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A review by msand3
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President by Bandy X. Lee
4.0
An interesting book in which leading mental health experts in the nation grapple with two conflicting ethical standards: 1) It is unethical to diagnose public figures one hasn’t personally examined, and 2) One has an ethical “duty to warn” when one sees a danger to the public based on professional observations of someone’s mental health. As many of the writers state in their essays, the latter does not require (and is not the same as) a diagnosis, which is personal and leads to a patient's direct plan for treatment. These experts see clear patterns that suggest Trump exhibits certain mental health traits that make it obvious that Trump is a danger to hold the highest office in the land, which requires no individual examination, diagnosis, or treatment plan. Their arguments are reasonable, valid, and often supporting other professional opinions, both inside and outside the mental health field.
Perhaps the one thing all these essays have in common (besides the “duty to warn” of Trump’s dangerousness) is an understanding of how Trump’s presence on the national stage fosters what these professionals terms “malignant normality,” which is, to quote contributor Gail Sheedy, “the gradual acceptance by a public inundated with toxic untruths of those untruths until they pass for normal.” If anything, the warnings present in these essays alert us to the societal harm done to the body politic when a dangerous public figure like Trump dominates the national dialogue.
As is so often the case, those who support Trump (who see him as the Ideal reflection of their own narcissistic desires and fantasies) will never heed the warnings of these experts precisely because his supporters so closely identify with Trump’s fears and Shadow traits. His brash persona -- with all the projections and delusional defense mechanisms built in -- shield his followers as much as Trump himself, which is precisely why he is so dangerous.
Perhaps the one thing all these essays have in common (besides the “duty to warn” of Trump’s dangerousness) is an understanding of how Trump’s presence on the national stage fosters what these professionals terms “malignant normality,” which is, to quote contributor Gail Sheedy, “the gradual acceptance by a public inundated with toxic untruths of those untruths until they pass for normal.” If anything, the warnings present in these essays alert us to the societal harm done to the body politic when a dangerous public figure like Trump dominates the national dialogue.
As is so often the case, those who support Trump (who see him as the Ideal reflection of their own narcissistic desires and fantasies) will never heed the warnings of these experts precisely because his supporters so closely identify with Trump’s fears and Shadow traits. His brash persona -- with all the projections and delusional defense mechanisms built in -- shield his followers as much as Trump himself, which is precisely why he is so dangerous.