Diagnosing President Donald Trump’s alleged mental disorder has become a popular pastime, not just among mental health professionals but also among politicians, journalists, pundits, comedians, and ordinary people gathered at coffee breaks. Trump’s consistently bizarre sayings and doings have triggered a bill to establish a commission “on presidential capacity” and a suggestion that the president be removed from office via the 25th Amendment on the grounds that he is mentally unfit to be president.
A recent Time poll indicates that many Americans think that Trump is unfit for office. I also believe we made a terrible mistake electing him. But Trump’s disagreeable traits in no way indicate that he is mentally ill. Instead, they reveal him to be the ruthless self-promoter he has always been, now poorly cloaked in fake populist clothing.
Before I go any further, you should know that I am a lifelong political inactivist, shamefully missing in action from the tumultuous political events of the last 50 years. It took the travesty of a Trump presidency to get me fully engaged.
Confusing Trump’s behavior with mental illness unfairly stigmatizes those who are truly mentally ill, underestimates his considerable cunning, and misdirects our efforts at future harm reduction. And the three most frequent armchair diagnoses made for Trump — narcissistic personality disorder, delusional disorder, and dementia — are all badly misinformed.
Trump is an undisputed poster boy for narcissism. He demonstrates in pure form every single symptom described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for narcissistic personality disorder, which I wrote in 1978. But lots of successful people are extremely narcissistic without being mentally ill — think most celebrities, many politicians, and a fair percentage of writers, artists, lawyers, doctors, and professors. To qualify for narcissistic personality disorder, an individual’s selfish, unempathetic preening must be accompanied by significant distress or impairment. Trump certainly causes severe distress and impairment in others, but his narcissism doesn’t seem to affect him that way.
My long experience with psychiatric diagnosis has taught me a recurring and painful lesson: Anything that can be misused in the DSM will be misused, especially when there is an external, nonclinical reward for doing so. We decided to include narcissistic personality disorder in the DSM-III 40 years ago purely for clinical reasons. We never imagined it would be used as ammunition in today’s political warfare.
It’s also important to note that narcissistic personality disorder holds a fragile place in the diagnostic universe. It came quite close to being eliminated when the fifth edition of the DSM was published in 2013, and will be excluded from the forthcoming revision to the International Classification of Diseases, a set of codes used by physicians and other health care providers to classify diagnoses, symptoms, and procedures.
Some presidential observers base their diagnosis of delusional disorder on Trump’s being an avid consumer and creator of conspiracy theories. He learned his art from a master: his mentor, Roy Cohn, who was the brains behind Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s attempt to control our government through Communist witch hunts in the 1950s. Conspiracy theorists are a dime a dozen, while those with delusions are more rare. Up to half of all Americans believe in strange conspiracy theories. They are wrong, but not delusional. Having a delusion means being a minority of one.
Confusing Trump’s behavior with mental illness unfairly stigmatizes those who are truly mentally ill, underestimates his considerable cunning, and misdirects our efforts at future harm reduction.
Also keep in mind that Trump’s conspiracy theories have been, and continue to be, essential to his political success. His long-standing claim that President Obama was not born in the United States launched Trump’s presidential run, his “crooked Hillary” claims helped win him the election, and “fake news” holds his base in his thrall. Trump is crazy like a fox.
The dementia diagnosis is based on the supposed poverty and perseveration in Trump’s current speech patterns compared to his earlier ones. I would attribute this to the number of stump speeches Trump has given. Abraham Lincoln could find creative ways of repeatedly saying the same thing, but Trump has never achieved Lincoln’s eloquence. He uses the same words over and over again because they successfully work up the crowd.
Convincing proof that Trump is not demented is his undiminished creative and canny skills at blaming, bare-knuckle political fighting, and self serving.
Buried in the noisy debate about Trump’s mental health is the misinformed and noxious assumption that mental illness somehow automatically disqualifies someone for high leadership position. If this were policy, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill both would have been lost to history due to their battles with depression.
