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45 reviews for:
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President
Bandy X. Lee
3.8 AVERAGE
45 reviews for:
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President
Bandy X. Lee
3.8 AVERAGE
I didn't get through all of it. The gist is, he's insane and that's dangerous. But I think a lot of us already knew that.
Required reading for all (not just Americans)
I'd like to start off by saying, if anyone has a book with as well-researched, well-documented counterarguments by psychiatrists, I'd love to check it out. (I sincerely doubt that there is, but I have to ask.)
I also acknowledge the criticisms that this book is repetitive. It can be, but I think each essay adds nuance and no argument is exactly alike.
That being said, I believe in the purpose of publishing this book, which is sharing information (or warning the masses) based off professional insights on publicly available information. AKA everyone has been exposed to 45's antics, so let's not pretend we can't see and hear the things he says. And hey, while we're at it, let's ask people who work with human behavior patterns for a living.
There are a lot of labels thrown around by each writer, but they back up their arguments, so you be the judge.
I appreciate that some writers acknowledged the difference between what this book is and how is relates/differs from the Goldwater rule. For all one-star raters out there, I have a feeling you didn't get to Part 2 of this book. And if you did, I'm sure you were triggered by Part 3, where it relates trauma and this presidency.
As a psychology major and public health professional, I fully support healthcare professionals providing their best professional judgment to the public. If the people who do this for a living sense danger, I'm glad they're letting me know. (Not that I didn't already feel and see the danger myself but I guess I'm feeling the confirmation bias seep in. Again, if anyone has EVIDENCE-BASED counterarguments, I'm all ears.)
My favorite chapters were by Harper West, Nanette Gartrell, and Tony Schwartz.
I'd like to start off by saying, if anyone has a book with as well-researched, well-documented counterarguments by psychiatrists, I'd love to check it out. (I sincerely doubt that there is, but I have to ask.)
I also acknowledge the criticisms that this book is repetitive. It can be, but I think each essay adds nuance and no argument is exactly alike.
That being said, I believe in the purpose of publishing this book, which is sharing information (or warning the masses) based off professional insights on publicly available information. AKA everyone has been exposed to 45's antics, so let's not pretend we can't see and hear the things he says. And hey, while we're at it, let's ask people who work with human behavior patterns for a living.
There are a lot of labels thrown around by each writer, but they back up their arguments, so you be the judge.
I appreciate that some writers acknowledged the difference between what this book is and how is relates/differs from the Goldwater rule. For all one-star raters out there, I have a feeling you didn't get to Part 2 of this book. And if you did, I'm sure you were triggered by Part 3, where it relates trauma and this presidency.
As a psychology major and public health professional, I fully support healthcare professionals providing their best professional judgment to the public. If the people who do this for a living sense danger, I'm glad they're letting me know. (Not that I didn't already feel and see the danger myself but I guess I'm feeling the confirmation bias seep in. Again, if anyone has EVIDENCE-BASED counterarguments, I'm all ears.)
My favorite chapters were by Harper West, Nanette Gartrell, and Tony Schwartz.
I loved this book......it says alot about people by their reaction to this book.....
My thoughts kept going to...does anyone care about this man? does anyone care enough to get him help? where is his family?
Inspiring....terrifying.....and sad
My thoughts kept going to...does anyone care about this man? does anyone care enough to get him help? where is his family?
Inspiring....terrifying.....and sad
informative
medium-paced
Got the gist. He's damaged and dangerous. Nothing I didn't figure out during the election but felt good to have some parameters made speciifc.
3.5 stars. Possibly it was the disturbing and depressing subject, possibly the fact that there are several different authors who of necessity repeat certain points, or maybe just that I was constrained by its availability at my library (since it's very much in demand so I could only get it when I was first in the list and also was not able to renew it) - but I feel that there is much more to this book that I got out of it. There are definitely a lot of important insights into various aspects of the "case," including the stressors and characteristics of the society that allows a man such as this to come to power and the effects on the population, particularly vulnerable and marginalized groups - as well as his own personal pathologies. The authors each dealt with the tension between the "Goldwater Rule" and the "duty to warn" in their own ways, which was a wise decision on the part of the editors, in my opinion.
Interesting and depressing. Twenty-seven people who know a lot about mental health give review of Donald Trump's mental state, and it's not pretty. The man holding the most power in the world is emotionally and developmentally stunted, lacks empathy, is possibly sociopathic, and has a host of other mental issues that probably make him incompetent to be in the office in which we find him.
This book is full of examples of his aberrant behavior from the campaign and the first couple of months of his time in office. I wonder what the experts would have to say about the rest of his time.
In the words of Rupert Giles from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - "The Earth is doomed."
Oh, a few words on this work before I go. I was expecting a full-on politicized work bashing Trump, but most of the assessments are pretty objective. The work does get a bit repetitive as the experts come to the same conclusions and cite many of the same examples. I imagine it will become a fairly important work for historians who might look into the character of this character to see what he did and why.
This book is full of examples of his aberrant behavior from the campaign and the first couple of months of his time in office. I wonder what the experts would have to say about the rest of his time.
In the words of Rupert Giles from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - "The Earth is doomed."
Oh, a few words on this work before I go. I was expecting a full-on politicized work bashing Trump, but most of the assessments are pretty objective. The work does get a bit repetitive as the experts come to the same conclusions and cite many of the same examples. I imagine it will become a fairly important work for historians who might look into the character of this character to see what he did and why.
