THE website of the American Psychiatric Association warns members not to opine on the mental health of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or other challengers for the White House. The notice, first reported by the Washington Post, reminds psychiatrists that it is unethical to psychoanalyse public figures whom they have never met, though this election’s “unique atmosphere” may make them want to try. The temptation is clear. Crack open the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”, a widely used handbook, and the checklist for Narcissistic Personality Disorder could be notes for a Trump profile. Symptoms include abnormal attention-seeking, self-centredness, a sense of entitlement, exaggerated self-appraisal (ie, fibbing about achievements) and warped relations with others. The outside world is mostly of interest as a mirror, reflecting back on the narcissistic self. Mr Trump assured a recent interviewer: “I am much more humble than you would understand.”
If Republicans hope to reclaim their party, they need to grasp how their leaders—including people who disagree with Mr Trump on many questions of...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2b1SGxv
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