[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E30-E31]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE PRESIDENT IS MENTALLY UNFIT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 12, 2021

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, we recently witnessed an 
unprecedented attack on the Capitol as a joint session of Congress 
convened to count and certify the Electoral College votes. This was an 
attack on not only the hallowed halls of the Capitol, but on the very 
heart and soul of our democracy: it was an attack on the peaceful 
transition of power.
  There can be no doubt who instigated the insurrectionists and incited 
them to domestic terrorism. The President of the United States called 
on his supporters to march on the Capitol. He told them: ``We're 
probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because 
you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show 
strength, and you have to be strong.''
  In 2017, Dr. Harold Schwartz wrote this op-ed, published in the 
Hartford Courant. In it, he describes several mental disorders that may 
be applicable to the President. It has proven to be remarkably 
prescient and foreshadowed the events of January 6, 2021. I include it 
in the Record here so that Members and the public may draw their own 
conclusions about the President's fitness to serve out the remainder of 
his term. I, for one, believe that the President is a malignant 
narcissist lacking the capacity to discharge the duties of his office 
and call on the Vice President to invoke the 25th Amendment.

              I'm Not Diagnosing Trump: Just Saying . . .

                        (By Harold I. Schwartz)

       Psychiatrists are prohibited by the so-called Goldwater 
     Rule from diagnosing public figures they have not personally 
     assessed. This prohibition followed the 1964 election, when 
     Barry Goldwater was the Republican candidate for president 
     and felt by many to have extreme views. He was castigated in 
     a survey of American psychiatrists and unfairly labeled with 
     virtually every diagnosis in the book.
       Fearful of the implications of diagnosing from afar, the 
     American Psychiatric Association prohibited this activity to 
     protect the credibility of American psychiatry and the 
     privacy, dignity and confidentiality of public figures. On 
     the one hand, the prohibition makes sense. On the other, it's 
     a gag rule preventing psychiatrists from contributing to the 
     conversation.
       It may not be necessary, however, for a psychiatrist to 
     offer a diagnosis to join the discussion of just what is (or 
     is not) wrong with Donald Trump. Mere information may 
     suffice. In this spirit I bring you, straight from the 
     Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth 
     Edition (the DSM-V, psychiatry's diagnostic bible), the 
     descriptions of several mental disorders. Far be it

[[Page E31]]

     from me to say they apply to Mr. Trump. You may decide.
       Let's start in the Personality Disorders section. There are 
     many disorders within this category and their features often 
     mix and match. Here are the characteristics, right out of the 
     DSM-V of someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (You 
     only need five to qualify):
       1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., 
     exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be 
     recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
       2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, 
     power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love.
       3. 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).
       4. Requires excessive admiration
       5. Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable 
     expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic 
     compliance with his or her expectations
       6. Is interpersonally exploitative
       7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify 
     with the feelings and needs of others.
       8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are 
     envious of him or her.
       9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.
       Another interesting personality diagnosis is Antisocial 
     Personality Disorder, the technical term for the more 
     commonly used psychopathy. I have selected criteria that you 
     may find most salient (you only need three to qualify):
       Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of 
     aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure.
       Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
       Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated 
     physical fights or assaults.
       Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated 
     failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor 
     financial obligations.
       Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or 
     rationalizing having hurt, mistreated or stolen from another
       While it's not a formal diagnosis, people who combine very 
     severe narcissism with severe psychopathy are said to have 
     Malignant Narcissism syndrome--it is the very worst forms of 
     narcissism and psychopathy combined. You really don't want to 
     have a malignant narcissist in your life.
       And because I've already suggested that elements of the 
     various personality disorders often combine, here are a few 
     of the features of Paranoid Personality Disorder that may be 
     of interest: suspicion that others are harming or deceiving 
     him or her, reading hidden demeaning or threatening meanings 
     into benign remarks or events, persistently bearing grudges 
     (unforgiving of perceived injuries), quick to counterattack 
     to perceived attacks on his or her character. To qualify for 
     any of the personality disorder diagnoses, the individual 
     must either be distressed by these characteristics or, in 
     some way, dysfunctional. Very successful people can be 
     dysfunctional in many aspects of their lives.
       Still another diagnosis is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity 
     Disorder. Just a few of the criteria for this include: the 
     failure to give close attention to details, difficulty 
     sustaining attention to tasks, an avoidance of tasks that 
     require sustained mental effort and easy distractability.
       The definition of delusional thinking might be of interest. 
     Delusions are defined as fixed false beliefs. But a fixed 
     belief is not a delusion, as odd as that may seem to many, if 
     it is accepted and shared by the social cultural group the 
     believer finds himself in. In a severe personality disorder 
     it may be difficult to distinguish a fantastical wish from a 
     delusion. But we are splitting definitional hairs here.
       I must reiterate, lest I find myself at odds with my 
     professional organization: I have never interviewed Donald 
     Trump and I am not diagnosing him. I am merely directing your 
     attention to information that anyone can find in the 
     diagnostic manual. It would be improper of me, as a 
     psychiatrist, to do more. On the other hand, you don't need a 
     psychiatrist . . . er, a weatherman, to know which way the 
     wind blows.

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