In a recent article in the Huffington Post, authors Seth Davin Norrholm, PH.D. & David M. Reiss, M.D. provided a keen insight into Donald J.Trump's personality disorder, Narcissism. The main question: why does DJT lie all the time, always "twisting facts" and distorting reality?
Here is a summary of their answers. However, note these doctors have given their warnings over their own professional Goldwater rule[1]; second, that these doctors refer the personality disorder as “extreme” narcissism. I am voting they would agree, in Trumps case, we can call it “malignant” narcissism:
1. “The extreme Narcissist will distort reality and tenaciously maintain the existence of their distorted reality.” It’s a defense common among many personality disorders and various forms of psychopathology that protects Trump from distress. So, to distort reality, Trump preserves his grandiose view of himself, even if the distortion has “only the slightest chance of plausibility.” Trump “sees” what others don’t see (and thus he deludes his own sense of self-importance and intelligence), so he challenges listeners’ patience with half-truths and exaggerations.
2. “The extreme Narcissist lives in the moment with little regard for linear time, cause and effect, or behavioral consequences.” “Their perception is that it is all encompassed in terms of an immediate “now.”” Thus, Trump can experience a “now” moment and nothing in the past matters as he “re-experiences” the past (nothing is fixed in linear time). Furthermore, as Trump seeks adoration, he boasts and explains away his misdeeds without worrying about any future consequences. He will wiggle out of any factual narrative when confronted. (When has Trump not defended his present-self versus his past-self not even thinking about his future-self?)
“This may, at least in part, explain why there have been so many examples of this President contradicting his previous statements, speaking extemporaneously without substance to back his claims, or “flip-flopping” between positions, all without any indication that he is aware of or experiencing a sense of conflict or inconsistency, or any need to offer an explanation for the objectively illogical presentation.”
The authors go further to say that for “extreme narcissists,” who live in the “now” bubble, the future may not even include their own death, but some type of “magical immortality” forever glorifying in their own adulation.
3. “The extreme Narcissist develops a fantastical reality within “collapsed time.” Perhaps due to trauma or abuse in childhood in order to better cope with discomfort, time “stands still” for the child, or perhaps that same abused or troubled child without the promise of future comfort or reassurance, who has nothing to which to look forward, the child relieves the distress with immediate gratification in the bubble of “now.” He never seeks a future moment of relief. The authors speculate as to Trump’s childhood traumas or struggles as cause/effect for Trump’s malignancy.
(This “explanation” accounts for some portion of Trump’s previous life and any cause/effect leading to Trumps current life. Yet if such were the case, as we all have experienced end-runs of trauma and stress as children, wouldn’t we all be Trumps? )
Which leads the authors’ discussion to the next point:
4. When the reality confronts the “extreme Narcissist,” the first response is anxiety and a re-writing of the situation as a defensive and even greater restructuring of reality. If more evidence confronts the narcissist, the self-absorbed personality retreats into severe depression. (Hence, why my conclusion that Trump will resign, impeachment proceedings or none). Next stage is “full-blown” paranoid state. And, with great emphasis, the authors warn of Trump’s danger to “the millions upon whom his actions have consequences.”
Let’s just make that billions.
Author Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/seth-davin-norrholm
Source Link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eternal-emperor-in-his-own-mind-the-distorted-reality_us_5929abfee4b07d848fdc0429
[1] The informal name given to Section 7 in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Principles of Medical Ethics, which states it is unethical for psychiatrists to give a professional opinion about public figures they have not examined in person, and from whom they have not obtained consent to discuss their mental health in public statements.