Assigning psychological disorders to Trump is not only wrong but futile. Vice President Pence, the Cabinet, and Congress would never invoke the 25th Amendment because it would amount to political suicide for everyone concerned and for the Republican Party. Any psychological fitness exam would also be inherently biased and unreliable. My guess is that Trump will eventually be removed from power, but via the appropriate investigative and political process, not a psychiatric evaluation.
I believe that Trump is a mirror of the American soul, a surface symptom of our deeper societal disease. He may not be crazy, but we certainly were for electing him. We mustn’t waste this Trumpian dark age. If we don’t learn from it, we will keep making the same mistakes.
Allen Frances, M.D., was chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and also chaired the task force responsible for revising the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. He is the author of “Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump” (William Morrow, September 2017).
With all due respect to this Ivory tower left leaning psychiatric professional, I think you’re being very hypocritical. Have you ever treated Donald Trump? Have you spent 6 or more months of analysis with him? It’s one thing to come on here and educate people who are curious about NPD and it’s a long list of criteria; it’s another thing for you to come on here and push your political agenda against the man. What proof do you have that he has narcissistic tendencies? You see him on TV and perhaps press conferences but you’ve never spent time with him alone. I don’t even think you can make a diagnosis without having spent six or more months with him. Your article says that he doesn’t fit the criteria yet you further illustrate to suggest to your reader that he in fact is a narcissist. Perhaps you should make up your mind, and keep your political beliefs out of your profession. Psychiatric professionals are supposed to be neutral. You do know this right? I feel sorry for any conservative Republican that might need help and wind up in your hands. You are scary and should not hold a license to treat anyone.
Donald Trump is nothing but an arrogant New Yorker. That’s it. He’s a New Yorker with a chip on his shoulder a characteristic that most people find endearing actually. I think most of the time he puts on the act, to further irritate the people that are attacking him and his family on a daily basis.
Perhaps you should consider looking deeper into Barack Obama because in my honest opinion that man Also met some criteria of narcissistic personality disorder. His delusions of grandeur,also met some criteria of narcissistic personality disorder. His delusions of grandeur, extreme charm and excellent public speaking (lying) is a bit more concerning than a big old arrogant New Yorker. Barack Obama came out of nowhere cloaked in the light of hope and change. He lied during his campaign and need a list what he committed while in office? A narcissist is very charming and very articulate. Much like Ted Bundy, I’m sure you can agree. They have the gift to deceive people into thinking they are without any faults. They’re usually good-looking to the public eye. One of the things that I noticed about Barack Obama is his pride. Pride is huge when it comes to narcissists; you damage the ego, you could destroy them. In my honest opinion Barack Obama met more of the criteria of NPD than Donald Trump could come close to. Donald Trump is not charming, not really that good looking, definitely not articulate and isn’t such a great public speaker. Call him angry; most of us are! Call him arrogant, but I’m sure behind closed doors, he’s a pretty humble man.
“Call him arrogant, but I’m sure behind closed doors, he’s a pretty humble man.” – Should imagine he’s not in the slightest from all the reports we’ve all seen.
Your comment is dripping in right-wing denialism and if a frightening example for the ways in which people try to defend Trump.
I’m a healthcare provider and psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals do not call personality disorders mental illnesses because mental illnesses have treatment protocols and are manageable while personality disorders, like Trump’s narcissism, does not. You’re argument is mute because Trump does indeed have a serious personality disorder but because there is no treatment or cure, it is not, technically, a mental illness – but even so, narcissists are dangerous – in fact, anyone who is in a relationship with a narcissist is usually used and abused and in the case of Trump, we are all the victims.
Nice armchair diagnosis, and so ethical. Have you treated Donald Trump? My guess is…no. As a “professional” which I highly beg to differ, you should know better. You’re not ethical, and your pride only leads to iniquity. You should have your license revoked, as should this psychiatrist dude, who claims he’s a professional. Goldwater rule, out the door to fit your narrative. Nice! We see right through you.
