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ehrnst

(32,640 posts)
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 10:34 AM Dec 2019

Trump's mental state is deteriorating dangerously due to impeachment with potentially 'catastrophic

Trump’s mental state is deteriorating dangerously due to impeachment with potentially ‘catastrophic outcomes’, psychiatrists urgently warn Congress

“We are speaking out at this time because we are convinced that, as the time of possible impeachment approaches, Donald Trump has the real potential to become ever more dangerous, a threat to the safety of our nation,” said Yale Medical School Professor Dr Bandy Lee, George Washington University Professor Dr John Zinner, and former CIA profiler Dr Jerrold Post in a statement which will be sent to House Judiciary Committee members on Thursday.

The statement will be accompanied by a petition with at least 350 signatures from mental health professionals endorsing their conclusions.

All three psychiatrists have said they are willing to testify as part of the impeachment inquiry.
..............................
The statement warns that “[f]ailing to monitor or to understand the psychological aspects [of impeachment on Mr Trump], or discounting them, could lead to catastrophic outcomes.
.....................................
Dr Zinner, a former National Institutes of Mental Health researcher who has taught about and consulted with intelligence agencies on narcissistic personality disorders, told The Independent that members of congress need to be warned about the danger impeachment poses when the presidency is held by someone of Mr Trump’s pathology, which he described as a textbook case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

“Impeachment is the greatest threat to his self esteem that he’s experienced so far, and we’re very worried that his rage will be even more destructive than it’s been in the past,” he said.


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-mental-state-impeachment-psychiatrist-petition-congress-a9232386.html

I don't think that this is any sort of criticism of impeachment by these mental health professionals, but it raises the stakes on what outcome impeachment needs to produce. Impeachment has started and can't be reversed. However, the outcomes must be worth the potential damage that he could do while still in office. I'm pretty sure that's one consideration that Democratic leaders weighed in determining when they had enough evidence of clear and documented crimes to proceed.

I think we're going to see a Reichstag Fire or 9/11 type incident in order for him to justify declaring a national emergency, and/or will gin up his supporters to the point of more mass shootings.

I'm not sure what effect having these mental health professionals testifying in impeachment hearings would have, other than confirming what we already know, and triggering POTUS and his followers. I think that if their observations don't prompt Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th, (which we know won't happen) we should leave them out of the hearings. The POTUS's health is a matter of the 25th, rather than impeachment, which is about crimes committed.
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Trump's mental state is deteriorating dangerously due to impeachment with potentially 'catastrophic (Original Post) ehrnst Dec 2019 OP
I think you are correct😳 dewsgirl Dec 2019 #1
I don't believe that it is deteriorating. He was and continues to be a warped narcistic harbor. olegramps Dec 2019 #34
It is terrifying. sheshe2 Dec 2019 #2
Definitely terrifying! calimary Dec 2019 #36
Yes. sheshe2 Dec 2019 #37
This has concerned me since Election Day 2016. Pacifist Patriot Dec 2019 #3
Exactly right. Midnight Writer Dec 2019 #22
just remember.... getagrip_already Dec 2019 #4
His mental health has been deteriorating Iliyah Dec 2019 #5
This is a true sociopath we are dealing with Johnny2X2X Dec 2019 #6
"Death and pain of others means zero to him" - I slightly disagree. lagomorph777 Dec 2019 #18
You are correct because we've already seen how he treats migrant families pandr32 Dec 2019 #23
A little more from the article Mike 03 Dec 2019 #7
And with shorty Putin egging him on, no telling what he will do. Farmer-Rick Dec 2019 #8
I really do hope homegirl Dec 2019 #16
Putin uses a different method each time, but loves his poisons. lagomorph777 Dec 2019 #19
Oh probably Shorty Putin will be the death of Trumpy Dumpy Farmer-Rick Dec 2019 #24
I've frequently suspected he will be offered.... lastlib Dec 2019 #32
This is a helluva article. Mike 03 Dec 2019 #9
He's putting us into a war over reality. LuvNewcastle Dec 2019 #26
Oh, look: North Korea warns US to prepare for 'Christmas gift,' but no one's sure what to expect ehrnst Dec 2019 #10
What's terrifying as well: Eyeball_Kid Dec 2019 #11
My completely unprofessionally-trained opinion is that... Guilded Lilly Dec 2019 #12
You called it homegirl Dec 2019 #17
Agree with Republican betrayal. Taken to its inevitable end, Hortensis Dec 2019 #31
Better hope and pray that someone will be a patriot and disobey a trump launch order nt maryellen99 Dec 2019 #13
Like the secret pact they had to not take order from Nixon alone! Laura PourMeADrink Dec 2019 #20
Yes! But I think this is way worse than Nixon nt maryellen99 Dec 2019 #21
Luckily trump is not prone to war. However he did Laura PourMeADrink Dec 2019 #30
Nuking hurricanes isn't the sanest of options, Totally Tunsie Dec 2019 #39
I believe they're wanting to go on public record to warn that he's psychiatrically dangerous Texin Dec 2019 #14
K n R ! Thanks for posting! JoeOtterbein Dec 2019 #15
my personal internal alarms have been going crazy er since 2016 AllaN01Bear Dec 2019 #25
I've been Faux pas Dec 2019 #27
The GOP wants a mentally disabled POTUS, he can be influenced RainCaster Dec 2019 #28
Someone should reassure him that he would be top dog Hortensis Dec 2019 #29
He is everything our parents cloudbase Dec 2019 #33
This statement is both welcome and appropriate FakeNoose Dec 2019 #35
Good. Maybe he will stroke out and spare the nation another minute of his ass. nt Blue_true Dec 2019 #38
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Dec 2019 #40

