Trump’s presidency could be one such case.

It’s incomprehensible that so many people gave him their vote despite everything we know about him and despite a very real possibility that he is a narcissistic psychopath.

Trump meets every criterion for the diagnosis

Trump is a textbook example of a person suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and also meets quite of few criteria needed for a diagnosis of psychopathy (Antisocial Personality Disorder).

This is so obvious and troublesome that psychologists started to pay attention and publicly wonder should they get involved.

The questions is rhetorical — of course psychology should get involved. It would be a lot more appropriate to ask why hasn’t it already been involved long before a person who consistently behaves in a highly disturbing manner even got the chance to be elected.

Most companies these days cooperate with psychologists and routinely use their services to evaluate job candidates on a number of personality traits before signing the contract.

Yet we elect our presidents (worldwide!) in blind faith that they are normal without ever bothering to check their mental state as one of the main prerequisites for the job!

It’s absolutely astounding when you think of it.

Mental health problems are health problems

We do not put seriously ill people in positions of power and mental health problems should be no exception. If anything, they should be seen as more important than physical health. Not bothering to assess them, creates an ideal playground for narcissists, such as Trump.

As a result, we (and I’m saying we because his presidency will affect the whole world and not just the States) now have it — a non-stop open hunting season, metaphorically and literally speaking.

The Trumps killing a leopard during one of their hunting sprees: Source: Daily Mail

This time, however, it will not be ‘just’ a private hunting expedition aimed at eradication of the endangered animals that Trump’s sons enjoy killing so much. As just a tiny little starter dish, Trump has effectively prevented conservationists from doing their job.

Next, he created unnecessary conflicts with eight countries (Mexico and seven Muslim-majority countries), his out of control politics is putting businesses as big as Google and their workers into trouble, there are breaches of the law and the rights of legal immigrant workers, and a threat to the world economy at large. Things are getting so bad so fast that Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and many other major companies decided to publicly speak against it.

And this was just a beginning in the first week of his presidency, because that’s what narcissists with psychopathic traits do. They wreak havoc on a grand scale and they never stop doing it. Somebody else has to stop them.

Clinical evaluation

Let’s take a closer look at the DMS-V diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder to see how perfectly Trump’s behavior fits them:

Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance

Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it

Exaggerating your achievements and talents

Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate

Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people

Requiring constant admiration

Having a sense of entitlement

Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations

Taking advantage of others to get what you want

Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others

Being envious of others and believing others envy you

Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

Can you see anything here that doesn’t fit Trump’s behavior? Remember, one only needs to exhibit five of these. That, however, is not enough for clinical diagnosis if the person doesn’t also present a threat to oneself or the society.

Based on everything we’ve seen thus far, I have little doubt that Trump’s behavior presents a serious threat to the society and world at large.

The only reasonable solution

Due to the implications of this, there is really only one reasonable solution— Trump’s mental health needs to be evaluated by mental health professionals and if they agree on the above diagnosis, he has to be removed as president on the grounds of illness.

Trump is not just some random guy. He is quite possibly a severely ill and highly dangerous person in a position of incredible power. It is thus a moral and ethical duty of the American people to act now while there’s still time.

It is also a moral and ethical duty of us all to make mental health assessments a mandatory part of presidential elections worldwide.