All I need to say after reading this drivel is my kids will not be going to Duke university that’s for sure
In all likelihood your kids won’t be going to any university.
If there was anything you should’ve absorbed from this piece, it was this:
“I believe that Trump is a mirror of the American soul, a surface symptom of our deeper societal disease.”
Donald Trump is indeed the embodiment of our society’s worst traits and behaviors, including immaturity, an ability to admit when one is wrong, and a complete lack of respect for experience and expertise — all three of which you rather impressively managed to display in just 22 words.
Well, Jonathan, the first line of your post was a great example of the last paragraph in your post. Were you trying to make an example of yourself of societies worst trait or did that just happen by accident?
“I believe that Trump is a mirror of the American soul, a surface symptom of our deeper societal disease.”
“in all likelihood your kids won’t be going to any university.”
Granted, that insult did make me laugh but it clearly shows hypocrisy. I can imagine that if Trump said that, you’d find that dreadfully horrible but because you said it, it must be OK. I’m neither for Trump or against (just in-case you write this off as a trump supporter comment)
College is overrated; indoctrination of left wing fantasies! Send your kid to trade school. Trust me. These so-called professionals are unethical as they have never treated Trump. It’s called armchair diagnosis. Whether he wrote the DSM or not, he is biased and breaking his own rules. Please do not take these people seriously. Their lack of humility is a direct symptom of something they, themselves seem to be struggling with.
>To qualify for narcissistic personality disorder, an individual’s selfish, unempathetic preening must be accompanied by significant distress or impairment. Trump certainly causes severe distress and impairment in others, but his narcissism doesn’t seem to affect him that way.
Very wrong. His habitual reaction to criticism demonstrates the latency of a mental disorder – and there is no reason to make or debate “excuses” regarding the definition of a “mental disorder”. Which is patent in this particular individual
Not wrong at all. It’s obvious you lack a sophisticated understanding of NPD, which “is” a mental health disorder that “does” cause substantial impairment in those who suffer from it, to where they are significantly hindered from functioning normally in society. Without this criterion, NPD is meaninglessly listed alongside other mental disorders; almost everyone, to varying degrees or another, possesses most, if not all, NPD traits. It is when these traits cause affliction in someone that narcissism becomes a legitimate mental illness that’s worthy of classification.
Comparing Donald Trump’s ridiculously phony behavior to a mental disorder is childish and an insult to people who suffer from mental illness. It’s people like you who have NDP destined to be removed from the DSM and forever relegated to popular pseudo-psychology circles.
I will refrain from sharing my observations regarding the strong association between conservatism and fascism which undermines any credibility many conservatives think they have.
“Benevolent narcissism” does not exist. To be benevolent is to serve a charitable rather than a profit-making purpose. Narcissism is driven by selfishness. They are diametrically opposed. Donald Trump’s actions serve himself. Period.
I will similarly refrain from commenting on Mr. Trump’s diplomatic “triumphs” as there aren’t any. He succeeded in: weakening our alliances around the world while forging strong relations with dictators, having Americans pay for part of a wall that Mexico supposedly was funding, having taxpayer dollars fund the torture of children trying to find a better life, allowing North Korea to continue to fire rockets regularly into the Pacific while quietly continuing to build their nuclear stockpile (at least he receives beautiful letters), bringing the Middle East to the brink of war thanks to his policy of irrationally undoing anything associated with the name “Obama,” causing chaos in the healthcare system (see previous comment regarding his Obama obsession), and accelerating the Human Race toward extinction by withdrawing the US from any and all climate accords while lowering or eliminating environmental standards for pollution control.
While he may have a kindergartner’s understanding of the pitfalls of socialism (the Danes sure are suffering – maybe they should sell Greenland?), he does have a doctorate in the greed of capitalism. With all of the emoluments he’s receiving, things are looking up. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
He is a masculine man: Mr. Trump did share that he “grabs them by the (sooo classy!),” he did pay porn stars to sleep with him while his wife was pregnant (did I mention he is a class act?), and he did succeed in nominating a rapist to the supreme court. Yes, the testosterone flows like a waterfall.
