Name:   copperline - Subject:   good question Date:   7/7/2017 1:06:27 PM

The Goldwater Rule doesn't apply to me.  I'm retired.   

Secondly, the Goldwater Rule was based on the idea that there was inadequate information to base diagnositic impressions on with regard to Barry Goldwater.  In subsequent years, with the growth of media, this is less true.   In fact, as regards D Trump specifically, there are hundreds (thousands?) of hours of candid, unscripted, unedited interviews with him to base psychological profiles on.   This is largely due to the fact that he has made great efforts to put all kinds of information about himself in front of the public over the last 30 years.   The Narcissism diagnosis is obvious.   The additional reference to Malignant Narcissism comes from his constant distortions of facts as shown in his public statements.   With all that source material to evaluate,  it's fair to conclude that D Trump does not have the same definition of "truth" and "facts" that a normal person would have, nor does he regard these things as important.   His needs to prop himself up with self-congratulatory rhetoric while in full view of contradictory facts should be very disturbing.

By the way, I'm not saying Trump has a mental illness.  It's a character disorder, and that's different.  I do think he could BECOME mentally ill when he becomes trapped & cornered by the risk of public humiliation.   But we are not there yet.

In his case, D Trump has been bluntly and without reservation telling us about his view of the world and his view of himself for many years.   He has not been Howard Hughes.   He has been a showman with a need to get his name in lights.   As far as the Goldwater rule goes, Trump has given mental health professionals cause to rethink that rule because his personality type clearly values self-adulation more than devotion to the public good.  Many of those professionals think that electing a man with these traits to the most powerful position in the world is a seriously dangerous thing to do, and felt compelled to ignore a long-held professional standard to not speak publically about it.     

One example of what I mean:  I think many mental health professionals believe that doing things like impersonating a ficticious employee in order to give Trump-admiring tidbits of information to news reporters (something that Trump has been known to do) is an indication that something is wrong with this guy.   Most people would agree that believing in a guy who would do that pretty much defies common sense.   Most people would not openly state that a man like that would be trustworthy & reliable.  Mental health professionals are no different.   They just make their living observing people.