As the long U.S. presidential election unfolded, I marvelled at Donald Trump’s bizarre and at times seemingly unhinged approach to campaigning.

Trump was unpredictable, vulgar, volatile, nasty, petty and thin-skinned. His supporters knew he was a liar, narcissist, a possible misogynist and racist, xenophobic and a raging egotist. They didn’t care. They voted for him anyway.

It was a crazy ride, for sure.

Now, I’m convinced he’s just crazy.

Some disability advocates will likely criticize me for calling Trump crazy. They will rightly note that mental illness is a serious health issue that should not be taken lightly or trivialized.

But the evidence is growing that Trump is losing touch with reality, with his childlike actions and aberrant behaviour prompting more and more concerned mental health professionals to speak up.

So worried are these experts about Trump that they are ignoring the so-called Goldwater Rule established in 1973 by the American Psychiatric Association. The rule declares it unethical to diagnose a person without examining them personally. The policy was instituted after more than 1,000 psychiatrists told a magazine that 1964 Republican candidate Barry Goldwater was mentally unfit to be president.

The question of Trump’s mental state is extremely important. That’s because an unstable, erratic president could wreak havoc around the world, spelling trouble not only for Americans, but for Canadians and people in every other country.

Like peeling an onion, Trump reveals a bit more of his mental state with each passing day.

Here’s a small sample of what he has said and done since his swearing-in:

He’s lied about the size of his inauguration crowd, failing to separate fantasy from reality.

He’s staged a 75-minute press conference where he even berated pro-Trump reporters.

Out of the blue at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning he tweeted the claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in New York during the election.

He has raged at staffers, refused to shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand during a photo session and instead sat glumly like a petulant little boy.

This week was no exception. On Monday, he was tweeting as FBI Director James Comey was testifying before a congressional hearing into possible links between the Trump campaign team and Russian authorities. It was crazy, with Comey able to discuss Trump’s tweets as the FBI boss sat in the hearing room.

Earlier this week, Deepak Chopra, who trained as an endocrinologist and is now one of the world’s best-known alternative medicine promoters, asked Trump in a series of tweets to “please submit to a psychiatric and neurological evaluation to restore our confidence.”

In a tweet, Chopra said: “I say this with trepidation. Is @POTUS brain impaired? If so what does this mean for the future of the world? What can we do? God bless.”

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Last month, John Gartner, a psychologist who works in Baltimore and New York, warned that Trump was “dangerously mentally ill.”

Gartner, who has never examined Trump in person, claims Trump suffers “malignant narcissism,” which includes such things as paranoia, sadism, egocentrism, grandiosity and a lack of conscience.

Gartner also helped an online petition that has been signed by 40,000 U.S. mental health professionals in less than a month. The petition calls for Trump to be “removed from office” and says he “manifests a serious mental illness that renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States.”

At the same time, 35 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers signed a letter to the New York Times saying Trump’s “speech and actions demonstrate an inability to tolerate views different from his own, leading to rage reactions,” adding this “grave emotional instability” made him “incapable of serving safely as president.”

Despite the growing evidence, though, some anti-Trump observers still believe he isn’t actually crazy. Instead, they insist he’s a brilliant — yet evil — manipulator who knows exactly what he’s doing and why. They also suggest Trump could be suffering a mental disorder, but still be fit to serve.

I’d argue he’s both mentally unstable and evil — and it could get worse.

Clearly, he has been unable to make the transition from candidate to president. He remains reckless, outrageous and hungry for attention.

And he has been blocked and frustrated at almost every major turn since entering the White House. He’s isolated and looks quite foolish because of his baseless Obama tweet and the congressional investigation into his campaign’s possible collusion with Russia.

Given all those issues and pressures, a speedy recovery from his mental problems seems unlikely.

Bob Hepburn's column appears Thursday. bhepburn@thestar.ca

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