Is "Trump Derangement Syndrome" a Real Mental Condition?All you need to know about "Trump Derangement Syndrome," or TDS.
Posted Jan 04, 2019
Many clinicians, political commentators and members of the public have speculated upon the mental health of President Donald Trump. Indeed,
over 70,000 people self-identifying as "mental health professionals" have signed a petition
declaring that "Trump is mentally ill and must be removed." In sociological terms, the ‘medical gaze’ has been hitheHowever, in recent months many have been questioning the direction of this ‘medical gaze.' In fact, more and more people are suggesting that this ‘medical gaze’ should be reversed and refocused on President Trump’s most embittered and partisan opponents. Some have even suggested that these opponents are experiencing a specific mental condition, which has been labelled ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome' (TDS).
rto focused on President Trump, and to a lesser extent his ardent supporters.
Mental illnesses are officially classified in a dense and dry book published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-version 5
(DSM-5). This book contains 947 pages and lists hundreds of mental disorders; TDS is nowhere to be seen in DSM-5. Similarly, a review of scholarly databases such as MEDLINE and Google Scholar reveal no academic papers on this alleged syndrome. Officially at least, TDS is not a real, diagnosable or treatable mental disorder.
That said, medical anthropologists and critical sociologists have convincingly argued that DSM-5 is a flawed document. Indeed, social scientists have long recognized that there are numerous ‘folk categories’
of mental disorders that are considered real conditions by the general public, even though they are not recognized as such in the DSM. These include categories such as ‘burnout’ or ‘nervous breakdown.'
As such, lack of official recognition does not mean that TDS is not a real mental condition.
Lay Understandings of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’
There is no shared lay understanding of TDS, mainly because it is a folk category rather than a professional category. As such, there is currently much armchair speculation about the nature and existence of TDS, without consensus.
The name itself explicitly suggests a ‘syndrome,' which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "a characteristic combination of opinions, emotions, or behavior." Several commentators have run with this, putting forth suggestions about opinions, emotions and behaviors characterizing TDS.
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over 70,000 people self-identifying as "mental health professionals" have signed a petition
giving their mental oinions all the value of Globull Warming group thinkers
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-men/201901/is-trump-derangement-syndrome-real-mental-condition
