I get tired of the idea that Trump is “cunning” or “manipulative”. A psychopath doesn’t have to be cunning. Some psychopaths, like Trump, are way too stupid to be effectively Machiavellian. He’s a monkey slinging poo.More and more evidence is emerging that Donald Trump is suffering from severe mental illness which is being aggravated by his position as POTUS.
Either Donald Trump is exceedingly cunning or he is suffering mental deterioration. Or maybe both cunning and mentally unsound. Psychopaths are known to be cunning.
"Psychopaths are incapable of feeling guilt, remorse, or empathy for their actions or the objects of their actions. They are generally cunning and manipulative. They know the difference between right and wrong but don't believe the rules apply to them."
Mental health professionals have been analyzing Donald Trump since 2015 and the general tendency in progressive articles is that Donald Trump's mental condition is deteriorating.
One of the latest signals of his lack of rationality has been a GOP lawmaker stroking and arousing Trump's ego by comparing him to Jesus and others claiming that he has saved Christianity. Unfortunately, Donald Trump's mental condition appears to be contagious among his followers who will believe any lie Donald Trump utters or publishes. GOP lawmakers are infected by Trump's psychoses.
Are there any people around Donald Trump who can prevent his descent into the abyss of madness?
Shrinks on Trump's letter: A study in "the psychotic mind" at work
Mental health professionals read Trump's letter: A study in "the psychotic mind" at work
Bandy Lee, Justin Frank, Lance Dodes, David Reiss and others unpack a "venomous and vitriolic" historic document
CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
DECEMBER 20, 2019 12:00PM (UTC)
... Trump’s impeachment is one of the few moments in his life when he has ever been held accountable for his behavior. ... when Democrats and the public defied Trump’s authoritarian goal of becoming a de facto king or emperor, he has lashed out in the form of (another) temper tantrum.
On Tuesday, Trump continued with this ugly and deeply troubling behavior in the form of a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, fueled by exaggerated rage that Democrats had dared to impeach him. Reportedly co-authored by Stephen Miller, Trump's white supremacist White House adviser, Trump’s letter continued numerous obvious lies about impeachment, the Ukraine scandal and other matters.
In keeping with his strategy of stochastic terrorism, Trump’s letter is an incitement to violence by his followers against the Democrats for the “crime” of impeachment.
... This letter is a very obvious demonstration of Donald Trump’s severe mental compromise. His assertions should alarm not only those who believe that a president of the United States and a commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military should be mentally sound, but also those who are concerned about the potential implications of such a compromised individual bringing out pathological elements in his supporters and in society in general. I have been following and interpreting Donald Trump’s tweets as a public service, since merely reading them “gaslights” you and reforms your thoughts in unhealthy ways. Without arming yourself with the right interpretation, you end up playing into the hands of pathology and helping it — even if you do not fully believe it. This is because of a common phenomenon that happens when you are continually exposed to a severely compromised person without appropriate intervention. You start taking on the person’s symptoms in a phenomenon called “shared psychosis.”
It happens often in households where a sick individual goes untreated, and I have seen some of the most intelligent and otherwise healthy persons succumb to the most bizarre delusions. It can also happen at national scale, as renowned mental health experts such as Erich Fromm have noted. Shared psychosis at large scale is also called “mass hysteria.”
The president is quite conscious of his ability to generate mass hysteria, which is the purpose of the letter.
... In terms of what we have come to expect from President Trump, the only remarkable thing about this letter is that it is so long — and that it contains a few big words, like “solemnity.” But in nearly every other way, the letter is like the vitriolic, grievance-filled tweets he sends out every day, full of falsehoods, hyperbole and hate. As an extended expression of who Trump really is, the letter shows you how his mind works and what his raw experience is like.
... To quote what Trump told People Magazine when asked to recite his philosophy of life, “Man is the most vicious of all animals and life is a series of battles ending in victory or defeat.” This is truly how Trump has always experienced the world. The letter merely reinforces his world view.
... Content-wise it [the letter] is the typical Trump distortions, outright lies, and exclusive focus on his feelings. For Trump, his feelings define reality. ... Because, objectively, Trump complains he is being treated "unfairly" anytime he does not get his way, his feelings are hurt, and/or others are not accepting what he says at face value and without question — even if it is contrary to proven fact or internally inconsistent.
Whoever actually wrote the letter, it accurately reflects Trump's immaturity that has been obvious in public as long as he has been a public figure: insisting that his needs be met in a child-like manner; having very poor problem-solving ability; having an inability to take responsibility for anything and projecting his own negative attributes onto others; an inability to look at consequences of his statements or actions. Basically, acting as a frustrated or emotionally hurt toddler would react, looking for a parent to protect him and "make the bad people go away."
... Mr. Trump's letter shows his incapacity to recognize other people as separate from him or having worth.
As he always does, he accuses others of precisely what he has done, in precisely the same language. When confronted with violating the Constitution he says his accusers are violating the Constitution. When others point out that he undermines democracy, he says they undermine democracy. Through these very simpleminded projections he deletes others' selfhood and replaces who they are with what is unacceptable in himself.
... When you read excerpts of the Trump letter to Pelosi it doesn't do justice to how unhinged, paranoid and manic it is in its entirety.
... Dr. Justin Frank [said] ... When I first read Donald Trump’s six-page letter to Speaker Pelosi, I marveled at the ease with which he shared what goes on in his mind openly, and without reservation. His letter is the quintessential example of how professional victims actually think. They turn the prosecutor into the persecutor.
... Finally, the letter is a treasure trove for psychiatric residents who want to study the psychotic mind. Trump’s paradoxical sleight of hand makes him think he can hide in plain sight. But he can’t anymore. This is why he accuses Pelosi of hating democracy: It is he who hates a system that promotes the idea that no one is above the law. ...
do not try to discuss matters called PSYCHIATRY----you is clueless