- ‹ previous
- 5331 of 8827
- next ›
Bay Buchanan: The Doctor Is In
A few years ago, when Bush on the Couch was published by psychiatrist Justin A. Frank, his publicist invited me to review it. I declined on ethical grounds. Frank, having never met George W. Bush, is not qualified to diagnose him, despite his using the technique of "applied psychoanalysis" which permits the psychological analysis of a public figure, but which--in my opinion--shoud be limited to analysis of the dead. (I am a psychotherapist, and I know that if I did such a thing, my board would come down hard on me.)
Enter Bay Buchanan, who is most definitely not a mental health practitioner of any kind, but who has provided us with a casual diagnosis of Sen. Clinton. In her book, The Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton, Buchanan hints that Clinton may have narcissistic personality disorder. (Buchanan calls it "narcissistic personality style," a term which does not exist in the mental health repretoire.)
In describing how she reached that conclusion, Buchanan refers to an endnote in the book that does not exist. All the same, Buchanan says that "[W]e are talking about a clinical condition that could make her [Clinton] dangerously ill-suited to become President and Commander-in-Chief." She then covers herself by saying "I pass no judgment as to whether this shoe fits the Lady Hillary."
Diagnosing someone from afar, especially if you are not a mental health expert, is wildly irresponsible, even if you say "I don't really mean it, I'm just saying...." There are plenty of former presidents who weren't quite right, like Kennedy (drug addiction and sexual compulsion) and Nixon (alcoholism and violence), and Buchanan's colleagues are ga-ga about at least one of them, and sometimes both of them. It wouldn't be too difficult apply phony mental health language to other candidates, but I could have guessed that an armchair psychotherapist would go after Clinton. She is an "ambitious" woman, and she is married to Bill. Who needs more information than that?
Most Americans have a narcissistic personality. Look at the fat American, 50% or more, they just think about food in the stomach to the disadvantage of underfed third world people. I don't have a Phd. in mental disorders, but I do have eyes and can see narcissistic(I did not say selfish this time) people. The size of their carbon footprint is very large, some can't even fit into fuel efficient vehicles due to their fat feet.
Lucy, no--most people do not have narcissistic personality disorder, a psychiatric disorder which involves defenses that most people to not feel they have to exhibit.
Diane, what studies do you have to back up your statement that most people do not have narcissistic personality disorder? What is the percentage of Americans that do have narcissistic personality disorder? May be Bay was using the term in the loose and broad sense(not the clinical sense) like our dear friend Lucy Lu since neither appear to be experts in the subject, except may be in their own conditions.
Buchanan makes it clear in her book that she is using the term in a clinical sense.
Check the DSM for stats on personality disorders, if you really have that much trouble believing a long-time mental health practictioner that the great majority of people do not have this serious psychiatric disorder. Personality disorders are pervasive, yes--but they do not apply to most of the population. NPD, in fact, is rarer than some other personality disorders. If most people had NPD, no social system could function at all.
Diane, if what you say is true, that the great majority of people do not have serious psychiatric disorders, then why does it seem that just about everybody goes to a shrink? From my personal experience(amongst the educated class), many people confess to me that they have personality disorders, hence so many are in the business and more than happy to help these self diagnosed people, for a fee, of course.
Prof. Longfellow--People see a therapist for many reasons, not just for serious psychiatric disorders. They see a therapist because of stress, anxiety, family problems, work issues, etc. And some who have been diagnosed with serious disorders do not have them; I have had the pleasure, many times, of telling my clients that they most certainly do NOT have bipolar disorder, panic disorder, etc. Sometimes these people are misdiagnosed by incompetent clinicians, sometimes they "diagnose" themselves.
You might be interested in reading a great feature in the May issue of Harpers called "Manufacturing Depression." The writer, who is also a psychotherapist, enrolled in a drug study, and his normative sadness/existential angst was immediately diagosed as serious depression.
Hey, Diane, good article, although I cannot possibly imagine why anyone would pay any attention to Bay Buchanan about much of anything, much less mental illness. Of course, her fellow authoritarians will probably read their eyeballs out, but no one can convince them of anything "Dear Leader" (be it the guy in the White House or the one in the pulpit) doesn't say.
You know, I didn't find what Dr, Frank did all that disconcerting and I, too am a psychologist. I saw it more as a profile than a dx. Our own government does profiling of world leaders all the time and has since, at least, WWII. When I was in graduate school, I read a profile of Adolph Hitler that was done during WWII. It was stunning in its accuracy and they didn't have the tools we have today.
Of course, they didn't have to deal with the non-stop spinning and PR games we are faced with, including B.S. autobiographies of presidential candidates, commissioned by the candidates themselves.