As for the observation that most Americans were not “insane” to vote for Mr. Trump, this is for the most part true. The majority of Americans did not vote for him.
Mr. Blanston, I totally agree with ALL mentioned in your post! I thought it very intelligent, sensible, and very true!! I personally think Trump is the WORST President I have ever witnessed….and being a senior citizen this is a life of experiencing/witnessing many Presidents. How true what a serious mistake in voting for this immoral, unethical, narcissistic, sociopathic person. I just hope many of us have learned and will correct this mistake in our next election. Thank you for your post!
The leftist bias in the psychology field sadly undermines any scientific credibility the field thinks it has. Articles like this one are why people in the sciences generally mock it as a “soft science” even though many of the points are correct here. The thing that shoots this author in the foot is his dig on the electorate which assumes the US was crazy to elect Trump. However, by the author’s own admission benevolent narcissism exists and many great leaders have been such. The author also conveniently ignores what Trump symbolizes in the positive sense: Resiliency after a real estate loss, pragmatism, unapologetic masculinity in a society gone mad with feminist misandry, frankness in a society attempting to censor free speech with the de facto etiquette of political correctness. And he ran a self-funded campaign in a world of bought-and-paid-for special interest candidates. On top of that he’s extended the hand of diplomacy in the Korean standoff which no other president has been willing or able to do. He also has a solid socioeconomic understanding of the pitfalls of socialism (100 million starved/shot in 20th century in socialist regimes alone). It’s really hard to seriously think the electorate is insane to vote Trump in, we’d be insane not to.
If Trump is going to exist as El Presidente, then he will have to make sure most of the Republican Senate pussies jump inside McConnells pants. If not, then they should actually grow some balls before they get un-elected their next time around. Trump seems like he needs some real help. His cork is about ready to fly. Despite all his claims of being a supreme individual, his intent is headed for dictatorship. The Democrats should tighten up their bra straps as well, and make sure they get it right. As long as the Russians can pump millions into the Kentucky Senate race; then all the whistleblowers better start coming out of the woodwork in droves. All Hail Donald John Putin.
I think this article misses a very important and not-particularly subtle component: A narcissist with substantial resources will have a tremendous advantage in coping with their mental distress. Trump has vast amounts of money, power, legal, PR, advisors, sycophants, etc. He ALWAYS launches an attack from real or imagined slights from literally anyone on the planet earth regardless of their social status, he manipulates others to support his baldfaced lies, he threatens anyone with litigation, he (effectively) uses Twitter to spread his falsehoods across the globe…… and so on. He transparently cannot control his worst impulses, he often appears to ignore sound advice (the number of ppl that have bailed out from his cabinet is unprecedented. Thusly, he has virtually unlimited resources that he uses to assuage his distressed mind. That he’s very savvy in self-promotion and is without a doubt very cunning is not incompatible with the fact that he’s high up on the narcissism spectrum. With respect I don’t think I’d readily agree with Steven’s comment below that suggests Trump’s behavior is much different from decades ago. I lived in NY back in the 90s; Trump has always been kind of a joke within the business world but desperately craved to be esteemed by the elite crowd for his perceived genius, his impulsive and reckless management style – or lack of – imploded the majority of the businesses he touched (Trump Shuttle, anyone – to name but one highly-publicized one), more and more information about his voluminous propensity for lying – particularly about his finances – back then is now becoming known, he was always well-known for not paying legitimate invoices for goods and/or services and dragging thousands of people/companies into court – or threatening to – and was often forced to settle (despite still publicly claiming he ‘never’ settles), numerous broken marriages, all his wives were a result of cheating on his previous wife – Melania not excluded (given the evidence that strongly suggests Trump surely cheated on her multiple times); three of his four children appear to have at least somewhat of a sycophantic relationship with him (not necessarily Tiffany) and it’s well-established that narcissists can get along best with others that have narcissistic traits or at the least derive benefits from the relationship (also ala’ the GOP). I’d argue that Trump’s inclinations at that time simply weren’t subject to the massive scrutiny that he now receives in public office. He gave plenty of interviews back then (classicly full of lies mixed with some truth), but there really wasn’t anyone that had the wherewithall to dispute them – except those business associates he’d already screwed and the untold numbers of employees whose jobs were disrupted by the perpetual failing businesses – but all of whom were surely under threat of NDA’s and the costs of legal battles. Trump’s pretty much always been known as a selfish axx-hat, albeit a very shrewd one.
