Friday, June 4, 2021

Republicans: He really is crazy

 

We have to give ex-president Trump a rakish salute. He has managed, while flailing his angry diaper for four-plus years, to keep his psychosis within the zone of non-bizarre Delusional Disorder, never lurching over the border into schizo­phrenia. The main types of Delusional Disorder – which is in fact insanity – are: Erotomanic, Grandiose, Jealous, Persecutory, Somatic, Mixed, Unspeci­fied. Trump qualifies for three of these: Gran­diose (“Individuals . . . believe they have a great talent, which is unrecog­nized, or made a great, impor­tant discovery”), Persecutory (“. . . delusions involving beliefs that they are being conspired against, spied or cheated on, poisoned or drugged, harassed or followed, or generally obstructed in the pursuit of long-term goals”*), and Unspecified, believing that he won the 2020 presidential election and will be rein­stated in the Oval Office in August. I remember, from my Ohio years, a man with Unspecified Delusional disorder. He was absolutely certain that it was illegal to pay federal income taxes based on some phraseology in the Consti­tution, and was as clear that Ohio must secede from the Union. My client, his wife, came to therapy in desperation over his aberrant and self-sabotaging behav­iors. Looking back, I am certain that he would have appeared to any observer as more credible and reasonable than the former president.

It takes a stalwart mind to acknowledge that if one person can be delusional in Trump’s ways, then millions can be similarly delusional. Trump is sick crazy, Republicans, and so might you be. Be real men and women and face it.

- - - - - - - - - - -

* From the Thriveworks website: https://thriveworks.com/blog/delusional-disorder/.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are welcome, but I'd suggest you first read "Feeling-centered therapy" and "Ocean and boat" for a basic introduction to my kind of theory and therapy.