I’m not just worried, I’m very worried.
by Kenneth Bagnell
No, I’m not just worried, I’m very worried.
I went to bed last night a divided man: I’d spent the day, reading and reasoning over writing this particular blog. It just might be too inflammatory or worse. In the morning, once I’d read the front section of The Globe and The Star I went to my study and now sit at the computer. I decided to write it. The decisive reason? I’d just finished reading a Globe article in which one brief sentence assured me I should go ahead. Jeb Bush, former Florida Governor and candidate seeking the US Presidency said this: “Donald Trump is unhinged.” That’s how I’d felt for a long time. If Jeb Bush can say it to the world I can say it to you.
So I returned to my research notes and my reflections, the latter being provoked by my university studies, majoring in psychology followed by experience as a counsellor with mental hospital patients and later prison inmates, some of them psychopathic. As for Donald Trump, I had long felt that he was not a psychopath – not at all – but he was not entirely mentally healthy. In a word he’s narcissistic, that is excessively absorbed in his own importance. I’m not the only person who believes this highly dangerous condition. A man named Jeffrey Kluger — senior writer on Time, specialising in human behaviors and author of a book on narcissism — observed this a week or so ago: “Well before Trump ever declared for the presidency, he was already the exemplar of the narcissistic form. The strutting, blustering, arm-waving dance of the narcissist were all there. So too were the intolerance of criticism, the self-aggrandizing claims, the look-at – me-hair and the envy-me wives…”( Let me remind you that the poles put this man alone at the top as the next Republican leader.)
Given his “admirable” nature Trump kindly provides us with lots of verbal evidence to back up what Kluger says. There’s actually an entire book on Trump quotations. (Donald Trump: Greatest Quotes and Life Lessons by Jake Anderson.) Take these words of his as examples of his self-aggrandizement: “When people see the beautiful marble in Trump Tower, they usually have no idea what I went through personally to achieve the end result.” (I can almost hear his hand patting his back.) Or take his fascination with his, well, very own physique: “My fingers are long and beautiful, and are as has been well documented various other parts of my body.” (No comment here thank you very much.) Finally, for now, here’s a quote revealing just a small touch of his innate modesty: “All of the women on ‘The Apprentice’ flirted with me— consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.” Of course! So ladies and gentlemen, there you are as to Donald Trump’s famous humility. Can you imagine, say, Jimmy Carter, Barrack Obama, or Franklin Roosevelt saying any of this?
Little wonder that South Carolina’s senior Republican, Lindsay Graham, a Presidential candidate himself, said this yesterday: “The policies of Trump are demagoguery… The way he attacks women is going to be a death blow to the future of our party. Come to South Carolina and I will beat his brains out…” Given this profound anger within any political party creates an ominous future. (Over the political noise I felt I heard Graham add that he hoped Trump would quit the party. A possibility but a small one. The atmosphere is most disconcerting.)
Numerous professionals in social and psychological work have been shaking their heads over the growing presence of Mr. Trump. Howard Gardner, a psychologist at Harvard Graduate School of Education calls the man, “Remarkably narcissistic….” A man named George Simon, a clinical practicing psychologist describes him to Vanity Fair in a brief sentence: “He’s so classic that I’m archiving video clips of him to use in workshops because there is no better example of his characteristics…” He called Trump “a dream come true” as an example of narcissism. Obviously given Trump’s ego, which is beyond large, it’s unimaginable that he’d seek treatment for his problem. As psychologist Simon bluntly puts it: “There’s help available, but it doesn’t look like the help people are used to. It’s not insight-oriented psychotherapy, because narcissists already have insight. They’re aware; the problem is, they don’t care…”
I wondered, given all this – and there’s lots more – what the role is for, say the American Society of Psychiatrists or the parallel organization of clinical psychologists. What is their official position on this man’s credibility or lack thereof in terms of his qualification for the highest political office in the world. A cursory check reveals that both official bodies have not and probably will not release a collective professional opinion. That’s understandable from their political perspective, so here and there, individual psychologists speak out. What they say is very relevant: that his personality and his wealth project a leadership quality that the average citizen often thinks will solve all problems.
One example: the current edition of Psychology Today, a credible publication, has an essay by an established psychologist, Dr. Vinita Mehta. It’s entitled Why is Donald Trump So Popular? She promptly confirms that to her, he’s indeed a narcissist. But, that may well work to his advantage especially with the growing major tensions of the US, internally and externally. She refers to various experiments, one recently carried out at the University of Amsterdam. A fairly large group of students were given a written synopsis of a corporation facing very troubled times; they were given a choice between leadership styles.
As she writes: “What did the researchers find? In uncertain contexts the preference for the narcissistic leaders increases. More specifically, when conditions were uncertain, high narcissists were thought to reduce uncertainty more than low narcissists, which also lead others to select them as leaders more often. High narcissists were seen as tough, arrogant, manipulative and lacking in empathy. Yet when uncertainty abounds people tend to judge high narcissists more positively as leaders in spite of their toxic attributes.” Dr. Mehta’s conclusion is the obvious one: “Times are tough. As a nation we are contending with numerous challenges, including the economy, the job market, and the war on terror. Perhaps Mr. Trump’s seeming narcissism provides people with the feeling that if he were in charge, someone would know what they’re doing – and reduce anxiety. Whether he’s the best choice to lead the country is another matter.” For sure. And don’t forget that the field of Democratic candidates is, thus far, not at all encouraging. So I hope you’re more hopeful than I am as we enter a global era which is quite worrying with perhaps President Donald Trump. Imagine.
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All past blogs are archived on my website: your comments are welcome there: www.kennethbagnell.com.