Ever since President Trump announced his candidacy, journalists, armchair therapists and mental health professionals have posited theories about his psychological state. To some, Trump is a pathological narcissist; to others, his unpredictability is what makes him effective. Still others, referencing the American Psychiatric Association’s “Goldwater Rule,” say all psychological evaluation of the president should be left to his own doctors. We talk about the science, politics and ethics of assessing Trump’s mental health with two contributors to the new collection “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.”
Guests:
Robert Lifton, psychiatrist; contributor, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President”
Thomas Singer, psychiatrist and Jungian analyst; contributor, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President”
Samuel Barondes, professor emeritus of psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco