the issue we are raising here.

-snip-

[demmiblue]

1. K&R

[dalton99a]

2. He really is.

[highplainsdem]

3. He's terrifying. Contemptible and laughable as well, but still terrifying

because of the power he has and how sick he is.

[smirkymonkey]

4. K&R for later reading.

[bettyellen]

5. Wow - present hedonist is a new one for me, but it fits like a glove.

[highplainsdem]

7. I hadn't heard of that one before, either. Agree that it fits him perfectly.

[world wide wally]

6. We already know that...

Now what?

[HopeAgain]

9. Nothing, nada, the horror show goes on.

Republicans would love Pence, but they know any involuntary removal of Trump would endanger them politically with the rabid base that controls the party. Democrats can't do anything about it. Frankly, I'm not sure a sane zealot like Pence would be any better.

I honestly think the best approach is try to take advantage of his illnesses. Incite him (except with regards to North Korea and nukes), distract him and confuse him. Don't let up the pressure and let him get comfortable.

[Duppers]

11. Yes.

Incite him until he totally cracks. Except for NK, that's a good strategy.

[Grammy23]

8. Even us arm chair psychiatrists can make an observation of trump's behavior and probably be

Close to accurate. After you've reached adulthood most of us have a sense of what is normal and what strays beyond what we expect of other adults. The common wisdom among New Yorkers, long before tRump ran for office was that he is a con man, a boor and not someone they wanted running in their social circles. The only reason he was associated with any of them was because he crashed parties, had some kind of business dealings with him (often to their regret) or he bought his way into society. Most of them had a pretty good idea that he was crass and ill mannered, someone that could be overbearing and just not a nice person to be around.

After we had him thrust upon us the last couple of years, first as a candidate and now as our president (UGH!), we have gotten a very good idea of who he is, how he thinks and what kind of person he is. His constant lying has revealed him to be a very disturbed man. The way his family covers up for him and caters to his whims is staggering. It makes one long for an unguarded moment from just one of them to be honest about what he is really like behind closed doors. Because, like many tyrants, he also knows how to slather on the charm and phony smiles. He is cunning in his application of beguiling behavior to throw you off guard. I bet his family is as screwed up as they come after living and dealing with him for their whole lives.

So, yes! He is dangerous and we have the Republican Party and the damned voters taken in by his rhetoric that appealed to their racism and zenophobic traits to win them over. They cannot escape some of the blame. Then layer on that the cheating by Russia with tRump's help and voila! Here we are. I have no idea how all of this will play out, but I am pretty sure it will take decades for us to recover as a nation---if he can be stopped before he inflicts irreparable damage on all of us.

[Moostache]

10. So what do we do about it?

The GOP is a gaggle of cowards who fear their own voters to a degree not ever seen before...these craven opportunists won't do anything to Trump and the Democrats lack any kind of power anywhere to take actual action in the political arena.

Seriously, as this Russia investigation drags on and on and on, it feeds the simple-minded narrative that Trump is depending on...that this is an investigation in search of a purpose and not legitimate. I do not personally believe that for a second, but I also read more than Facebook and Twitter and get news from a variety of sources instead of a propaganda vehicle.

When Trump declares himself Chancellor or Protector of the Realm or whatever the fuck crazy shit he concocts in 2020 to avoid standing for re-election and installs his idiot children as successors, what will people be willing to do? Laugh now at our collective peril...I laughed my ass off at the elevator ride, at the Mexican Rapists mistake, at the primary debates, at the name calling and discussion of penis-to-hand size nonsense, at the convention dystopia, at the debates, at the Access Hollywood debacle...he was a joke, no WAY would America allow THAT to happen so soon after the Bush years so clearly showed an un-serious person should NEVER be POTUS...

No one is laughing any more, and the idea that Trump is going to EVER cede power without establishing some kind of heredity favor for his family is laughable. The man is sick, he is not well mentally and physically anyone can see he is a wreck (a coronary incident in waiting)...but will the military defy the orders of the commander in chief and choose instead to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution instead? We are going to find out as surely as Trump is going to grab pussy uninvited or unwanted.

[LiberalLovinLug]

13. We are in a pickle

"...as this Russia investigation drags on and on and on, it feeds the simple-minded narrative that Trump is depending on...that this is an investigation in search of a purpose and not legitimate."

I share your concern on this. Yes, I know all the t's have to be crossed and the i's dotted, but it took years of investigation until Nixon had to resign. We cannot drag this out for years like that. He is becoming the new normal more and more. There is a naturally implied sense of legitimacy the longer he is entrenched. His supporters are digging in for the long haul. Meanwhile Trump continues to dismantle all the traditional institutions meant to hold the executive powers in check. While he replaces and appoints his own true believer yes-men for top positions, after he fires some and other just quit in disgust.

[bdamomma]

12. trump

a danger to himself and others, many many others. He needs to be removed. No man is above the law, and he needs to GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!