Certainly not everyone in America has NPD. However, when one examines our country and looks at mental illness and disorder in the population, from a psycho-social point of view, it does become apparent that the national personality would certainly tend toward and support the narcissistic right on to deeply sociopath illness.
I think that's what LucyLu may be sensing and in a way she is right. Most Americans, who have never spent any time abroad, have no idea just how true it is, that the nation we live in is very much like a big old narcissistic teenager, wreaking havoc in the global village.
There was a study done back in the '80s and I cannot remember the names of the researchers (shame on me), but there was a book, co-authored by a nun, no less, who was a professional in the field of mental health, about the study and its focus. Can't remember her name either. (Alzheimer's?) I do remember that I went to hear her speak in Lexington, Ky., at the Newman Center on December 7. Why I remember that, is a mystery
Anyway, the book was a revelation to many young professionals of the day. It examined corporate America and the surpising numbers of sociopaths and functional psychotics who rise to the top of the corporate sub-culture, with quite bit of ease, while their more moral fellow-travelers, burdened with a conscious, did not do as well.
Since that study and book were pubished, government and corporate America have become even more entertwined, so that now, there is really no difference in the two. We have a White House chock full of CEOs, with varied levels of success in the corporate world, but with one thing in common; they were all far more successful than any of them should have been, based on education/experience in their fields/talent. Most of them got where they did, because of who they knew, certainly not about what they knew. Their success was also the result of their solid, unshakeable belief in their own entitlement in life and that the rules did not and would not apply to them.
That was a recipe for disaster from day one. These folks in the Bush administration are dangerous in the extreme. We have ample evidence to support that observation. My intuition, bases on knowledge and observations, tell me that they have not come any where near their capcity for serious, perhaps irredeemable, damage.
Because that, as far as I am concerned, has earned them all some heavy profiling and some serious investigation.
Just for profiling purposes, according to the latest authority on all things psycho, "the DSM IV and a 1/2": Bay Buchanan presents with a classisc diagnosis of psycho-ceramic or, in pop-cultual parlance, crackpot. This is a familial, if not genetic disorder.
You so right on sinjohn. You understand me very well. Diane, she may be a too up tight woman, she needs to get loose and not to take life so seriously, its Friday night, go out have fun. Friday is my fun night, I look pretty and thin so I go now.
sinjohn, the book you refer to is :The Narcissistic American
by Aaron Stern (1979). Amazon.com can get used ones. I remember that it did influence me.
To me the bottom line is that America is in the hands of these "Narcissistic Americans" and Bush/Cheney/Rove are clearly a part of that group as is the entire Bush family. Maybe there is some hope for the twins, they seem a bit mor down to earth. Jeb Bush will be the next one to use America for his own/family and Republican party purposes.
And many good points thanks to sinjohn. Well said.
of course she's a narcissist. only a narcissist would think they have a chance at being elected president of the united states, and only a narcissist would think that they could handle the work better than all those other qualified people. all of the candidates are narcissists. even the protest candidates like kucinich. the real question is: so what?
"of course she's a narcissist. only a narcissist would think they have a chance at being elected president of the united states, and only a narcissist would think that they could handle the work better than all those other qualified people. all of the candidates are narcissists. even the protest candidates like kucinich. the real question is: so what?"
Buchanan didn't say she was a narcissist; she said she had Narcisisstic Personality Disorder, which--once again, since I don't seem to have the right words to convey a relatively simple message--they are not, I repeat "not"--the same thing. The first is a trait of many people; the second is a serious psychiatric disorder.
Anyone who'd run for any political office in the 21st century must be suspected of narcissism and/or NPD and a few handfuls of whatever other vogue "disorders" anyone cares to throw in. Less authentic than the actors who will eventually portray them, should there ever be cause for future video recreation and/or fictional shoring-up of their lives, the politicians of today aren't to be trusted to even floss their teeth properly. Their desire for iconic totemization causes any and all of the candidates of all parties to come across as even less ethically grounded than Paris Hilton.
Okay, not to get off track - But does anyone believe that LucyLu is a real person? I feel like I'm reading a suburban white teenager making up a character to allow him/herself a chance to make fun of Asian-Americans. Either that or Tracy Ullman is usng to MoJo blog to work out a new character.
Paul, I think the term is troll. I tried arguing with it a couple of times too before realizing it. Don't feed the troll and it will likely go away. I guess if it's Tracy Ullman that would make it a trull.
Bay Buchanan is an assassin of the reputation. She never met anyone she couldn't and wouldn't badmouth. Hiliary is just are longest running target. If Hiliary should succeed in her quest for the presidency, all I can say is "Go Girl". Bay can go take a flying leap for all I care. . .the world would be better off without her and her jihadist buddies.