I was listening to my morning podcast and Morning Joe as they discussed an interview on Fox and Friends with President Trump.
The interview was replayed a few times when a man on the Morning Joe said, “I heard a man in a manic state”. Mika agreed that he’s crazy, and said that she disliked him, but the panel was astounded by all of Mr. Trump’s behavior – how he kept talking, how his voice was high pitched, how the volume of his voice never went down, how he was saying things that hurt himself in court proceedings, and how the FOX crew couldn’t shut him down, no matter what.
The panel has gone through this before re: Trump. Early in his career as President, they had been tempted to call him sociopathic, narcissistic, and so on. Someone at the office told them to watch their language, because they were making “medical claims” that they had no basis to say this. There was, I believe, an APA group of psychiatrists who agreed with the Narcissist diagnosis. Still, the panel had backed off until today. This time, they said “I’m not a psychiatrist, but…”
This reminded me of the Charlie Sheen tapes a few years ago, when it turns out that, for three days, Sheen was in the middle of a manic episode. No one in the media had ever heard anyone talk or act like that. Comedians wrote jokes for days. The press waited for him to break down, or calm down or something. Was he doing cocaine? No one knew. He had in the past. He was with porn stars most of the time during this days-long-event. It turns out later that he now has HIV.
There has been recent talk in the New York Daily News (not the supposedly “Fake News” Times) that said Trump used to use cocaine in the New York Disco scene years ago. Mania and cocaine mirror each other in many ways, so in either case, the diagnosis doesn’t matter. The person with mania talks a-mile-a-minute, can’t or won’t stop, believes they are (literally) THE MOST INCREDIBLE PERSON ON THE PLANET and their ideas flow from one thing to another. They believe they are indestructible (literally) and so, maybe to prove that to themselves or others, they exhibit risky behaviors… gambling, risky sex, compulsive spending and so on.
I have no idea about Mr. Trump and a diagnosis of Mania (now called Bi-Polar Disorder). Nor do I know about any past or present cocaine use. In the present, it’s highly unlikely, due to medical tests he receives. In the past, in New York City’s up-and-coming disco world, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
What I can say is this: If someone you know is exhibiting these symptoms, they need help because when they stop being this way, they will have really unpleasant situations to deal with. They may get suicidal. They may “just” be depressed or they may just need a lot of sleep. If you are responsible for their decisions legally, when this is all over you will have really unpleasant situations to deal with. In any case, having mentally ill people in your family is often really stressful. Professional help in coping may be necessary for you, and that’s OK. Professional help is definitely needed for them.
It’s not cute, or funny, or fun, or any of those things. If you know someone who is acting strangely, believe yourself that they are. Ask for help determining what specifically accounts for the behavior. Then get help for them or for you.
Resisting in Peace,
John
Because It Matters 