People feel strongly about Donald Trump -- either they believe truly that he will, as his hat proclaims, make America great again...or else they have viewed his ascension in the GOP primaries with amusement that has slowly turned to horror. After all, many wonder, is a willingness to say whatever a person is thinking without actually thinking about it a virtue, if what is being said is cruel or has no factual basis?
According to clinical psychologists, no. It is not. In fact, it should be of great concern to anyone watching the presidential primaries.
Vanity Fair asked several psychologists to weigh in on Donald Trump, and their diagnosis of the potential GOP presidential candidate is far from pretty. In fact, they say, Donald Trump is an obvious diagnosis.
"Remarkably narcissistic," said developmental psychologist and Harvard Graduate School professor Howard Gardner.
Clinical psychologist Ben Michaelis echoed the sentiment, referring to Trump's diagnosis as "Textbook narcissitic personality disorder." In fact, Trump's narcissistic personality disorder is so textbook that another clinical psychologist, George Simon, who conducts lectures and seminars on manipulative behavior, is saving clips of Trump.
"He's so classic that I'm archiving video clips of him to use in workshops because there's no better example of his characteristics. Otherwise, I would have had to hire actors and write vignettes. He's like a dream come true."
"In the field we use clusters of personality disorders. Narcissism is in cluster B, which means it has similarities with histrionic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. There are similarities between them. Regardless of how you feel about John McCain, the man served -- and suffered. Narcissism is an extreme defense against one's own feelings of worthlessness. To degrade people is really part of a cluster-B personality disorder: it's antisocial and shows a lack of remorse for other people. The way to make it O.K. to attack someone verbally, psychologically, or physically is to lower them. That's what he's doing."
I would like to wish everyone, including all haters and losers (of which, sadly, there are many) a truly happy and enjoyable Memorial Day!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2015
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2015
"Narcissists like Donald Trump... are constantly driven to prove themselves among the 'winners' of the world, often by triumphing over or denigrating other people as comparative 'losers.' If you examine Trump's language in his public statements as well as in the debates, you will hear him proclaim his winner status again and again while sneering at his detractors as losers."
"The constant self-aggrandizement reflects an ongoing, non-stop effort to build up and support a self-image that contradicts this unconscious sense of defect. You don't need a doctorate in psychology to wonder whether a man who feels the need to forever trumpet his superiority might feel an entirely different way underneath. The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks."
As Michaelis explained, there should be concern.
"He's applying for the greatest job in the land, the greatest task of which is to serve, but there's nothing about the man that is service-oriented. He's only serving himself."
So what does that say about those who support Donald Trump? For one mental health professional, the Trump "enigma" may arise from the fact that some Americans believe that Trump is some sort of bellwether, that a man whose own website refers to him as the "the very definition of the American success story, continually setting the standards of excellence" has an appeal to a certain mindset.
"For me, the compelling question is the psychological state of his supporters. They are unable or unwilling to make a connection between the challenges faced by any president and the knowledge and behavior of Donald Trump. In a democracy, that is disastrous."
[Image credit: Ty Wright/Stringer/Getty Images]
