Psychologist Dan McAdams on the case of Trump: "Much stranger than any diagnostic category"

[catbyte]

Author of "The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump": He's a man who "doesn't even remember what happened yesterday"

CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
OCTOBER 29, 2020

Many of the United States and the world's leading mental health experts have concluded that Donald Trump is mentally unwell, pathological, dangerous and perhaps even a sociopath or a psychopath.

snip

Because fueling his ego, grandiosity and malignant narcissism are more important than the lives of others, Trump continues to host rallies where his followers gather unmasked by the thousands. Public health experts have now directly tied Trump's events to the spread of the virus and resulting illnesses and deaths. Trumpism literally is a death cult; his followers are human biological weapons.

On Tuesday, in Omaha, Nebraska, Trump again showed that he does not care about the health and safety of his followers. After a rally at an airfield, many of Trump's supporters were left behind in freezing temperatures when the buses they were promised did not appear. Many people were forced to walk several miles from the rally site back to their vehicles, and dozens of them required medical attention.

As president, Donald Trump has significant influence over the behavior of the American people. His mental pathologies have infected tens of millions of his followers, and have caused PTSD and other forms of stress and trauma for those Americans who oppose his regime.

snip

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/29/psychologist-dan-mcadams-on-the-case-of-trump-much-stranger-than-any-diagnostic-category/

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Boy does that last sentence ring true. I feel like a woman trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship. My god, I hope this ends soon.

[Wicked Blue]

1. "Trumpism literally is a death cult; his followers are human biological weapons."

That sentence says it all.

[calimary]

25. No kidding!!!

Sheesh - it’s true. Literally true. They’re apostles of death.

[safeinOhio]

2. Psychologist would say that the diagnostic category tRump falls under is

the Fucking Nuts spectrum.

[unblock]

3. "Perhaps even a sociopath or a psychopath"?? Boy is that understating it.

No "perhaps" about it. That's the most obvious and least interesting part of the diagnosis.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. I think a sociopath, not a psychopath. He seems more directed against groups than random people. nt

[eppur_se_muova]

17. Why can't he be both ?

He attacks everybody, singly or in groups. They may not be random people, they're just people who disagree with him on something, trivial or otherwise.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. Can be both; I don't think he is. Attacks individuals who interacted w him, not random people

That was my point. He is not a psychopath cruising in a van looking for victims or anything analogous in one way or another to that.

A psychopath takes pleasure in finding people and hurting them. tRump doesn't care. But he does want to hurt people who he thinks have hurt him. That's revenge psychology, not psychopathology.

He is a sociopath because he killed most of the 230,000+ covid victims that he could have taken better actions to avoid killing many or most of them.
He is a sociopath because he orphaned over 500 children at the border. On purpose. For political gain with his base.
He is a sociopath because he wants to take away health care from millions of people.

Caliman73 in post 23 makes a case the distinction I am making between the two is irrelevant, and there is some merit to that line.

[Caliman73]

23. Not quite the distinction between the terms.

Nowadays there is not too much of a distinction between psychopath and sociopath. They are pretty much used interchangeably. The distinction back in the day was not in targeting groups v. individuals, it was in the idea of "born with it" v. "created". That distinction was discarded after understanding that both are a combination of nature and nurture. The distinction became about emotional regulation and the ability to delay gratification.

Psychopaths were believed to be "cold blooded" planners, meaning that they could target victims and wait for the right opportunity to inflict damage.

Sociopaths were believed to be emotionally unstable, operating solely for immediate gratification and short term gain at the expense of anything else.

Like I said though, those distinctions seem to have become less relevant.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

29. Okay, thank you. I will take that on board and adjust what I write in the future. . . . nt

[lagomorph777]

4. For those of us already trapped in abusive relationships, it's a double-whammy.

This has been the most challenging four years of my life. My mental health is precarious at best now.

[CottonBear]

24. I'm in the same situation. It's awful.

[lagomorph777]

26. We'll get through this.

[CottonBear]

27. Thank you!

I hope to be celebrating a Biden-Harris win next Wednesday!

[lagomorph777]

30. It's pretty much the one thing my abuser and I can agree on.

So it'll be a happy day.

[smirkymonkey]

35. I have never been in an abusive relationship, other than with my step-mother,

but I have been in some not-so-great ones. However, this triggers me on an emotional level as it reminds me of growing up with a mentally and physically abusive step-mother, who is very much like Trump in many ways, although not nearly to such an extreme degree. From a referenced Salon article:

"In this conversation, Dr. Norrholm explains how Donald Trump's behavior towards the American people resembles that of a domestic abuser. He also details how Donald Trump and his regime are causing the American people to experience symptoms and behaviors similar to PTSD — and that post-Trump PTSD will impact the country's public health for many years into the future. Norrholm also offers advice on how the American people can handle the increase in stress and anxiety as Election Day 2020 approaches in the midst of a deadly pandemic and Trump's escalating threats and violence."

"The American people, the abuse victim says, "OK, I've got some hope. The authorities are looking into it." Then [Bill] Barr is brought on and the Mueller report is diluted and misrepresented, and nothing happens in terms of consequences. So the American people, who are the abuse victim, then says, "OK, that didn't work." Then there is a period of mourning, dejection and sadness. Then the American people say, "OK, what's the next step I can take?" Then they see Trump being impeached. Now the conclusion is, "OK, this is going to be the mechanism by which I could end this abusive relationship." Now we go through the process from December to January, and there is a parade of witnesses with all this damning information. Trump looked like he was done for. And again, Trump gets away with it all."