Expert you say? Trump is exemplifying all signs of Narcissistic Borderline Personality Disorder. I’m assuming it was self-inflicted. Copious amounts of cocaine in his younger life partying with young girls, I would assume is the reason. I honestly don’t understand how you could say with a straight face he doesn’t show (ANY) signs of mental illness. His behavior is obviously much different than it used to be 40 years ago. His needs to feel special and important, delusions of grandeur, forced acceptance from everyone around him, paranoia, his back and forth contradictions, the obsession with conspiracies, feeling things are unfair to him, refusal to apologize when he’s wrong, or taking simple ownership for what he says and does. As time goes on it’s becoming more obvious. I honestly would not be surprised if he’s already been diagnosed with NBPD years ago. Being an expert I’m sure you’ve already noticed this.
The severity of Mr. Trump’s narcissism and antisocial behaviors significantly impair his ability to function as President and pose a clear threat to our republic. This is not hyperbole.
Mr. Trump’s distorted world view resulting from the severity of his disorder(s) routinely reaches psychotic levels. He is extremely disconnected from reality as evidenced by his repeated denial of patent information/objectively verifiable facts (ex. crowd size at his inauguration, evidence of extreme climate change). He blatantly dismisses any challenges to his world view as “fake news” and fires anyone in his administration who significantly challenges his fragile psyche/causes too much cognitive dissonance. He is increasingly isolating himself from these challenges and his administration now suffers from extreme Group Think which will lead to more self-serving decisions (a vicious cycle).
He clearly evidences numerous traits common to a myriad of horrid historical figures. For example, he repeatedly singles out groups of migrants who are dissimilar to his white/European ancestry for acts of cruelty including those leading to death as they are vermin unworthy of US citizenship (sound familiar?).
The severity of his pathology is extremely dangerous and should in no way be dismissed or normalized. The stage is set for his malignant narcissism to carry this country to extremely dark places which rival the worst seen in history. We’re already heading down this road.
Mr. Frances,
Your article means well if you omit everything related to narcissistic personality disorder.
Verifiable facts directly contradict your requisite qualification when you state that “unempathetic preening must be accompanied by significant distress or impairment.“ & further state…”Trump’s narcissism doesn’t seem to affect him that way.”
Let’s be real, you know just as many others both qualified professionals and rational everyday citizens, this man has narcissistic personality disorder. Your own professional credibility is diminished and so many other great points you made are lost when this obvious personality disorder he demonstrates is unqualified by your opinion letter.
Does it make him unfit for office. Arguably No. But let’s not attempt to compare heathy levels or even excessive levels of narcissism high powered execs & celebrities have with this man.
It’s sad for Trump and so many others who have this disorder and when you state that you’re qualified & he doesn’t meet the criteria, when he clearly does qualify for narcissistic personality disorder.
You’re making the actions he and many others with this mental illness appear to have some level of normal behavior that doesn’t need treatment. This poor president of ours needs help. Just call it what it is.
The left has become unhinged from reality but as usual non-tolerant of anyone who does not agree completely with their opinion and way of life( or belief in Socialism.) All the current Progressive themes are truly Regressive and a growing malignancy on the body politic and the country/freedoms we enjoy. There is a huge silent majority of people who see these intolerant people and views with indignation, and I suspect that sentiment will be soon expressed.