Donald Trump May Actually Be Suffering From Narcissistic Personality Disorder, U.S. Clinical Psychologists Break Down His Suspected Mental Illness

TV personality and now presidential candidate Donald Trump has long been involved in controversies due to his condescending demeanor and tendency to openly degrade people verbally.

During the first debate, he said quite demeaning things about his presidential rivals. One example was when Trump told Carly Fiorina that “he doesn’t like her looks,” and he also told fellow presidential candidate Jeb Bush that he has “low energy.”

Donald Trump Slams Carly Fiorina’s Looks During GOP Debate

He also targeted other politicians, even those who were not running for president. He previously “taunted” Senator John McCain for his capture in Vietnam.

While it may be confusing to some people why The Apprentice host does these things, it seems pretty clear as far as psychologists are concerned.

Based on several psychology experts, this attitude towards others is one of the main symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder.

Howard Gardner, a developmental psychologist and Harvard professor said in an interview with Vanity Fair that he considers Donald Trump to be “remarkably narcissistic,” while Ben Michaelis described Trump as someone having “textbook narcissistic personality disorder.”

Michaelis further explained that narcissism is a personality disorder that is similar to others in its “cluster,” some of which include histrionic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorders.

These types of personality disorders make the person anti-social and incapable of feeling remorse even after “attacking” or “degrading” a person verbally or psychologically.

There are worse things then being a narcissist, but do you really want one as your President? https://t.co/Sdx9yzhlkg

— Mark Duplass (@MarkDuplass) November 15, 2015

In relation to Trump’s bid for presidency, Michaelis said that there’s nothing about him that is “service-oriented.”

“He’s only serving himself,” he said.

A person who has a narcissistic personality disorder sees himself as someone who is superior compared to other people.

It seems that Donald Trump’s continuous attacks against other politicians may be classic examples of symptoms of a person who has the personality disorder.

In fact, clinical psychologist George Simon said that he is archiving video clips of Donald Trump to use in his workshops. In his interview, he said that “there’s no better example” of narcissism than Trump’s behavior.

Meanwhile, licensed clinical social worker Wendy Terrie Behary said that “narcissists are not necessarily liars, but they are notoriously uncomfortable with the truth. The truth means the potential to feel ashamed.”

This means that people who have narcissism personality disorder will opt to show their peers, relatives, and colleagues their various achievements and successful endeavors in order to hide their own failures. When they fail to do this, and the person feels ashamed, this is called “narcissistic injury.”

Donald Trump’s Alleged “Narcissism” Explained

While help is definitely available for people with personality disorders, Behary is pessimistic that Trump would seek treatment.

“Most narcissists don’t seek treatment unless there’s someone threatening to take something away from them. There’d have to be some kind of meaningful consequence for him to come in.”

In addition, a politician or aspiring politician would probably end his political career if it becomes public that he or she sought help concerning a mental illness.

Burton Lee, who was George H.W. Bush’s presidential physician, said that doing so would be accepting the “kiss of death.”

In addition to that, a public servant who seeks such medical assistance would “create a crisis of confidence” among his constituents.

Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental condition that plagued some of the world’s most infamous people, including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Joseph Menguele, Ted Bundy, Saddam Hussein, and Lee Harvey Oswald.

These people were able to make harsh decisions that put people’s lives in danger without feeling any remorse. Needless to say, a person with this kind of mental condition would not be fit to hold the nation’s highest office.

Psychologists have drawn their conclusion, what do you think? Is Donald Trump a narcissist?

[Image by Scott Olson/Getty Images]