Just a quick psychology lesson about depression for Donald Trump and the media, By Hal Brown, MSW

Trump’s Truth Social post only recieved 15,100 likes.

In this article from RawStory Trump claims he couldn’t have been suffering from depression after losing the election because he was angry not sad and ate too much, not too little.

This was also discussed on “Morning Joe” today (click to expand image below):

Here’s another article about this.

It’s obvious to most people that some people who are depressed lose their appetite and may suffer weight loss, while others eat too much and gain weight. Less obvious is that some people don’t experience sadness when they are depressed, but instead feel angry. You can look it up by clicking here, or just click below to see a sample of the articles from a websearch by clicking here to enlarge the image.

Joe and Mika had Katy Benner on when they talked about Trump’s reaction to Liz Cheney saying he was depressed after losing the election, and to reports that Kevin McCarthy visited him in Mar-a-Lago because he wasn’t eating. Katy Benner was an English major at Bowdion College in Maine. She’s an excellent journalist but she isn’t a psychologist.

The article in RawStory had one fact check to what Trump claimed: “In fact, there is no ‘deleted’ evidence from the January 6th Committee, as Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed.”

I wish Morning Joe had a mental health expert explain why Trump’s claims didn’t rule out his having been depressed and in fact could have indicated he actually was depressed. RawStory could have done the simple web search to fact check Trump’s claim about not being depressed.

From a clinical perspective, Trump’s overnight rage reaction suggests that he may very well have been depressed and sees this as a sign of weakness.

One response to “Just a quick psychology lesson about depression for Donald Trump and the media, By Hal Brown, MSW”

  1. bugzbennyk Avatar
    bugzbennyk

    Right out of DSM-5: ” The Common feature of (Depressive disorders) is the presence of sad, empty, or irritable mood, accompanied by somatic and cognitive changes that significantly affect the individual’s capacity to function.”
    We used to ask about the different axes, i.e., presenting diagnosis, personality presentation, medical conditions, social and environmental effectors, and global axis of function.
    How can anyone have a conversation about this fellow, when no one can actually have a conversation WITH him? He is that which typifies the “self-sovereign” mindset ( Berger et. al)
    Depression? Sure, I’ll bite. Very plausible. Does this give him a hall pass? No effin way. What is sort of “nice” is that at least in retrospect, we’re seeing other folks who stood shoulder-to-shoulder defending this reckless, careless, uncontrollable stunt pilot of a person, a guy who just wants everyone looking at him all the time, and who has absolutely no time for the truth, the real story or the real problem.
    There is a meme represented as coming from Michael Steele, former GOP Committee chair, stating that the thing we need to do is put him in jail, get it over with, leave him there, and just deal with the fallout. It will be painful. It will last for a good long while. But it is preferable to dealing with his presence as a free-range provocateur and constant incitement. It is how he gets his old-man jollies – seeing others constantly in turmoil.
    Enough, already. How long do we tolerate grampa trying to drive when he cannot even remember where his car is? This is a broken fellow. He was broken before he rose to power. He’s broken still.
    His fate is that which comes for us all. And his time is now…

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