“Paranoid and Delusional”: Harvard Scholar Concerned About the Potential “Dangerousness” in Trump’s Mental Health

Cynthia PaulNov 30, 2023

Minute Read

A fresh and severe warning on the mental health of former President Donald Trump has been released by a Harvard doctor.

Dangerous Mental Illness

A panel of doctors cautioned Donald Trump at a Yale University conference that he has a “dangerous mental illness” and is unfit to be the leader of the United States.

Paranoid and Delusional

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The President was described by mental health professionals as “paranoid and delusional,” and they felt it was their “ethical responsibility” to alert the American people to the “dangers” that Mr. Trump’s psychiatric condition presented to the nation.

We Have an Ethical Responsibility to Warn the Public About Donald Trump

Dr. John Gartner, a practicing psychotherapist who counseled psychiatric residents at Johns Hopkins University Medical School until 2015, was one of the mental health professionals who spoke at the Yale School of Medicine conference on Thursday. He said, “We have an ethical responsibility to warn the public about Donald Trump’s dangerous mental illness.”

Warnings of a Larger Problem

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As one of the founding members of Duty to Warn, an organization comprising several dozen mental health professionals who believe Mr. Trump is mentally unfit to be president, Dr. Gartner said the President’s claim that his inauguration had the largest crowd ever was only one of many indicators of a bigger issue.

He Is Paranoid, Delusional and Grandiose Thinking

“Worse than just being a liar or a narcissist, in addition he is paranoid, delusional and grandiose thinking and he proved that to the country the first day he was President. If Donald Trump really believes he had the largest crowd size in history, that’s delusional,” he further continued.

Trump’s Mental Health Is the Elephant in the Room

As the event’s chair, Dr. Bandy Lee, an assistant clinical professor in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, stated: “As some prominent psychiatrists have noted, [Trump’s mental health] is the elephant in the room. I think the public is really starting to catch on and widely talk about this now.”

The “Dangerousness” of Mr Trump

Professor of psychology at New York University James Gilligan told the conference he had worked with some of the “most dangerous people in society,” including rapists and murderers, but he was persuaded by Mr. Trump’s “dangerousness.”

I Can Recognize Dangerousness From a Mile Away

“I’ve worked with some of the most dangerous people our society produces, directing mental health programmes in prisons,” he remarked. “I’ve worked with murderers and r*pists. I can recognize dangerousness from a mile away. You don’t have to be an expert on dangerousness or spend fifty years studying it like I have in order to know how dangerous this man is.”

41,000 Signatures on Petition to Remove Trump From Office

Beginning earlier this year, Dr. Gartner launched an online petition demanding that Mr. Trump be removed from office on the grounds that he is “psychologically incapable of successfully fulfilling the responsibilities of President.” Thus far, the petition has amassed over 41,000 signatures.

Donald Trump Manifests a Serious Mental Illness

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It reads: “We, the undersigned mental health professionals (please state your degree), believe in our professional judgment that Donald Trump manifests a serious mental illness that renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States.”

Unable to Discharge the Powers and Duties of His Office

“And we respectfully request he be removed from office, according to article 4 of the 25th amendment to the Constitution, which states that the president will be replaced if he is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’.”

Violation of the American Psychiatric Association’s “Goldwater Rule”

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Some in the psychiatric establishment have criticized the conference’s assertions, claiming they go against the “Goldwater rule” of the American Psychiatric Association, which specifies that psychiatrists should not provide professional views on patients they have not personally evaluated.

Throwing Ethical Standards Out the Window

Republicans have also blasted them, with JR Romano, the chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, accusing the organization of “throwing ethical standards out the window because they cannot accept the election results.”

This Notion Actually Doesn’t Make a Whole Lotta Sense

“This notion that you need to personally interview someone to form a diagnosis actually doesn’t make a whole lotta sense,” Dr. Gartner stated in response to the criticism. “For one thing, research shows that the psychiatric interview is the least statistical reliable way to make a diagnosis.”

Abided by ‘The Goldwater Rule’

The Yale School of Medicine panel followed “the Goldwater rule.” Eminent psychiatrists were invited to speak about whether there are other ethical rules that override it, as in ordinary practise,” stated the spokesperson of Yale University.

Mental Health Issues Are Not to Be Used as a Weapon

“The organizer, Dr Bandy Lee, agrees with the Goldwater rule but is troubled by its recent expansion (as of March 16, 2017) and the silencing of debate. She hopes that the public and politicians will understand that mental health issues are not to be used as a weapon, just as other health issues are not.”

Too Much Is at Stake

The physicians said that they had to speak up because they believed that “too much is at stake,” even if doing so goes against the established ethical norms of psychiatry.

Makes Trump Incapable of Serving Safely as President

Questions have been raised about Mr. Trump’s mental health before. A group of social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists known as Duty to Warn wrote an open statement in February stating that the president’s mental health “makes him incapable of serving safely as president.”

Trump’s Tendency to “Distort Reality”

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The letter forewarned that in a position of authority, the President’s propensity to “distort reality” in order to fit his “personal myth of greatness” and attack anyone who present him with facts was likely to worsen.