Trump's mental health

As much as I am sometimes often always prone to ranting about Trump, I don't think you can diagnose a mental illness from merely watching someone's public appearances, particularly if you are not a professional.

I don't quite agree it can all simply be chalked up to a "managed public persona," though -- in other words, I don't think his impulsiveness, his bursts of temper, his 3 am tweets ranting about former beauty queens, his casual relationship with the truth, those ridiculous handshakes, etc., are all just an act. Nor do I think the anecdotes about people saying he was a nice guy when they met him in person are an act. I think they're both parts of his personality.

Few people are assholes 100% of the time -- even Hitler was nice to his dogs (and I presume to Eva Braun). As I think I've mentioned here, I had a boss like this -- many would say he was charming. But if they'd worked under him...holy fuck, he was an asshole and he nearly drove me (and others) to a nervous breakdown.

Whether he's "mentally unstable" in a clinical sense, I couldn't say and neither can Al Franken or the Republican senators. But I don't think the manifestations of his character we're seeing are all merely an act. I really don't. The 3 am twitter rant about that beauty queen alone would make me think otherwise.

By the way, if you want a depressing contrast, go check out Obama's twitter feed from when he was President, and then look at Trump's. Even if you hate Obama's politics, it's hard to walk away from the fact that he always sounded dignified and presidential. Whereas Trump... he's whining about how the media didn't mention the yuuuge crowds that cheered him as he drove by in Florida, screeching about how everything is FAKE NEWS!, and slamming our judicial branch. Yeah, not presidential. And not, I think, just an act. How I wish it were.

ETA:

All that said, it is perfectly possible to be an impulsive, ranting, ignoramus with a short attention span, and yet not suffer from a diagnosable mental illness.

Wherever they were from, at least they sounded calm and presidential, and didn't rant on about petty grievances. I'd be just as happy if presidents didn't tweet at all, but to the extent they do, they shouldn't sound like a petulant teenager -- not ever. And Trump's nearly always do.

I'm not defending Trump. I agree, his tweeting is disgraceful and wholly inappropriate. And Obama would certainly never did--and would never do, imo--that sort of thing. Nor would most other past Presidents, I think (if there was a Twitter around when they were in office). 

Nonetheless, Obama's twitter account wasn't being run by Obama, so there's no actual comparison here. For instance, look at this tweet:




That was while he was still President. Obviously, it wasn't his tweet, but for most people it comes across that way. And again, it's wrong imo. And again, it's inconsequential with regard to Trump's tweeting habits.