The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump

The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump

Adult nonfiction
"Possibly the oddest experience in my career as a psychiatrist
has been to find that the only people not allowed to speak about an
issue are those who know the most about it. Hence, the truth is
suppressed. Yet, what if that truth, furthermore, harbored dangers of
such magnitude that it could be the key to future human survival?..."
The dilemma which Bandy Lee describes in her introduction to The
Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health
Professionals Assess A President revolves around the America
Psychiatric Association's extension of the Goldwater Rule. The 1973
Goldwater Rule says that it is "unethical for a psychiatrist to offer
a professional opinion [on a public figure] unless he or she has
conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for
such a statement." The extension enacted in 2017 (shortly after the
current president took office) stipulates that mental health
professionals can't mention their profession when making any kind of
statement about a public figure.
Fortunately there is also the 1976 Tarasoff Decision which
mandates psychiatrists to speak out publically to warn and protect
potential victims when they determine a particular person is dangerous.
Which rule trumps which when the person in question is the
President of the United States?
After the 2016 election Lee and Judith Lewis Herman circulated
letters of concern among colleagues. A number were fearful of
presidential retaliation. The Yale Conference concerning all that
(April 2017) was sparsely attended. In person, that is. Many more
people tuned in on line. The book resulted from it.
I urge you to read the book--just not right before you go to bed
if you want a good night's sleep. The contributers are well respected
professionals with scads of degrees between them. Their narratives
are concise, all too relevant, and reader friendly.
If your public library doesn't yet have a copy, make sure they
acquire one. Many fellow concerned citizens will be glad you did.
On a personal note, well, yesterday was a red letter day for me. I
paid my spring semester tuition and fees and still have a decent
emergency fund. Thanks, dining services! Then I finished shelf
reading the Orono Public Library juvenile wing. The librarians are
some happy about that. I decided I'd keep track of my volunteer hours
in 2019--see if I can get in 100. Where I have 14--86 to go--I think
I will.
We are starting a few day stretch of bitter cold weather. I'm lucky
to be able to stay in with Joey cat! I have a turkey thawed and oven
ready so when Eugene comes home from working out in the cold he'll be
able to sit down to a good turkey dinner. Life is good.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow library volunteers. We do
a lot of what needs to get done to keep those fine institutions open.
jules hathaway



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