Opinion | What Makes Trump Act That Way? A Psychiatrist and a Psychologist Weigh In.

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In the Editor:

Donald Trump has never apologized, acknowledged a mistake or seemed to reflect on his role in creating his repeated woes.

As a practicing mental health professional for over 40 years, I believe that people can change, but I also know that it is often difficult and painful work, sometimes requiring a therapist to help explain why a person keeps finding himself in the same kind of trouble.

This is the main problem that we and other mental health experts discussed in our 2017 book The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump and it is why he is unfit to hold high office. He must be right, no need to learn from his mistakes, and must protect his high and fragile self-image above all else, including the nations security.

He was always the victim, never having a hand in creating his own dilemmas.

Leonard L. GlassNewton, Mass. The writer is an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

In the Editor:

Efforts to find a logical or even minimally rational explanation for human behavior are likely to run into a stone wall, especially when the behavior clearly defies ordinary logic. Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents and his response to government efforts to retrieve them likely fall into this category.

I would suggest another way: a consideration of what might be deeper within Mr. Trump psychologically, under the realm of logic and conscious reason.

Think of a child’s beloved stuffed animals, commonly known in psychoanalytic terminology as transitional objects. In theory, the transitional object provides a child with a fantasy connection to the safety provided by the mother that is increasingly threatened as normal development and separation occur.

However, transitional objects can also serve perverse or negative functions, such as maintaining the fantasy of limitless and sublime power. And the need for imagined power can be seen as an attempt to counter deep feelings of weakness and vulnerability.

The behavior of Mr. Trump’s protection of his transitional objects (in this case documents) shows all the characteristics of a child’s response when a beloved stuffed animal is lost or taken. Anxiety and anger are almost immediate. Desperate attempts to preserve or restore transitional objects follow. It may be helpful to reconsider the behavior of Mr. Trump as primitive, regressive and best understood outside the parameters of adult thinking.

Priscilla F. KauffNew York The writer is a clinical professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Medical College.

In the Editor:

Re Jury Indicts Airman Who Posted Secret Files Online on Six Counts (news article, June 16):

I can’t help but see the connection between Jack Teixeiras and Donald Trump’s behavior in classified documents. It is a strange combination of arrested development and pathology.

Each is obsessed with his secret treasure, uses highlights to impress his posse and may have planned to use the information as leverage at some point.

They were like two clueless bullies in the schoolyard, with their heads too far ahead to fathom the consequences.

Alison Fenn Westport Point, Mass.

Protecting Trump in Jail?

In the Editor:

Re A President Governing From Behind Bars?!, by Nicholas Kristof (column, June 15):

Mr. reminded me. Kristofs speculative piece is a similar question that occurred to me recently as Donald Trump’s legal entanglements become more knotty.

Since the Secret Service is obligated to protect former presidents for the rest of their days, will agents be assigned to adjoining prison cells and accompany him to meals and work assignments, etc.?

Just wondering.

Joseph ManciniCroton-on-Hudson, NY

Stamping of Criminal Records

In the Editor:

Re New York Lawmakers Pass Clean Slate Act as Legislative Session Fizzles to an End (news article, June 11):

Your headline suggests a lackluster end to the legislative session, but for the two million New Yorkers now eligible to have their conviction records sealed, it ended with a bang. The Clean Slate Act, which must be signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul into law without delay, will end a major barrier that prevents those with a history of convictions from accessing housing and employment opportunities.

The law also gives hope to the 80 million individuals nationwide with criminal records that they too can have a chance to rebuild their lives and enter the middle-class economy.

As someone who spent more than two decades in prison and a national leader in the field of criminal justice reform, I have dedicated my life to erasing the stigma attached to people with arrest or conviction histories so they can successfully reintegrate. in the community.

Doing so will require a concerted effort. We need more states to follow New York’s lead in passing clean slate legislation, and a similar effort at the federal level. In the meantime, employers can join the growing number of companies actively implementing fair opportunity hiring practices.

It’s not about a handout or a hand up; it’s about a fair shake.

Ken OliverOakland, Calif. The writer is vice president of Checkr.org, which promotes the hiring of people with criminal records, and executive director of the Checkr Foundation.

The Compassionate Doctor

In the Editor:

Re AIs Helping Hand (Science Times, June 13):

For more than 30 years as a clinical oncologist, it has been my responsibility almost every day to discuss the dire outcomes and what are often limited treatment options with patients.

While I believe that AI can offer great suggestions or even a script for how to discuss terrible news in a compassionate way for the average patient, what cannot yet be factored in of AI is that each patient is different, and the right words to express compassion are always and obviously different for each patient.

Hippocrates said, It is more important to know what kind of person is sick than to know what kind of disease a person has.

Choosing words to express compassion and empathy requires health care providers to really listen to our patients. Truly appreciating each patient’s unique personality, values ​​and goals is the fundamental first step in finding the best words to express sympathy, empathy, compassion and hope.

Steven SorscherWinston-Salem, NC

Sex and the Republican Party

In the Editor:

Today’s Republican Party is obsessed with sex. It shuns and marginalizes the LGBTQ community, denigrates trans people, bans books that mention gender or gender identity, implies that gay teachers are groomers, and belittles those who are not. harmful drag queen.

The party that has never complained about the cancellation of the Democrats’ culture has taken it to a new level itself, causing great economic damage to great American corporations like Target, for things it says offends morals. sensibility of the GOPs.

It is about shamelessly generating fear and hatred for political purposes. And it’s bad.

How did we get to the point where political capital is now built on such cruelty to others?

David Pederson Excelsior, Minn.

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