Yale psychiatrist says Trump is getting worse: 'I suspect he is unable to tolerate reality'

[elleng]

'Two weeks ago, the New York Times published an anonymous op-ed by a senior Trump administration official who was deeply concerned about President Trump’s mental health and his authoritarian tendencies. (Don Foster, a retired scholar who specializes in textual analysis — and correctly identified Joe Klein as the author of “Primary Colors” — thinks he knows who that person is.)

For the New York Times to publish such an op-ed, and for a White House official to warn the American people and the world about a dangerous president is unprecedented in the country’s history. But the article was not surprising to at least one person. Bandy Lee, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, says she was contacted last year by White House insiders, who were “scared” that the president was “unraveling.”

Lee has been tracking the apparent decline in Donald Trump’s mental health for several years. She has convened a conference on the obligation of mental health professionals to warn the public about the dangers he represents, and is also the editor of the bestselling book “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.”

Will Donald Trump’s mental health continue to decline? In what ways is special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation exacerbating Trump’s apparent mental and emotional unraveling? How do collective narcissism and violence tie Donald Trump to his supporters? Are Trump’s authoritarian impulses connected to his mental health? Is the safety of the world imperiled by Donald Trump’s access to nuclear weapons?

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. . .

Authoritarian behavior is actually pathology. It is a certain set of traits which makes individuals vulnerable to being controlled. We think of authoritarian behavior as being strong and confident, but actually it’s more obsequious. There is a whole population following the authoritarian and being loyal to him no matter what. He leads them to destruction and the end results are almost always quite devastating — which is why it’s actually not a healthy situation. A system like despotism or tyranny or fascism is really not a political ideology so much as a collective state of poor health that leads eventually to harm for the collective body.'>>>

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/09/yale-psychiatrist-says-trump-getting-worse-suspect-unable-tolerate-reality/

[underthematrix]

1. Trump is dangerous

Link to tweet

[lagomorph777]

13. Looks like Lee's point is that Trump's followers are dangerous.

He'd be nobody, powerless, without his Deplorables. They are suffering from mass pathology, else they'd see Trump the way we do: as a twisted, pathetic, dangerous monster.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Original article here:

https://www.salon.com/2018/09/21/psychiatrist-bandy-lee-trump-is-getting-worse-i-suspect-he-is-unable-to-tolerate-reality/

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. round-robin, tag-team prodding

Thanks for that link.

From there:

Donald Trump can't, for example, decide to think more carefully or respond more thoughtfully to events. He simply reacts. That is one of the ways that we can determine that his behavior is more of a symptom than a thoughtful strategic response.

Every time I've said this I'm told it's dumb or crazy. Here goes, anyway:

The best thing that could happen would be for people like Senator Warren and former Senator Franken to tag-team the narcissist. They have a knack for getting under his skin. It would be good for the world if that ferret top blew off from his frustration, rage and bluster before he blows something else up. Everyone he has attacked via twitter and assigned a derogatory nickname could poke back at him with facts that illustrate his failure to be what he wants to project. He has to respond.

[gordianot]

3. What they do not say everyone could become a Trump victim.

His staff, supporters, Party, family, anyone in his presence is in danger. His Russian allies could be in specific peril. If we really knew the threat potential no one would get sleep. The Psychiatrist and Psychologist do understand what he may be capable of doing. If Donald Trump were to buy a personal firearm that would be cause to worry and he has nuclear weapons. Fred Trump was right removing Donald's switch blade knife collection decades ago he is still dangerous.

[forgotmylogin]

4. I think he possibly doesn't comprehend that he's playing with other people's lives.

As President, he's been given some very important levers and buttons.

Donald Trump is a petty and vindictive man who has always held huge power in his business via his wealth and had mismanaged himself into dangerous territory with Russian loans and affiliations. Being president is just a promotion for him and he's carrying out his normal vendettas. Remember at the beginning of his term he'd say something bad about a company offhand and the stock would plunge? Part of that he's intending, but he's messing with the United States business interests and not just the Trump Organization. He's running the country like he runs his business, but Donald Trump is not a good business person.

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Completely agree.

[Midnight Writer]

7. I think he totally comprehends he's playing with people's lives. I think that is his thrill. Power.

[lagomorph777]

14. +1 It's clear he gets off on hurting people.

[Demovictory9]

8. he is

[ROB-ROX]

9. CRAZY IS AS CRAZY DO

He never had to work for anything during his whole life. I think he paid people to graduate school, college, etc. He has a life time of masking his mental concerns. I think after being in public so long his failure to be cognizant in public can not be hidden. This also says much about the mental thinking process of the people who voted for him. They never saw what he was, they do not know what is wrong with him today, nor do they know how bad he will be in the future. I think his public are also MENTALLY deficient, and they fail to be aware because they process an elementary thinking process.

[dalton99a]

10. We are ruled by a crazy asshole

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread elleng

[elleng]

12. You're welcome, Uncle Joe.

Important, imo.

[yurbud]

15. "worse" implies he was better at some point. When was he EVER better than a

dim-witted, petulant, spoiled trust fund baby narcissist?