Goldwater

As a short digression into the world of psychiatric diagnosis, the chapter “Goldwater” discusses the controversy over whether or not mental health professionals should diagnose President Trump with a mental illness, such as narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). The chapter’s title recalls the 1964 U.S. presidential election wherein the results of a survey of psychiatrists were published in an American magazine, concluding that the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater was mentally unfit to hold office. Goldwater later sued the magazine, and the case led to what has become known as the Goldwater Rule, prohibiting psychiatrists from diagnosing public officials from afar. The chapter makes a clear distinction between psychiatric diagnosis, which adopts the language of medicine and illness, on the one hand, and psychological commentary on the other. The latter conception better characterizes what the current book aims to accomplish. Psychological commentary draws from psychological science to develop a personality portrait of a person, without diagnosis and without judgment regarding mental health and illness. Moreover, Donald Trump is much stranger than any psychiatric label can convey.