US psychiatrists 'fear reprisals if they speak out' on Donald Trump's mental health

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Independent


One therapist tells of flood of 'very crude hate mail' after he went public

Jon Sharman 3 hours ago


Mental health professionals fear reprisals if they say publicly that Donald Trump may be psychologically unwell, according to a therapist who believes “half of America” is suffering panic attacks because of the President’s actions.

Psychiatrists are afraid they will be sued or reported to professional regulators if they say Mr Trump is suffering a mental illness, Dr John Gartner told The Independent, adding he had received “a lot of very crude hate mail” after speaking out.

Last week he and a few others sidestepped the longstanding Goldwater Rule—designed to discourage therapists from attempting to diagnose public figures without having examined them—by calling for a psychological evaluation of the 45thPresident over what they said were “impulsive” acts, like bombing a Syrian airfield after a suspected chemical weapons attack by the Assad government.
 
They were criticised by one Republican who said they were ignoring ethical standards for political reasons.





Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-psychiatrists-donald-trump-mental-health-goldwater-rule-fear-reprisals-illness-psychology-unwell-a7707951.html

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Heard this complaint from

one of our family members who just happens to be a Psychiatrist.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Good to hear your comment. n/t

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Very interesting

and scary assessment of Trump.

[hedda_foil]

4. Which complaint? That he's dangerously unbalanced or that it's unethical to say so?

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Mental Health Issues.

Unstable tends to out burst's when confronted. You and I would call it the Bully Syndrome.

[mnhtnbb]

5. My husband is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with 40 some years of practice.

There is no doubt in his mind that Trump is a malignant narcissist and lacks the
character needed for the job of POTUS. Yes, he is dangerous.

I've been seeing a psychiatrist myself since before the election to deal with some personal issues.
We live in a very blue area of NC (Chapel Hill) and he has told me that more than a few of
his patients are having anxiety issues/sleep problems/difficulty concentrating ever since the election.
In other words, his practice is bearing out the comment a huge percentage of people are having
medical issues in their personal lives as a response to the outcome of the election. These people
have never had this kind of response to any other election. A lot of people were very angry after
Bush was selected by the Supremes in 2000, but didn't fear the start of WW III or a nuclear war or
the dismantling of democracy in this country.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. It's not just adults

There are some of the upper elementary and middle school kids - particularly young girls - who were essentially traumatized because they went to bed thinking there would be a woman President the next morning, and they awoke to something completely unexpected and unbelievable. Many in that age group were engaged in learning about the election process through school and November 9th 2016 became a hard lesson to swallow, and an even harder one to explain to them (re: electoral college).

[kimbutgar]

7. I agree

I work as a sub teacher in a city with a lot of multicultural students. They bring up thump all the time and say he is a bad man and they are scared he is going to send their grandparents away. A lot of anxiety in the Asian children which surprised me.