dewsgirl

(14,961 posts)
1. I think you are correct😳
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 10:51 AM
Dec 2019

There used to be a leak account, I took it with a grain of salt, they went into great detail about Bannon, Gorka and some others planning on attack on the DC metro system, this was obviously a long time ago. It was quite chilling nonetheless.

olegramps

(8,200 posts)
34. I don't believe that it is deteriorating. He was and continues to be a warped narcistic harbor.
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 01:33 PM
Dec 2019

I will only cite one instance from his childhood to make my point. He was noted to refuse to accept that he was wrong regardless of the evidence for to do so would expose him to the fact that he is not only imperfect, but that in fact he his seriously flawed. He had a vicious streak as evidenced that he stoned the next door baby in his playpen when he was a boy. The neighbors testified that they were in fear of the entire family.

Pacifist Patriot

(24,647 posts)
3. This has concerned me since Election Day 2016.
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 10:52 AM
Dec 2019

I have been one of the voices consistently warning that the combination of his personality disorder and declining cognitive abilities, likely associated with a neurological degeneration, is a recipe for disaster.

The minute someone texted me the video from the cocktail party I have had ice water running through my veins. It's one thing to handle or manipulate a sociopath, it's quite another to trigger one.

getagrip_already

(14,250 posts)
4. just remember....
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 10:59 AM
Dec 2019

The gop is more than capable of finding doctors who will say exactly the opposite. These are medical opinions. Not facts, and to get to the point of being fact would require extensive first hand tests.

Remember, according to real medical doctors, trump is 6'3, 239 pounds, and the healthiest president with the best genes, ever. (sarcasm).

As much as I'd love to see a dispassionate exposure of his real health status - both physical and mental, it would be a shitshow in the senate and on the airwaves. I'm not sure it would be worth the ultimate distraction.

Iliyah

(25,111 posts)
5. His mental health has been deteriorating
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:00 AM
Dec 2019

Last edited Wed Dec 4, 2019, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)

for years. t-rump have been corrupt since an early age and it is finally catching up with him. The Republican party cares nothing for his health, he is their distraction in order for them to stack the courts and fuck up the USA government and destroy the Constitution all for their fucked up ideology/religion.

