Over 36 Mental Health Professionals: Trump Too Mentally Ill for Office

I have not made any effort to hide my view that Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Trumpenführer, is mentally ill.  Perhaps dangerously so.  Now three dozen plus mental health professionals, one of whom is a retired  professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, have voiced similar concerns in a letter to the editor of the New York Times. Indeed, they state that Trump is too mentally unstable to occupy the office of the presidency.  The following is their letter in full (the full list of signatories is here):

Charles M. Blow (column, nytimes.com, Feb. 9) describes Donald Trump’s constant need “to grind the opposition underfoot.” As mental health professionals, we share Mr. Blow’s concern.

Silence from the country’s mental health organizations has been due to a self-imposed dictum about evaluating public figures (the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 Goldwater Rule). But this silence has resulted in a failure to lend our expertise to worried journalists and members of Congress at this critical time. We fear that too much is at stake to be silent any longer.

Mr. Trump’s speech and actions demonstrate an inability to tolerate views different from his own, leading to rage reactions. His words and behavior suggest a profound inability to empathize. Individuals with these traits distort reality to suit their psychological state, attacking facts and those who convey them (journalists, scientists).

In a powerful leader, these attacks are likely to increase, as his personal myth of greatness appears to be confirmed. We believe that the grave emotional instability indicated by Mr. Trump’s speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president.

Yes, admitting that one made a mistake isn't always easy, but we are far past the time when not hurting the feelings of Trump supporters cannot make us hold are tongues and not state the obvious truth: Trump IS mentally ill and he poses a danger to the nation and the world. He needs to be removed from office ASAP.  True, that would leave the country with the every foul Mike Pence in the oval office.  But at least Pence isn't flat out insane.  Scary and a danger, yes, but not an utter insane loose cannon that is the only way to describe Trump.