"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go."

"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go." Claudius, Hamlet, William Shakespeare

So.  We just need to say it. SCROTUS is a sick, sick man.  He is mad.  Mad!

We all know that there is something terribly wrong with the status of SCROTUS's mental health. The concern is becoming bigger and bigger as he leads us more and more toward dangerous ground.

Psychologists and psychiatrists have been hesitant to speak out about the subject, but more and more are speaking out.

Back in the 70s, an ethical rule was instituted by the American Psychiatric Association called the Goldwater rule. This was in reaction to a magazine's questionnaire to 12,000 psychiatrists regarding the mental health of Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.  Of some 2000+ respondents, about 1800 agreed that Goldwater was "not fit to be President."  The APA later decreed that psychiatric assessment of public figures was verbotin.

As a healthcare provider whose expertise is in the analysis of behaviors, I understand the ethical question about diagnosing someone that you have not met and examined in person.  However, when observing obvious traits and behaviors, a professional can spot disorders; it's what we are trained to do.  The current situation is so disturbing, so outrageous, that it is understandable that there are more mental health professionals, including esteemed professionals from top medical schools,  who are voicing their concerns and saying that not only does the Goldwater rule not fit in this case, but not raising alarms is the unethical choice.

The earliest and most vocal among them has been Dr. John Gartner, a psychotherapist from Johns Hopkins University Medical School. He has used the term Malignant Narcissism to describe SCROTUS. He also created an on-line petition on which 25,000 mental health professionals have voiced their conern about the Cream-Faced Loon's state of mental health and fitness for office.

Malignant Narcissim is Narcissitic Personality Disorder on Steroids.  The list of traits of NPD fits SCROTUS like a Little Willy condom:

• Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
• Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
• Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
• Requires excessive admiration
• Has a very strong sense of entitlement, e.g., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
• Is exploitative of others, e.g., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
• Lacks empathy, e.g., is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
• Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
• Regularly shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

Malignant Narcissism takes NPD traits on a dark journey.  Those traits have been listed as:

• Anti-social behavior 
• Sadism 
• Aggressiveness 
• Paranoia 
• Grandiosity 
• Entitled 
• Regressed 
• Manipulative 
• Destructive 
• Egocentric 
• Use of projection 
• Lack of conscience 
• Narcissistic

Take any public appearance, any tweet, from Faustus, Jr and you can see the obvious traits.

Here is Dr. Gartner explaining his view:

Many other professionals have added their voice. Besides Dr. Gartner's petition, thirty-five mental health professionals signed a letter to the editor of the New York Times expressing their concern. Other professionals have also written about their concerns. It has been obvious for a long time to us back-seat psychologists that there is something terribly wrong with that man. Now that thousands of mental health professionals are rising up and speaking out, there is more of a sense of urgency to remove him from office.

The consequences of allowing the lump of foul deformity to continue his erratic behavior is scary to think about.  Like Dr. Gartner and Dr. Dodes said, a paranoid person without empathy filters who has sadistic and aggressive tendencies and who has nuclear codes at his fingertips...... it is overwhelming to think about the possible consequences.

What can we do?  Keep watch! Read, be informed, contact your Members of Congress and express your concerns.  Encourage investigations, impeachment, whatever it takes to remove this sociopath from power. 


Here is more reading about the subject:

Psychology Today

US News

Columbia Journalism Review

Forbes

Washington Monthly