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Mary Trump: Psychiatrists know what's wrong with my uncle. Let them tell voters.
Muzzling its members is a dereliction of duty by the American Psychiatric AssociationIn 1964, Fact magazine published an unscientific survey asking psychiatrists whether they thought the Republican nominee, Barry Goldwater, was psychologically fit to serve as president of the United States. The problem wasnt that professionals felt the need to share their views of what they considered Goldwaters dangerous ideas; it was the irresponsible and often bizarre analyses that were in some cases based entirely on rank speculation. Goldwater is basically a paranoid schizophrenic who resembles Mao Tse-tung, one offered. Another said that he has the same pathological make-up as Hitler, Castro, Stalin and other known schizophrenic leaders. A third said that a megalomaniacal, grandiose omnipotence appears to pervade Mr. Goldwaters personality.
Embarrassed, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), in reaction to this debacle, established the Goldwater Rule, which barred its members from diagnosing public figures. It concluded that it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement. Thats fair, as far as it goes. But in March 2017, shortly after my uncle, Donald Trump, was inaugurated, the APA didnt just reaffirm the rule it expanded it past the point of coherence. Not only were members prohibited from diagnosing public figures, now they could no longer offer a professional opinion of any sort, no matter how well supported or evidence-based, even if they believed that a public figure posed a threat to the countrys citizens or national security.
This is absurd on its face and has potentially serious consequences for the safety of the American people. While psychiatric diagnosis is a technical process, it is entirely within bounds to draw conclusions based on observable behavior. It is one thing to declare definitively that a person has anti-social personality disorder (a specific diagnostic term); it is another to point to behaviors such as deliberately putting other people in harms way for no discernible reason (for example, abandoning our Kurdish allies) beyond ones own self-interest and express the general conclusion that it is dangerous to have somebody in the Oval Office who is incapable of empathy. The APA has also stated that psychiatrists are medical doctors; evaluating mental illness is no less thorough than diagnosing diabetes or heart disease. Thats true but what might a cardiologist say if a public figure kept having heart attacks? Would he need to be subjected to a thorough diagnostic regimen for a doctor to speculate that there might be an underlying heart condition? If the person who kept having heart attacks was a pilot who refused to seek medical attention, wouldnt it be malpractice not to speak out? It is not an exaggeration to say that Donald has exhibited pathological behavior that is equally alarming as evidenced most recently by his callous disregard for his own health and the well-being of those around him when he left Walter Reed hospital while still shedding coronavirus, or when he holds rallies and encourages thousands of people to attend without wearing masks or social distancing in order to prop up his ego.
The American public is inadequately educated about mental health. It would take a serious, sustained explication, backed by the power and reach of a professional association, to help us understand why the emotional and psychological stability of our leaders matters and can have an impact on all of us. Every day legal experts weigh in on Donalds unconstitutional or norm-breaking behaviors. Since his covid-19 diagnosis, medical experts have speculated about the course of his illness and the potentially dangerous side effects he may be experiencing as a result of the experimental treatments hes received. Only the mental health experts have been effectively sidelined.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/psychiatrists-mary-trump-goldwater/2020/10/22/ebf5e2b6-13c0-11eb-ba42-ec6a580836ed_story.html
Even at my young age in 1964 I knew that Goldwater (another "self-made" Republican from inherited wealth) was scary crazy. And one of Reagan's first despicable acts was to rescind federal funding for mental health, which helped incubate this current rash of right-wing conservative Republican batshittery.
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Mary Trump: Psychiatrists know what's wrong with my uncle. Let them tell voters. (Original Post)
Zorro
Oct 2020
OP
The PATHETIC commentary on America is that any psychiatrist would have to explain
Eliot Rosewater
Oct 2020
#1
The trouble is many Americans' choose to be ignorant. They'd relish denigrating psychologists
captain queeg
Oct 2020
#5
I was young and dumb then but I say that Trump beats Goldwater any day or time when it comes to...
JoeOtterbein
Oct 2020
#8
Eliot Rosewater
(31,096 posts)1. The PATHETIC commentary on America is that any psychiatrist would have to explain
this to anyone, after all we have seen.
But they should be able to all SCREAM about it so the IDIOTS can learn!
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)2. This!👆
Well said, Eliot!
Lock him up.
(6,873 posts)7. The idiots can't learn. They insist on...
imposing their idiocies on everyone around them, mostly after having been brainwashed by the blood-on-their-hand$ pRopagandists on Fux Noi$e and hate radio.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)3. Save Arizona from another
nutty Republican politician, vote for Mark Kelly.
ChazInAz
(2,535 posts)9. I did!
JudyM
(29,122 posts)4. K&R all the way!
Lets see if this might accomplish her presumed goal of opening the door on discussion of his antisocial personality disorder. Well played, Mary.
captain queeg
(10,035 posts)5. The trouble is many Americans' choose to be ignorant. They'd relish denigrating psychologists
Ztolkins
(429 posts)6. I don't buy this...
Were they right about Goldwater or not? What's the difference between what psychiatrist did then and what Trump is describing they should be able to do now? She sounds like she's making a distinction but I don't see it.
Sorry, I'm dumb.
JoeOtterbein
(7,697 posts)8. I was young and dumb then but I say that Trump beats Goldwater any day or time when it comes to...
...crazy!
marie999
(3,334 posts)10. There is a big difference between physical and mental diseases.