Johnny2X2X

(18,744 posts)
6. This is a true sociopath we are dealing with
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:00 AM
Dec 2019

If he could get away with it and it wouldn't cause him future inconvenience, this is a man who wouldn't blink about nuking Idaho if it meant getting his McDonald's fries 30 seconds quicker at lunch. Death and pain of others means zero to him, his smallest want is worth more than the lives of others.

lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
18. "Death and pain of others means zero to him" - I slightly disagree.
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:59 AM
Dec 2019

He lives to cause death and pain; it's his ultimate aphrodisiac.

pandr32

(11,447 posts)
23. You are correct because we've already seen how he treats migrant families
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 12:25 PM
Dec 2019

Everyone is either of use to him or disposable.
Being an adored world leader is off the table, so he will work on being a feared one now. Either way, it feeds his insatiable ego.

Mike 03

(16,616 posts)
7. A little more from the article
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:05 AM
Dec 2019
While Dr Lee and her colleagues have previously offered themselves to be consulted by impeachment investigators, she told The Independent they felt it necessary to come forward once more because the US president is “is ramping up his conspiracy theories” and “showing a great deal of cruelty and vindictiveness” in his “accelerated, repetitive tweets,” which she explained are signs that he is “doubling and a tripling down on his delusions”.

“I believe that they fit the pattern of delusions rather than just plain lies,” she continued, pointing to the claim he made during a meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary-general, that “many legal scholars” were “looking at the transcripts” of his 25 July phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and agreeing with his description of the call as “absolutely perfect” as an example of his pathology.

homegirl

(1,419 posts)
16. I really do hope
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:49 AM
Dec 2019

Putin will call him home to Moscow. In extradition free Russia Trump will be welcomed with a parade, a medal and great honors. In less than a year he will be dead! Putin is too smart to harbor a man who betrayed his own country, who could decide to reveal the truth to the world at any moment.

Most likely a poke from a Ricin tipped umbrella--been used before.


lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
19. Putin uses a different method each time, but loves his poisons.
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 12:01 PM
Dec 2019

Ricin, Polonium, Novichok - what's next - distilled GOP breath?

Mike 03

(16,616 posts)
9. This is a helluva article.
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:10 AM
Dec 2019
Dr Lee explained that the president’s continued embrace of conspiracy theories was actually a public health issue because of his ability to draw members of the public into a “shared psychosis at the national level”.

“His detachment from reality... his pathology is actually gaining ground more quickly than the ability of rational actors to bring up the facts,” she said, adding that the House should consider these issues in the same way they are examining the legal and constitutional aspects of impeachment.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
26. He's putting us into a war over reality.
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 12:44 PM
Dec 2019

His followers listen to Alex Jones and other loony-tunes conspiracy theorists and they believe all of Trump's lies to boot. They don't believe in factual reporting or commonly observable reality, it's just whoever has the most insane idea. It's hard to keep things together when you have a country that cannot agree on basic facts.

 

ehrnst

(32,640 posts)
10. Oh, look: North Korea warns US to prepare for 'Christmas gift,' but no one's sure what to expect
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:19 AM
Dec 2019

Just in time for impeachment hearings. What a gift to DT...

North Korea will send a "Christmas gift" to the United States, but what that present contains will depend on the outcome of ongoing talks between Washington and Pyongyang, a top official has warned.

The ominous comments, which some have interpreted as a sign that North Korea could resume long-distance missile tests, comes as the clock ticks closer to the country's self-imposed end-of-year deadline for nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration.
Talks between the two sides have appeared to be in a rut in recent months, with North Korea conducting several shorter-range missile tests.


https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/04/asia/north-korea-christmas-gift-kim-jong-un-intl-hnk/index.html

Eyeball_Kid

(7,410 posts)
11. What's terrifying as well:
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:21 AM
Dec 2019

The fate of the nation seems to rest with maybe a dozen, maybe fewer, of Trumpy's inner circle: Giuliani, Nunes, Gorka, Barr, Pompeo, Pence, Rush Limbaugh, and the executives at Fox News. They control the nation's agenda, frame the political narrative, and they protect Trumpy. 330 million people are controlled by this small band of criminals. Amazing.

Guilded Lilly

(5,591 posts)
12. My completely unprofessionally-trained opinion is that...
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:33 AM
Dec 2019

The Cretin is and always has been a shallow, dense, malignant, twisted narcissist sociopathic, pathologically lying megalomaniac spooge since he was old enough to talk. Always has been, always will be a stupendously characterless, strutting example of self-aggrandizing, self-loving, self-absorbed, self-serving, human wretchedness.

