Decades ago, I concluded that there sure were a lot of nutty people in the world. But from the very beginning, I underestimated the numbers. As time went on, I kept on raising my estimate of the percentage of people who were either mentally ill, delusional, or suffered from a wide range of personality disorders listed in the DSM-5. Reading the news (both national and international), especially on a daily basis, certainly was a window into numerous pathologies and aberrant human behaviors, but nothing quite focuses the mind like when you run into nutty people in your day to day life.
But as disturbing as it is to find yourself interacting with someone (like a neighbor or a coworker) who you've become convinced is not quite right in the head based on one or more conversations that seemed to take an odd turn at some point, there is usually, but certainly not always, a saving grace when it comes to human hierarchies in business, the military, and gov't at all levels. That's because disturbed people are almost always weeded out of contention for positions of power and serious responsibilities one way or another. For example, police officer candidates are given psychological tests to weed out people who may be on a power trip of one kind or another. The military and most businesses have regular evaluations of members which are regularly reviewed prior to promotions being given out. Then, of course, average everyday people can pick up on certain cues to indicate that there might very well be a problem with someone's mental or emotional stability. But it's not a perfect system for several reasons, not the least of which is because humans and human systems and safeguards are fallible.
So, what happens when a wholly unscrupulous man who is quite likely a sociopath with no conscience, or a person who suffers from antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and who lacks an empathy gene or any kind of personal moral guardrails attains real national power? Well, all I can say about that is that we've seen what has happened in other countries over the centuries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America when a power hungry unscrupulous man attains real power and proceeds to dismantle the institutional limits to his power.
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For at least the past five years, some of America's and the world's foremost mental health experts have attempted to warn the public that Donald Trump was (and is) a dire threat to public safety.
Based on Trump's public behavior and other available information, these experts warned that he appears to be a malignant narcissist, a pathological liar who is obsessed with violence, easily manipulated by praise and other ego-stroking behavior, indifferent to the suffering of other human beings, anti-social and anti-human in his values and behavior, irresponsible and impulsive and in total quite likely a sociopath or perhaps a psychopath.
Collectively, these mental health experts predicted that Trump's many apparent pathologies would lead to destruction and suffering for the American people and the world.
They were almost entirely correct: Donald Trump undermined and destabilized American society and democracy. He made negligent and irresponsible choices, bordering on outright sabotage, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. These choices may have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and shortened the average lifespan of the American people by several years. He colluded with a hostile foreign power to subvert a presidential election. He attempted a coup which included an attack by his followers on the U.S. Capitol. He very nearly destroyed the American economy and presided over a regime of profound corruption. He inspired and encouraged right-wing terrorism and other political violence. He leads a political cult. He was impeached twice — which is unprecedented in American history — for his various crimes against the Constitution and the country.
The link below includes more than what is posted above.
But as disturbing as it is to find yourself interacting with someone (like a neighbor or a coworker) who you've become convinced is not quite right in the head based on one or more conversations that seemed to take an odd turn at some point, there is usually, but certainly not always, a saving grace when it comes to human hierarchies in business, the military, and gov't at all levels. That's because disturbed people are almost always weeded out of contention for positions of power and serious responsibilities one way or another. For example, police officer candidates are given psychological tests to weed out people who may be on a power trip of one kind or another. The military and most businesses have regular evaluations of members which are regularly reviewed prior to promotions being given out. Then, of course, average everyday people can pick up on certain cues to indicate that there might very well be a problem with someone's mental or emotional stability. But it's not a perfect system for several reasons, not the least of which is because humans and human systems and safeguards are fallible.
So, what happens when a wholly unscrupulous man who is quite likely a sociopath with no conscience, or a person who suffers from antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and who lacks an empathy gene or any kind of personal moral guardrails attains real national power? Well, all I can say about that is that we've seen what has happened in other countries over the centuries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America when a power hungry unscrupulous man attains real power and proceeds to dismantle the institutional limits to his power.
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Former Harvard psychiatrist Lance Dodes: Trump's psychosis is still an "enormous danger"
For at least the past five years, some of America's and the world's foremost mental health experts have attempted to warn the public that Donald Trump was (and is) a dire threat to public safety.
Based on Trump's public behavior and other available information, these experts warned that he appears to be a malignant narcissist, a pathological liar who is obsessed with violence, easily manipulated by praise and other ego-stroking behavior, indifferent to the suffering of other human beings, anti-social and anti-human in his values and behavior, irresponsible and impulsive and in total quite likely a sociopath or perhaps a psychopath.
Collectively, these mental health experts predicted that Trump's many apparent pathologies would lead to destruction and suffering for the American people and the world.
They were almost entirely correct: Donald Trump undermined and destabilized American society and democracy. He made negligent and irresponsible choices, bordering on outright sabotage, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. These choices may have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and shortened the average lifespan of the American people by several years. He colluded with a hostile foreign power to subvert a presidential election. He attempted a coup which included an attack by his followers on the U.S. Capitol. He very nearly destroyed the American economy and presided over a regime of profound corruption. He inspired and encouraged right-wing terrorism and other political violence. He leads a political cult. He was impeached twice — which is unprecedented in American history — for his various crimes against the Constitution and the country.
The link below includes more than what is posted above.
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