Associating political opponents with mental illness

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Something I am really sick and tired of seeing my fellow leftists doing is crap like this title of this Daily Beast (a leftist website) article:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... treat.html

Word salad is an informal synonym of schizophasia, a severe form of thought disorder in schizophrenia and mania which is manifested in speech composed of words that do not seem to be constructed according to any grammar rules. They say that Donald Trump exhibited it, but looking at what Trump actually said in his speech, that isn't true at all. For example, in reference to the Mexican President cancelling his meeting with Trump in protest of Trump's decision to complete building of a wall on the border between their 2 countries:



These sentences are constructed according to the normal rules of grammar and their meaning is very clear. It appears Trump set out to make a point and made it successfully. All the other Trump quotes are the same. Sure, the sentences are short and simple, and rather rapid fire, and they may follow a logic leftists have a hard time agreeing with, but they are not word salad, or any other form of thought disorder.

I have seen numerous attempts by leftists to associate Trump with psychotic or personality disorders, but having dealt with those issues myself and been in psychiatric hospital, actual people with those disorders aren't like Trump. They aren't even really comparable. Sure, Trump may have some sort of diagnosable mental illness,--anyone in politics may--but we lack the information needed to say for sure. In fact, American psychiatrists are required by their main organization the APA to refrain from speculating about mental disorders public figures might have, if they have not evaluated the patient themselves face to face and been given authorization to speak publicly on their condition. So all these attempts to associate Trump with mental illness are not valid.

So why do so many of my fellow leftists insist on doing it? I've called people out for it, and usually they admit they're doing something called armchair psychology, which is where an unqualified person with no psychiatric or psychological training attempts to diagnose a mental disorder in a public figure. The motivation appears to be to make the politician they don't like, like Trump, look bad and unqualified for the office they seek or hold. But what are they saying about the people like me who actually have these conditions? When I ask them why they're implying such stuff about us, they simply respond claiming that isn't their intent at all. I don't buy it.

By intending to make a politician like Trump look bad by comparing them to someone with mental illness, then regardless of the commentator's intention they are by implication trying to make people with mental illness look bad. I say to them, Cut it out, you guys!

I have Autism and seeing people lump other people with Autism as a joke is great Comedy. Part of the reason I think mental illness is used is because we can have a picture of the trait (even if it is not accurate) and drama sells,

It's just another smear tactic, an attempt to discredit and sow contempt.

And it sickens me, regardless of whether I align myself politically with the target or not.

I just consider it hyperbole and ignore it.