Deteriorating? It’s just who he is. Enabled and given a platform to spew his vomitus bile to the dumbest, most ignorant masses of human stupidity on the planet, he will never shut up and his supporters will never wise up. Terminal idiots.

The Republican Party is a vile group of hideously unprincipled, greed-driven, misogynistic, bigoted, racist white men stinking of corruption who have tethered their agenda to a foul lunatic for their own advancement and power, willingly practicing treason against our country. They are an arrogant showcase of the worst America has to offer.

As long as he is forefront and “usable” they will continue to support his lowlife scumbag persona and they will fight to the death of their political careers and the destruction of our Democracy to feed their rancid needs.

May this impeachment make his Cretin head explode and the vile Republican Party to implode.

But, that is just one woman’s opinion.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
31. Agree with Republican betrayal. Taken to its inevitable end,
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 01:12 PM
Dec 2019

what's become once again a wealthy white man's party intends to keep power and put an end to losing elections. Trump was an enormously failed, subverted rebellion of the GOP's economically progressive base against their betraying leadership, as was the Tea Party rebellion. But those same people will help destroy their own sovereignty to create a new authoritarian government.

“Maybe you do not care much about the future of the Republican Party. You should. Conservatives will always be with us. If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”

― David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic

 

Laura PourMeADrink

(42,770 posts)
30. Luckily trump is not prone to war. However he did
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 01:09 PM
Dec 2019

Ask why we never use nukes and threatened NK. So never mind

Yes, agree he's crazy. Nixon was talking to portrait paintings. What's weird about both is that they have episodes of lucidity and normal behavior too. Maybe that just makes them evil?

Totally Tunsie

(10,885 posts)
39. Nuking hurricanes isn't the sanest of options,
Thu Dec 5, 2019, 02:44 AM
Dec 2019

but it sure sounded as if Chump was seriously considering it. Not the brightest bulb...

Texin

(2,585 posts)
14. I believe they're wanting to go on public record to warn that he's psychiatrically dangerous
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 11:45 AM
Dec 2019

to the nation and to the citizens, especially to those lawmakers who are participating and prosecuting the case against him on behalf of the United States. I think they're deeply concerned about what potential retaliations he may take with respect to the legislators whom he perceives as publicly persecuting him. They may be trying - as the OP states in the last couple of sentences of the post - is to call attention to the fact that there is another way to have him removed from office via the invocation of the 25th Amendment by the Cabinet and Pence. As it is, he is a loose cannon and he has the nuclear football at his disposal. Psychologists and psychiatrists have been steadily increasing their warnings that tRump is a danger to others (and one last evening on The Last Word actually compared his stunted development as having stopped its maturation at the age of two!). He was literally comparing him to a two year old toddler! The grave problem, though, that Shitler isn't a two year old. He's a nearly 74 year old man who can order a nuclear first strike if he decides to surrender to his fit of pique. tRump also has at his disposal the power to invoke martial law (by the Posse Comitatus clause) and have his perceived enemies arrested, and post armed National Guard troops across the nation. We could be on our way to another Night of the Long Knives. Mark me, I'm not saying that the impeachment should be scuttled. I just think we all need to be aware of what he really has the power to do. And because there is (apparently) only one existing member of the House or Senate who was elected as a rethug who is not in lock step with McConnell, Nunes, et al, there will not be a single rethug to stop him. I don't believe we have a prayer that McConnell would do so. His goal of supreme power forever for the rethugs has been proven time after time. There will be no bottom for tRump, and by extension, the rethugs.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
29. Someone should reassure him that he would be top dog
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 12:59 PM
Dec 2019

in any federal prison and that they're much nicer than state. Worst come to worst, of course.

FakeNoose

(32,349 posts)
35. This statement is both welcome and appropriate
Wed Dec 4, 2019, 01:33 PM
Dec 2019

Let's hear from the rest of the medical community - scientists, researchers, practitioners and other medical experts who must have similar opinions if they have been paying attention.

Response to ehrnst (Original post)

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