There’s been a lot of talk (and books) about Donald Trump’s fragile mental health. He’s been diagnosed as, among many things, pathological narcissist, psychopath, and bipolar. Whichever mental illness you choose (believe or don’t believe), the coronavirus has pushed him into a dangerous decompensation.

What is psychological decompensation? Basically, it’s when a mentally-compromised person suddenly faces reality – stripped of the lies and delusions that enabled him to be functional. In other words, Trump’s fantasy world is collapsing – everyone is seeing that the Emperor wears no clothes.

You might think that would make him more fragile? It’s the opposite – he becomes more defiant, more rigid, and more like a boy-king. He further twists time and reality. According to Dr. Bandy X Lee, forensic psychiatrist at Yale School of Medicine and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump:

“As his rallies were canceled, he used daily press conferences for his emotional compulsion to create a desired, alternative reality, through delusional-level distortion and misinformation, rather than saving lives.”

In other words, he reads the script at his television briefings then says whatever he wants as long as he thinks it makes him looks good – truth be damned.

There are so many examples - from calling the pandemic a “Democratic hoax” to claiming it’s going away “like magic.” We all know it’s not going away like magic, and we need a true leader to tackle this lethal enemy. Although he calls himself a “war-time president” (grandiosity is one of his many delusions), he still lies, spews misinformation, and surrounds himself with toadies that don’t challenge him.

Unless, of course, you look at Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx appearing on the podium, not social distancing, trying to soften or completely discount the President’s claims. What about calling a national shelter-in-place? Fauci, Birx, the surgeon general and every medical and public health expert in the country says it’s the only way to contain the virus?

Donald Trump disagrees. He knows better. As he indicated, the metrics are all in his head.

Our President is like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar claiming he didn’t take a thing.

Where does that leave us? In an out-of-control pandemic, sickening and killing tens of thousands of Americans, with only our beleaguered governors, mayors, and local officials to fight it. With only our heroic public health workers begging for equipment so they can keep taking care of hospitalized victims. With only other first responders, police, EMT, firemen, delivery workers, grocery clerks, sanitation workers struggling to keep our states, cities, and towns functional.

And a President who appoints an inexperienced son-in-law to be in charge of distribution, Jared Kushner, who unabashedly said that federal stockpiles are “ours” not yours.

We’re in big trouble, folks.

As Maureen Dowd wrote in The New York Times, “We can vividly see in this crisis how close to the surface Trump’s id is and how easily he cleaves to delusions. He personalizes everything so much that when things go bad, he can only see it as an attack on him by the forces out to get him.”

He blames coronavirus on Obama, the media, the Democrats, health care workers, you. Anyone but himself. As he stated in his daily briefing, “I take no responsibility.”

Where does the buck stop?

What can you do? Don’t listen to Trump. Stay safe in your home. Wear a mask if you have to go outside — avoid going outside completely. Listen to people like Governors Andrew Cuomo (NY) and Gavin Newsom (CA) and first responders who tell it like it is. Let the scientists, doctors, and public health experts guide you not economists and right-wing trumpers worried about their money and elections. This is about us – our lives – and staying the course to survive the pandemic.

And make sure that Trump – and any of his toadies – never get elected and in power again!