Debate Over Armchair Psychological Assessments Of Donald Trump; Diane Rehm Show, 8/17/16

[Podcast] Diane Rehm Show; Debate Over Armchair Psychological Assessments Of Donald Trump:

"In 1964, damaging and completely erroneous psychological assessments were made about then-presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater. The American Psychiatric Association instituted a new guideline: psychiatrists should not offer opinions about people they’ve not personally examined. But in recent weeks, some psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals have broken this rule. They are speaking out about what they see as Donald Trump’s unfitness to be president. The pitfalls of diagnosing from afar and when personality disorders can be strengths.

Guests

Amy Ellis Nutt science writer, The Washington Post

Dr. Paul Appelbaum professor of psychiatry, medicine, and law, Columbia University

William Doherty psychologist and director, Citizen Professional Center, University of Minnesota

Ron Elving senior Washington editor, NPR News"

The Psychiatric Question: Is It Fair to Analyze Donald Trump From Afar?; New York Times, 8/15/16

Benedict Carey, New York Times; The Psychiatric Question: Is It Fair to Analyze Donald Trump From Afar? :

"In the midst of a deeply divisive presidential campaign, more than 1,000 psychiatrists declared the Republican candidate unfit for the office, citing severe personality defects, including paranoia, a grandiose manner and a Godlike self-image. One doctor called him “a dangerous lunatic.”

The year was 1964, and after losing in a landslide, the candidate, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, sued the publisher of Fact magazine, which had published the survey, winning $75,000 in damages.

But doctors attacked the survey, too, for its unsupported clinical language and obvious partisanship. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association adopted what became known as the Goldwater Rule, declaring it unethical for any psychiatrist to diagnose a public figure’s condition “unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement.”

Enter Donald J. Trump."