Donald Trump’s opponents have been wondering what psychological disorders might explain the Republican presidential nominee’s erratic behavior — but Dr. Drew Pinsky is more curious about why his supporters are willing to overlook those warning signs.The physician and media personality appeared Monday night on CNN, where he told Don Lemon that Trump does not fit the stringent legal definition for insanity — but he does show signs of multiple mental illnesses.
“There’s two definitions of sanity, one is legal definition, and that is somebody who is so out of it they don’t know the difference between right and wrong,” Pinsky told CNN’s Don Lemon. “That is a very high standard for insanity, (and) very few people meet that standard. When you’re legally insane, you’re really not functioning. Clinically, medically, usually when we talk about insanity, we mean psychotic, hearing voices, hallucinations.”
Pinsky disagreed with HBO host John Oliver’s assessment that Trump was a sociopath, saying the real estate developer and reality TV host appeared to maintain close relationships with his children.
However, he said Trump showed enough troubling signs of mental instability to raise concerns about his fitness for office....
Pinsky wondered if Trump might show signs of bipolar disorder, which is characterized by unusual shifts in mood, energy and activity levels, along with an inability to carry out daily functions. “When I hear people that are impulsive with their speech, I worry about hypomania and bipolar types of conditions,” Pinsky said. “As he says, he has boundless energy. Again, a little hypomania can be great. There are a lot of hypomanic businessmen that get a ton done. Containing your speech, be thoughtful, take a beat before you say something, for those people it can be very, very difficult.”
Pinsky said he was more interested in Trump’s supporters than the candidate himself. “What’s more fascinating to me, Don, is not him but his supporters that seem to not be concerned about any of this,” Pinsky said. “That, to me, is fascinating. As always, what is up with us?”
His strongest supporters seem not to care about Trump’s outrageous insults against a Gold Star family — or anyone else — and even the candidate himself seems impervious to shame. “Let’s just assume that most people that would choose to be in a very high-profile race like this would have narcissistic tendencies, and there’s something called sort of narcissistic injury, then narcissistic rage,” Pinsky said. “If you injure — if you really shame somebody — they tend to be sort of teflon when it comes to shame. If you shame them, they can react with extreme aggression and extreme rage. So this seems to be that kind of a psychological process.”
Pinksy said he wondered why that trait seemed to appeal to so many voters. “I have a radio program on KABC, (and) what I keep hearing from listeners there is enough is enough,” Pinsky said. “If somebody is going to fight back, they’re going to say, whatever, and I don’t care what he says as long as it’s extreme and pushing back and he’s putting my country and my job first, I’ll get behind him whatever he says. There’s disregard for the content.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/dr-...l-so-what-does-that-say-about-his-supporters/
“There’s two definitions of sanity, one is legal definition, and that is somebody who is so out of it they don’t know the difference between right and wrong,” Pinsky told CNN’s Don Lemon. “That is a very high standard for insanity, (and) very few people meet that standard. When you’re legally insane, you’re really not functioning. Clinically, medically, usually when we talk about insanity, we mean psychotic, hearing voices, hallucinations.”
Pinsky disagreed with HBO host John Oliver’s assessment that Trump was a sociopath, saying the real estate developer and reality TV host appeared to maintain close relationships with his children.
However, he said Trump showed enough troubling signs of mental instability to raise concerns about his fitness for office....
Pinsky wondered if Trump might show signs of bipolar disorder, which is characterized by unusual shifts in mood, energy and activity levels, along with an inability to carry out daily functions. “When I hear people that are impulsive with their speech, I worry about hypomania and bipolar types of conditions,” Pinsky said. “As he says, he has boundless energy. Again, a little hypomania can be great. There are a lot of hypomanic businessmen that get a ton done. Containing your speech, be thoughtful, take a beat before you say something, for those people it can be very, very difficult.”
Pinsky said he was more interested in Trump’s supporters than the candidate himself. “What’s more fascinating to me, Don, is not him but his supporters that seem to not be concerned about any of this,” Pinsky said. “That, to me, is fascinating. As always, what is up with us?”
His strongest supporters seem not to care about Trump’s outrageous insults against a Gold Star family — or anyone else — and even the candidate himself seems impervious to shame. “Let’s just assume that most people that would choose to be in a very high-profile race like this would have narcissistic tendencies, and there’s something called sort of narcissistic injury, then narcissistic rage,” Pinsky said. “If you injure — if you really shame somebody — they tend to be sort of teflon when it comes to shame. If you shame them, they can react with extreme aggression and extreme rage. So this seems to be that kind of a psychological process.”
Pinksy said he wondered why that trait seemed to appeal to so many voters. “I have a radio program on KABC, (and) what I keep hearing from listeners there is enough is enough,” Pinsky said. “If somebody is going to fight back, they’re going to say, whatever, and I don’t care what he says as long as it’s extreme and pushing back and he’s putting my country and my job first, I’ll get behind him whatever he says. There’s disregard for the content.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/dr-...l-so-what-does-that-say-about-his-supporters/
