Psychological Mechanisms in Sociopathy
People with sociopathic traits employ specific abnormal emotional mechanisms. Primary among these is "projective identification.""Projection" by itself refers to a belief that others have feelings or thoughts which are actually in the mind of the individual doing the projecting. Commonly, these are aggressive and dangerous feelings, which are managed by being projected to others, who are then seen as aggressive and dangerous. When this process occurs regularly, it is simply called paranoia. "Projective identification' is the most serious version of paranoia. The "identification" part of the term refers to seeing others not just as having threatening characteristics, but as entirely dangerous people ― people who have to be attacked or destroyed.
This psychological mechanism contributes to loss of reality, rage outbursts, and attacks on others. When it is combined with a lack of empathy and its corresponding lack of guilt for harming others, the danger from such a person is enormous.
Projective identification is not the only defective psychological mechanism in sociopaths. Because of the incapacity to realistically appraise (or care for) people, others are alternately seen as evil or good, according to the projection in use at the moment. The sociopath may treat people as through they are great friends, charmingly complimenting them on how wonderful they are, then abruptly turn on them as the enemy. Loyalty is highly prized by sociopaths because it serves their personal ends, but there is no real relationship. Dividing the world into good and bad in an unstable, fluctuating way is called "splitting."
Although sociopathy always means a lack of empathy, there is one way in which severe sociopaths do have a certain, frightening type of empathy. It is the empathy of the predator. A tiger stalking his prey must have an ability to sense the prey's fear, or at least to be aware of the small signs of that fear. The tiger is "empathic" with its prey, but not sympathetic or caring. Successful sociopaths are like that. They are closely attuned to their victim's emotional state. Does the victim buy what the sociopath is selling? Does he need false reassurance, a compliment on his intelligence or appearance, a lying promise, or a friendly gesture to keep him thinking the sociopath is honorable? The successful sociopath's predatory "empathy" reflects a definite perceptive acumen, making him a genius at manipulation. When this works, it produces a disastrous trust in him. Yet, like the tiger, he is unconcerned about the welfare of his target.
The pathological emotional problems in sociopathy make one another worse. An inability to have a consistent realistic view of the world, or to maintain emotionally genuine relationships, leads to more paranoia. The weakness in impulse control which arises from enraged reactions to imagined slights and produces reckless, destructive behavior, leads to a greater need to deny criticism with more lies to tell oneself and everyone else, and an increasing distance from reality. The more a sociopath needs to scapegoat others the more he genuinely hates them, making him even more aggressive and sadistic. Life is devoted to endless destruction in the service of an endless quest for power and admiration, unmitigated by basic empathy or guilt.
Donald Trump
Because Mr. Trump has been a very public figure for many years, and because we have been able to hear from many who have known him for a long time, we are in an excellent position to know his behaviors ― his speech and actions ― which are precisely the basic for making an assessment of his dangerousness, whether we assess him using the official DSM criteria for antisocial personality disorder (APD), as below, or whether we apply our knowledge of malignant narcissism, both of which include the signs and symptoms of sociopathy. Let us consider these in turn.
Lack of Empathy for Others; Lack of Remorse; Lying and Cheating
Mr. Trump's mocking the disability of a handicapped reporter, unconcern for the safety of protestors at a rally ("Get rid of them"), sexually assaulting women, threatening physical harm to his opponent in the election (alluding to gun owners eliminating her), repeatedly verbally attacking a family who lost their son fighting for the country, personally degrading people who criticize him (calling them insulting names, as he did in both the Republican primaries and the general election), a history of cheating people he's hired by not paying them what he owes, creating the now forced-to-disband Trump University, targeting and terrifying minority groups, all provide overwhelming evidence of profound sociopathic traits, which are fare more important than trying to assign any specific diagnostic label.
Loss of Reality
Mr. Trump's insistence on the truth of matters proven to be untrue ("alternative facts") is well known. His insistence has occurred both repeatedly and over a long time, even when such denial is not in his interest and it would be better for him to acknowledge that he spoke in error. He has falsely claimed that President Obama is not an American and that he wiretapped Mr. Trump's building, that his own loss in the vote total of the general election was caused by illegal aliens, that he had the largest inauguration crowed in history, etc. Together, these show a persistent loss of reality.
Rage Reactions and Impulsivity
Mr. Trump's rages have been reported on multiple occasions in the press, leading to sudden decisions and actions. He fired and subsequently threatened to fire the director of the FBI after hearing him testify in unwanted ways before Congress, launched more than 50 missiles within 72 hours of seeing a disturbing image on the news ― reversing his stated Middle East policy, precipitously violated diplomatic norms, creating international tensions (as with reports of threatening to invade Mexico, hanging up on the prime minister of Australia, antagonizing Germany, France, Greece, and others), issued illegal executive orders, apparently without vetting them with knowledgeable attorneys, and so on.
Conclusion
Donald Trump's speech and behavior show that he has severe sociopathic traits. The significance of this cannot be overstated. While there have surely been American presidents who could be said to be narcissistic, none have shown sociopathic qualities to the degree seen in Mr. Trump. Correspondingly, none have been so definitively and so obviously dangerous.
Democracy requires respect and protection for multiple points of view, concepts that are incompatible with sociopathy. The need to be seen as superior, when coupled with a lack of empathy or remorse for harming other people, are in fact the signature characteristics of tyrants, who seek the control and destruction of all who oppose them, as well as loyalty to themselves instead of to the country they lead.
The paranoia of severe sociopathy creates a profound risk of war, since heads of other nations will inevitably disagree with or challenge the sociopathic leader, who will experience the disagreement as a personal attack, leading to rage reactions and impulsive action to destroy this "enemy." A common historical example is the creation, by soiopathic leaders, of an international incident to have an excuse to seize more power (suspend constitutional rights, impose martial law, and discriminate against minority groups.) Because such leaders will lie to others in government and to their citizens, those who would check the sociopath's power find it difficult to contradict his claims and actions with facts. Would-be tyrants also typically devalue a free press, undermining journalists' ability to inform and resist the move toward war and away from democracy.
Mr. Trump's sociopathic characteristics are undeniable. They create a profound danger for America's democracy and safety. Over time these characteristics will only become worse, either because Mr. Trump will succeed in gaining more power and more grandiosity with less grasp on reality, or because he will engender more criticism producing more paranoia, more lies and more enraged destruction.
― Lance Dodes, M.D.
Excerpted from The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump:
27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts
Assess a President
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