Hmmm...how to review this? A (very) few of the pieces gave me some insight about how mental illness might affect a person's behavior, especially one who is in a position of power, but most of the articles were so biased that even I (who am not DT's biggest fan) couldn't ignore it. Taking every statement literally (as in, "I would kill for a piece of pie") or assuming every inappropriate joke is a serious indication of intent does not make someone dangerous. Most of the authors seemed to be living in a world where politeness and fairness and kindness are the norm, and are shocked--shocked!--that sarcasm, lying, bullying, and other forms of not-niceness could ever occur in a context that does not imply mental illness. Donald Trump may very well be a danger to society, but only two or three of the articles included in this book presented a convincing argument for it.
This is not normal, the book says. Understatement of all time. This is the most terrifying book I've ever read and I'm not sure where to start with a review.
The blurb : "Since the start of Donald Trump's presidential run, one question has quietly but urgently permeated the observations of concerned citizens: What is wrong with him? Constrained by the American Psychiatric Association's "Goldwater rule," which inhibits mental health professionals from diagnosing public figures they have not personally examined, many of those qualified to answer this question have shied away from discussing the issue at all. The public has thus been left to wonder whether he is mad, bad, or both. In THE DANGEROUS CASE OF DONALD TRUMP, twenty-seven psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health experts argue that, in Mr. Trump's case, their moral and civic "duty to warn" America supersedes professional neutrality. They then explore Trump's symptoms and potentially relevant diagnoses to find a complex, if also dangerously mad, man....".
Firstly, I would suggest you steer clear of this book ( and even the rest of this review ) if you have a terror of Armageddon. Growing up in the 70s, with nuclear war an ever present threat, I'm not that stressed by it anymore. Meh.
I am in awe of the calibre of mental health professionals gathered together to write this book. Before I started this book, I had an obsession with Trump, his outright inability to execute his role, his ignorance, stupidity etc etc. Now, I have concern. Concern for an elderly man who is clearly unfit for this post, and who is cognitively and physically unwell ( all of his disastrous speeches where the public mock his speech, dry mouth , nasal congestion and substandard vocabulary show clear signs of illness and side effects of medication) , while his friends and family watch him deteriorate on the sidelines. On the other hand, I have concern for the consequences to the entire world arising from how dangerous he is- clearly, he is potentially extremely dangerous.
The book discusses , amongst many, many things, his paranoia, lack of trust, penchant for violence, and disinterest in the consequences of his actions - eg the risk of nuclear war breaking out because he might be baited by a tweet is obviously higher , with a man who has so many psychological defects in power. The Doomsday Clock is discussed, with the threat posed by climate change tipping it ever closer to Midnight. It covers all aspects that arise from having a malignant narcissistic psychopath in the White House , how the administration is operating under a malignant normality, how difficult it is to remove a President under the 25th Amendment, the way forward to prevent a person with these limitations every acceding to the Presidency every again to name just a few.
Although this book has terrified me, I feel reassured that there are many people working behind the scenes in the US to prevent the world suffering as a consequence of Trump's worst instincts. As long as they continue to do that, and are brave enough to act when he steps over the line into utter disaster , then we can look back on the Trump administration as an aberration and a lesson to be learned for future presidencies. The same lessons can be learned globally.
From the chapter about Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis : “That President Trump May ever occupy the loneliness of deciding about a potentially catastrophic course of action is rightly our most urgent and greatest fear”.
The blurb : "Since the start of Donald Trump's presidential run, one question has quietly but urgently permeated the observations of concerned citizens: What is wrong with him? Constrained by the American Psychiatric Association's "Goldwater rule," which inhibits mental health professionals from diagnosing public figures they have not personally examined, many of those qualified to answer this question have shied away from discussing the issue at all. The public has thus been left to wonder whether he is mad, bad, or both. In THE DANGEROUS CASE OF DONALD TRUMP, twenty-seven psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health experts argue that, in Mr. Trump's case, their moral and civic "duty to warn" America supersedes professional neutrality. They then explore Trump's symptoms and potentially relevant diagnoses to find a complex, if also dangerously mad, man....".
Firstly, I would suggest you steer clear of this book ( and even the rest of this review ) if you have a terror of Armageddon. Growing up in the 70s, with nuclear war an ever present threat, I'm not that stressed by it anymore. Meh.
I am in awe of the calibre of mental health professionals gathered together to write this book. Before I started this book, I had an obsession with Trump, his outright inability to execute his role, his ignorance, stupidity etc etc. Now, I have concern. Concern for an elderly man who is clearly unfit for this post, and who is cognitively and physically unwell ( all of his disastrous speeches where the public mock his speech, dry mouth , nasal congestion and substandard vocabulary show clear signs of illness and side effects of medication) , while his friends and family watch him deteriorate on the sidelines. On the other hand, I have concern for the consequences to the entire world arising from how dangerous he is- clearly, he is potentially extremely dangerous.
The book discusses , amongst many, many things, his paranoia, lack of trust, penchant for violence, and disinterest in the consequences of his actions - eg the risk of nuclear war breaking out because he might be baited by a tweet is obviously higher , with a man who has so many psychological defects in power. The Doomsday Clock is discussed, with the threat posed by climate change tipping it ever closer to Midnight. It covers all aspects that arise from having a malignant narcissistic psychopath in the White House , how the administration is operating under a malignant normality, how difficult it is to remove a President under the 25th Amendment, the way forward to prevent a person with these limitations every acceding to the Presidency every again to name just a few.
Although this book has terrified me, I feel reassured that there are many people working behind the scenes in the US to prevent the world suffering as a consequence of Trump's worst instincts. As long as they continue to do that, and are brave enough to act when he steps over the line into utter disaster , then we can look back on the Trump administration as an aberration and a lesson to be learned for future presidencies. The same lessons can be learned globally.
From the chapter about Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis : “That President Trump May ever occupy the loneliness of deciding about a potentially catastrophic course of action is rightly our most urgent and greatest fear”.