Book Synopsis
This is an unprecedented report for unprecedented times.
A full psychological profile of Donald Trump in the context of his followers and the nation attempts to answer the public’s perpetual question: “Where are the psychiatrists? Where are the psychologists?” In light of an overriding, national mental health emergency that has gone ignored, the people should not continue defenseless.
Knowledge can be an antidote. This analysis comes from the organizer of the “duty to warn” conference at Yale School of Medicine and editor of the New York Times bestseller, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. A 20-year veteran adviser on violence prevention programming for prisons, communities, and governments, Dr. Lee has frequently applied psychiatric concepts to public health and safety. Regarding a psychological understanding of Donald Trump, she is uniquely well positioned with a considerable track record of accuracy.
Melding the techniques of CIA profiling with established methods of public health, this report represents an attempt to meet mental health professionals’ responsibility to society, as outlined in the preamble of the American Psychiatric Association’s code of ethics and the universal Declaration of Geneva. It echoes the spirit of the thousands of professionals who have joined to form the World Mental Health Coalition, a professional organization dedicated to filling the gap in care for societal mental health.
Dr. Lee believes that great harm can come from keeping the public in the dark. One example is the American Psychiatric Association’s change of ethics rules at the onset of the Trump presidency to “gag” professionals in favor of a political figure (the now-infamous “Goldwater rule”). Silencing critical voices in the face of grave danger facilitates conditions for atrocities to occur, contributing to vast suffering and death. Almost 200,000 deaths later with no end in sight, it should now be clear that the muzzling of intellectuals and journalists is a warning first sign of tyranny.
This book is a tool that aims to help reverse this course. In-depth understanding, far from being extraneous in an emergency, is often a short-cut that can expunge great error and pain. It hopes to provide “the missing link” that explains why the forty-fifth president of the United States acts the way he does, why people follow him, why mental health is important in human affairs, how we have come to nearly destroying our democracy—and what we can do about it.
Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div., is a forensic psychiatrist and a world expert on violence. She has been at Yale School of Medicine for 17 years, taught at Yale Law School for 15 years, and has consulted with the World Health Organization since 2002. She is president of the World Mental Health Coalition (worldmhc.org).