Coping with narcissistic personality disorder in the White House

[TexasBushwhacker]

Really interesting article:

https://qz.com/852187/coping-with-chaos-in-the-white-house/

"I want to talk a little about narcissistic personality disorder. I’ve unfortunately had a great deal of experience with it, and I’m feeling badly for those of you who are trying to grapple with it for the first time because of our president-elect, who almost certainly suffers from it or a similar disorder. If I am correct, it has some very particular implications for the office. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) It’s not curable and it’s barely treatable. He is who he is. There is no getting better, or learning, or adapting. He’s not going to “rise to the occasion” for more than maybe a couple hours. So just put that out of your mind."

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I grew up with a bipolar father. Mania was dominant and got much worse as he got older. Like Trump, he was shocked and angry when predictable reality slapped him in the face. Even so, he would never take responsibility for his actions and the damage they caused. Besides my dad, I've known many people with bipolar disorder through support groups. There is little reasoning with them when they are manic. They like how mania makes them feel and therefore do not want to be "cured".

The upside of bipolar disorder is that when they come down from mania and slide into depression they feel rotten and are often more willing to accept treatment.

That is not the case with someone with narcissitic personality disorder. There is no treating them because that would mean accepting that they are mere mortals, with strengths and weaknesses like everyone else. I've never found bipolar people to be especially dishonest or greedy either, although they can spend themselves into bankruptcy.

Now I do wonder what Trump's childhood was like and I doubt it was a pretty picture. He was the second son, not the first. He got into trouble early and was sent to military school. He certainly never lacked material things, but I doubt he got much else. Accumulating wealth, pretty women, and having an image of power are all things to fill a hole that just can't be filled. As David Letterman said, Trump is a damaged human being.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Oh how I know were you are coming.

Been down that road with a couple of family members. Once I figured out the Mania part and the swing back to depression,then and only then we were able to put things in place to deal with these family members.