Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnostic and Clinical Challenges | American Journal of...

I've seen questions concerning the mental health of both candidates, and as former military we tend to get teamwork and usually destroy those who make up rules as they go along. However, there is no quirkiness test for presidents. Many did not love the spotlight or talk for hours without a point. This is not simple quirkiness as you must know, as you are a smart man. Einstein was brilliant, socially awkward, but profound in his speech. Assuming one candidate is super-smart, the grandiose aggrandizement, the difficulty staying in message, the tendency to have to bring on a full frontal assault on any person giving him the slightest negative review or rebuttal, the tan, hair, and perfect family that "understand" him. There are legitimate personality disorders that would not be compatible with running a nation. Some can be controlled with therapy and medications. Some will place us, the American people in between a person with no love or ability to empathize and their need to be better than everyone. (This is not something they are consciously aware of) perhaps his legacy will monitor his behavior, but so far his self-destructive actions and statements attacking those who no longer are competing, or didn't support Him. (Gold star families, military Medal of Honor awardees, General Allen, women like Carly and Meagyn Kelly, and we could roll out a longer list....)

Col Rebecca Lorraine - We are neither wholly rational nor emotional creatures. Neither are we wholly born with a set nature nor products of our nurturing. Both candidates must be viewed in the context of their environments. Trump is easy to figure. He is the natural backlash to political correctness and he knows how to use the growing revulsion to it. Keep in mind that he is a businessman, well-schooled and experienced in marketing. His campaign is reasonable when viewed in that light. Having had the benefit of an education in advertising and public relations at the knees of some very accomplished mentors, I have been appreciating it. Hillary is a product of an entirely different sort of environment. He is an ambitious woman who has had to subjugate those ambitions to those of her husband. Now she is attempting to slingshot off his fame to build her own Administration. Sadly, his fame has waxed into notoriety over the years (watch the reaction of young women who once upon a time fawned over him). Thus, her weapon has at times been an anchor and she is struggling with adjusting to it.

Interesting articulation. I see sub-types in the diagnosis, and you have applied them in a way in which most other providers would say you lack objectivity and have personalized the information. This is a form of cognitive dissonance.

SP5 Christine Conley - Nice response.

SPC Benjamin Hartog GREAT post.

Col Rebecca Lorraine - I have maintained a ménage a trois with cognitive and dissonance for many years. My misanthropic political Weltanschauung arises from my relationship with both of them. They both are shrewd observers of the American political landscape and have proven themselves indispensable in widening my self-understanding as a veteran whose opinion of Hillary lacks as you say "objectivity". I am not so sanguine as to assert, however, that the vast reserves of my goodwill and decency might be inexhaustible. The United States, for better or for worse, plays a huge role in shaping the world. This is a task that Hillary is totally unprepared (as is Trump) and based on my perception of her as a prevaricating narcissist, she has said nothing to reassure me that she is a trustworthy state(person). Understanding the United States, I insist, requires living with contradictions. Life in America, in an "age of diminishing expectations" is not one of harmonious, integrated elements but an ever-shifting equilibrium between conflicting forces. No proposition about the United States could make sense without seeking, and placing in apposition, its opposite. Even an outsider, thrust in such a system, could easily become a tool rather than a master of the ambiguities and complexities he/she is seeking to understand. Few Americans, especially those who support Hillary, would ever grasp this. Most would continue to clamor about in a state of exaltation, with respect to Hillary, not dissimilar to the adulation awe-compelling celebrities are showered with when they roll into town. Thus cognitive & dissonance are my most cherished companions. They have helped me to withstand the assaults of American popular culture and all the grandiloquent perorations of Hillary Clinton and all her supporters.