"Trump's bellicosity and the reminders that he has access to a vast nuclear arsenal is akin to an abuser saying to a partner, "Remember, I sleep with my revolver." So the bottom line is that we as mental health professionals were already looking at a post-Trump era of exacerbated mental illness that has now been compounded with an unchecked pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 and altered millions of lives."

"The American people, as Trump's abuse victims, then say, "Damn it, this is another instance where nothing happened." Now the hope is that on Election Day something will change, and Trump will be gone."

[Newest Reality]

5. All his disorders...

All his disorders have been greatly amplified by having the power of the Presidency. Empowering him was a grievous error for all involved, including him.

You don't give a person like that the keys to the White House and not expect a debacle at some point.

He is setting the standard for a whole new category in the DSM: Multiple Monster Syndrome.

[eppur_se_muova]

19. "The Presidency doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are."

Never, never truer than in the case of the present resident of the WH.

[dalton99a]

6. This is a life and death choice

[warrior1]

7. all the men and women around him

family members, staff, and the GOP helped enable all of his worse tendency because they knew they could profit off of American's pain. Why don't the diagnosis these people? Is it greed? Power?

[JohnnyLib2]

8. As a clinical psychologist, I'm very much in agreement with McAdams--

Trump truly does not fit current diagnostic choices; he will probably have one named for or based on his unique flaws.

Time will tell how this is handled in the history books and the rear-view mirror of Americans.

[PatrickforO]

12. Well, I am hoping that we handle it through our justice system,

indict him, try him, and imprison him so he can't further harm us. I say this, because though I have a counseling background prior to becoming an economist, Trump's crimes against this nation and its people are just that - crimes. And he needs to be held accountable for them, from the rapes years ago, the sex trafficking with Ghoulish and Epstein, right up to the present 233,000 counts of reckless disregard for human life, the 545 counts of genocide, at least ten counts of tax evasion, at at least ten counts of treason (by the constitutional definition, someone who 'levies war' against one or more States is considered a traitor, and since we have on record that Jared and Trump decided not to form a strong, coordinated federal response to COVID because it was 'hitting blue states the hardest').

I do believe they offer psychiatric treatment in Federal prisons?

[JohnnyLib2]

36. "indict him, try him, and imprison him....."

Agreed!

[tanyev]

9. Marking to read later.

[PatrickforO]

10. Yes. PTSD. It will take our people a while to recover from Trump's

four years of darkness.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. I'll opt for PTSD over surrendering to Trump.

I survived my father. I will survive Trump.

[H2O Man]

13. Recommended.

In a very real sense, Trump is like Charles Manson, a psychological oddity. He is without question a sociopath, but his issues do go well beyond that.

[Sherman A1]

15. K&R

very interesting.

[Botany]

16. "His mental pathologies have infected tens of millions of his followers, ... "

[ffr]

21. Dude with the flag needs a bro.

for his man boobs.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

43. Interesting concept. However, I'm not sure I believe anyone who isn't already

mentally pathological could ever have become one of his followers.

[3825-87867]

18. Maybe he's confusing "his struggles" with another?

I thought I read that Trump only read one book, which he kept or keeps on his nite stand. Mein Kampf!
It's strangely coincidental that things he is doing and has done parallels those done by Hitler but updated to our future.

Now, maybe he's just too stupid to understand that it's Stephen Miller who is really in his head, but I really do feel trump thinks of himself as Adolph II if not I! He's just too far gone mentally to understand.

And whether for good or bad he's trying to make sure he's remembered forever to sate his ego. And at this rate, he will get his wish.

FAME! He wants to live forever!

[Nexus2]

39. He kept a book on Hitler on his nightstand

It evidently one of the few books he's read

[ffr]

20. Is this what it feels like to be in an abusive relationship?

How awful. Now I see why so many do irrational actions. Every morning you feel like your insides have been ripped out from the night before.

[llashram]

22. perhaps a sociopath or psychopath???

[Kid Berwyn]

31. Thanks, Putin!

So much winning.

[Hekate]

32. Kick

[samnsara]

33. same here..the only solace for me is the fact that our Governor Inslee is a buffer between us...

...and trump. Wash State AG Ferguson is a bulldog as well. And I'm only a cpl hours from Canada. Maybe trump will trade the entire West Coast to Canada for Greenland!

But literally I don't think i can handle another 4 years of trump. We NEED the Senate so we can impeach his ass again...and send him to jail.

[niyad]

34. KNR

[BootinUp]

37. to puke lurkers: This is pure fact. nt

[Quixote1818]

38. K and R

[Nexus2]

40. Damn, I guess Biden's "What the Hell is wrong with this guy?" was pretty was a more viable question

than we may have thought.

[Earthshine2]

41. If you are looking for a single word ... "solipsism."

People are not real to him. They are objects, which is why he is often described as being without empathy.

He requires their adoration, yet does not feel any need to sustain them, such as providing the damn buses.

He'll say and do what he needs to get the reaction he craves from the adoring fans -- and it's predictable and repeatable -- but doesn't care if they die from the virus.

[Blue Owl]

42. The Shitshowman's 3-Ring Turd Circus

n/t