I can't pretend to be an expert, but I think I know Trump's number. I've known it for a long time, it is that obvious to me, as well as it is to many others.
Mr. Trump is, in short, a pathological narcissist. The ICD 10 code (the code doctors use for billing) for narcissistic personality disorder is FB60.81, According to this system, the definition of this pathology is as follows: "A disorder characterized by grandiose beliefs and arrogant behavior, together with an overwhelming need for admiration and lack of empathy for (and even exploitation of) others," Does Trump's malady--and alas! ours-- fit the definition of narcissistic personality disorder? Is the pope Catholic?
Arrogance? Check. Grandiosity? Check. Lack of empathy? Check. Demanding loyalty but unable to give it? Check. Overconfidence? Ruthless? Check, Needy? Check. No core values? Check.
The American Psychiatric Association forbids psychiatrists from diagnosing from afar, that is, without having examined the patient in question. But I'm not a psychiatrist. In my view, if it oinks like a pig, squeals like a pig, wallows in mud like a pig, looks and smells like a pig, it's a pig.
It seems like the Donald's father was an excellent pig trainer. He taught his son that failure is never an option. Vivas for those who have failed, wrote Walt Whitman. Vivas for those with narcissistic personality disorder? That's not the type of failure the poet had in mind.
We tend to mature with time, with all the successes and failures that time brings. Trump, to say the least, has not matured with time. An arrogant young person is one thing; an arrogant old man is quite another.
One of the characteristics of the effect of time on normal individuals is that it tends to heal past wounds. Youthful hang-ups tend to dissipate, if not disappear altogether. One begins to realize what is really important in life, not fame, not money, but friendships, relationships, and the realization that one is very far from being the center of the universe.
Not so with those who are seriously mentally ill. I remember during a psychiatric rotation many years ago, coming across a young patient in an asylum--there were such things in those days. He thought he was Napoleon. Another thought he was best friends with Albert Einstein. Another thought she was a biblical prophet. I remember the desperation on her face as she preached to the mentally disabled around her, who tended to ignore her. Where are they now? Mostly dead, I'm sure--this was a very long time ago--but I doubt if any of these individuals had anything approaching a normal life.
Although less handicapped than those individuals, Donald Trump is every bit as mentally ill as ever. Remember when he insisted that Obama had been born in Kenya and was thus an illegitimate presidential candidate? Remember when the exasperated Obama proved him wrong by making his birth certificate public? Trump reported that he had an influential friend who could prove that the document was a fake, a fact which he would soon make public.
Fast forward seven years, In a rally, Trump said he had a friend who told him he was the most persecuted politician in the history of the United States. Trump, of course, agreed.
To one who believes that these persons ever existed, one could sell the Brooklyn Bridge.
Trump, that "very stable genius" has no close friends. These two anecdotes were related here to demonstrate that the man hasn't changed a bit.
Narcissists are desperately needy; shouts of admiration are needed to drown out the demons inside--even from those who constitute his base, whom he would otherwise consider to be 'losers'
Narcissus had only one core belief, namely that the his deified reflection in the pond was the real thing. (Deep down, he realizes that he is facing indifferent water, and that he is about to drown).
Perhaps Trump is about to drown. You can get away with egregious lies as a loudmouth private citizen. Eventually insanity in the presidency becomes apparent, as is happening now.
The classic example of his disease is the crazy insistence that he won the previous election after being soundly defeated. I believe that Trump's psyche could never accept defeat and has come up with this lie to cover up the realization inside that he is, well, a loser.
Trump, I believe, really thinks, due to his illness, that he won the election; if he acknowledged defeat the little mental equilibrium he has would fall apart. What better proof of mental illness does one need.
I can sympathize with Trump to a certain degree; he didn't choose his disease. (The sympathy ends when I think of the damage he has done to the country. Without a trace of schadenfreude; out of a sense of patriotism, I wish attendees of one of his rallies would chant, "Loser, Loser, Lock Him Up!" Perhaps he would then see the light that he is not a first-magnitude star, but an enormous black hole.)
Trump perhaps cannot help but lie and lie to cover up the truth to himself that he is a failure as a human being. But what about the Republicans who support his lies in order to stay in power? They have no excuse except for an immoral quest for power. (The Republicans' toxic manipulation of the masses is playing with fire.)
But that's another story.
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