Be warned

Dutch newspaper “Trouw” published an article on Trump Sunday last, that got me reading it and talking over it with a neighbour, she instantly told me that “Trump demolishes all what could have kept him on track and he’s a big danger to our world”. She’d not read the article, but her words expressed precisely the context of the article. I’ll add some statements from that article here:


"The duty to warn carries more weight." than to follow the professional code that a person should not be diagnosed without knowing him/her.
Narcissistic, paranoid, vengeful, demented, devoid of empathy. This is the range of character traits attributed to US President Donald Trump by psychologists and psychiatrists. Many American psychologists and psychiatrists emphasize the narcissism in Trump’s character; but it's his Machiavellianism  what makes it ever so clear that we're dealing with a sadistic psychopath who must be removed from office as quickly as possible.
Just like therapists, politicians must set clear boundaries, says Derksen. "You shouldn't give in to Trump, because he'll see that as a victory, as encouragement to keep going, to gain and retain even more power. That's in line with his innermost desires. You have to crack down on Trump. Don't forget that you're dealing with a dangerous, criminal psychopath." The question remains: what is the political value of this therapeutic advice, assuming that politicians don't want to "cure" Trump, but rather use him for their own ends? "You can't do that with someone so narcissistic and Machiavellian. That would overestimate Trump's susceptibility.

Derksen, who specializes in narcissism and clinical diagnostics, generally steers clear of slapping diagnoses on public figures. In Trump's case, however, he believes it's ethically completely acceptable, "given the enormous havoc this man is wreaking." The emeritus professor joins the ranks of psychologists and psychiatrists who question Trump's mental health without ever having spoken to the president.
Tough on Trump
Psychiatrist Van Os describes how Trump suffers from a "deep-seated sense of being misunderstood, never good enough in his father's eyes." And according to Van Os, this rejection isn't a biographical detail, but the core of a life story in which the past must be rectified, in which that "rejection must be transformed into revenge."
Ultimately, Van Os's goal isn't to make a clinical diagnosis, but to explain a social phenomenon. How is it that so many people are attracted to Trump and other "proto-fascist leaders"?
According to Van Os, Trump is imposing his inner drama on society as a whole. "His followers mirror his pain and adopt his enemies as their own," he writes. "What begins as an individual wound ends as a mass movement, aiming to right the past."
Van Os wants to raise awareness of this and increase their resilience, he says. "That won't work by simply slapping diagnoses on people. That explains nothing. You have to show how things got this far, how receptive we are to the message of hate and destruction. And that we shouldn't fall for it. We have to show—or even preach, if you like—that every person benefits from connection with others."