Is Trump a psychopath?
Let me start off by saying that I am not a Doctor but I have the power of observation and I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. These are my thoughts.
Lets start off by looking at a known psychopath Charles Manson. Manson met and exceeded the DSM-5 criteria for a psychopath. Here are some of the psychopathy traits:
1. Pathological Lying and Manipulation
In their desire for ever more power (over relationships, organizations, or society at large), many sociopaths and psychopaths will literally make up and say anything in order to achieve their aims. Blatant lies, distortions, deceptions, broken promises, and blaming the victim are just some of the common devices used to enable the sociopath or psychopath to advance his or her aggressive and unscrupulous schemes. Instead of making factual statements based on reality, sociopaths and psychopaths repeat lies incessantly to distort. Solid evidence is ignored and dismissed with contempt.
2. Lack of Morality and Rule Breaking
Most people have a basic sense of right and wrong. In general, we may agree that kindness is right, and cruelty is wrong; healthy relationships are right, and toxic relationships are wrong; honest hard work is right, and stealing and cheating are wrong. Sociopaths and psychopaths, however, have little or no sense of morality. They are more inclined than the general population to violate human rights or have brushes with the law. They believe that “might is right” and “rules are meant to be broken.” Human and ethical considerations are abhorred and viewed as weaknesses. In short, they have little or no conscience.
On occasions when sociopaths and psychopaths do mention morality or “fairness,” it is done either for the sake of appearance or to conveniently forward their own self-serving agenda. Fake morality is used as a manipulative device, rather than genuine value.
3. Lack of Empathy and Cold-Heartedness
Research by neuroscientist Adrian Raine reveals that people with antisocial personality disorder have fewer cells in their prefrontal cortex — considered the most evolved region of the brain. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for, among many functions, the capacity to understand other people’s feelings (empathy), the capacity to make sound, principled judgments (ethics), and the capacity to learn from life experience (reflection).
4. Narcissism and False Superiority Complex
Not all narcissists are sociopathic (many narcissists are emotive, many sociopaths are non-emotive, or primitively emotive), but most sociopaths and psychopaths possess certain narcissistic traits, such as calculated charm, manipulativeness, self-absorption, entitlement, conceit, and a false superiority complex. In the mindset of many sociopaths and psychopaths, being “better” than others provides them with twisted justification to exploit and mistreat people at will. Those who are “inferior” deserve their downtrodden fate, and should only be regarded with contempt.
5. Gaslighting and Psychological Bullying
Gaslighting is a form of persistent brainwashing that causes the victim to doubt her or himself, and ultimately lose his or her own sense of perception, identity, and self-worth. At its worst, pathological gaslighting constitutes a severe form of mind-control and psychological bullying. Gaslighting can occur in personal relationships, at the workplace, or over an entire society.
For many sociopaths and psychopaths, gaslighting is used as a specialized form of lying and manipulation, where the gaslighter incessantly repeats falsehoods about the undesirability, inadequacy, and/or detestableness of the gaslightee. It degrades an individual or a group’s identity, and stigmatizes and marginalizes their value and acceptability. Gaslighting is psychological violence.
6. Lack of Contrition and Self-Serving Victimhood
When caught in the act with their unscrupulous behavior, most sociopaths and psychopaths will not show signs of contrition or remorse (unless it is strategically advantageous for them to do so). On the contrary, they are more likely to double or triple down on their aggressive tendencies, increase hostility, deny responsibility, accuse and blame others, and maintain a facade of arrogance and conceit. Interestingly, many sociopaths will invent a victimhood story for themselves: The romantic partner charged with domestic battery claims he was “set-up,” the investment advisor caught defrauding clients thinks he was betrayed, the politician whose policies harmed entire populations insists he’s being scapegoated, the business executive accused of setting up sweatshops overseas laments being singled out, and the media talking head penalized for spewing vile and hateful remarks believes she’s being persecuted. Casting themselves as victims can help sociopaths and psychopaths to defend their immoral conduct.
7. The “Situational” Sociopath or Psychopath
Perhaps one of the most insidious forms of anti-social personality disorder is what may be termed “situational sociopathy or psychopathy,” where an individual extends cordiality, respect, and regard towards some, but exhibits inhumanity, harshness, and cruelty towards others. Targets of situational sociopathy or psychopathy are usually individuals or groups considered to be “other,” “lesser,” or “weaker,” and may be based on factors such as gender, class, race, sexual orientation, social standing, societal afflictions, etc. This “sociopathic splitting” views some people as fully human, and others as objects, commodities, and less human. Situational sociopathy or psychopathy contributes to many unjust conditions, such as misogyny, class bigotry, racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, extreme poverty, and structural violence in society.
When reading the traits that Charles Manson showed and comparing them to the traits that I see in Trump, I would say emphatically that the answer to the question is YES, but that is just an opinion. You decide for yourself, look at the similarities.
You may have noticed I chose a Cult leader to compare.
References: 7 Characteristics of the Modern Psychopath'' |
