A Shrink Asks: What's Wrong with Obama?

American Thinker ^ | June 11, 2010 | Robin of Berkeley

[neverdem]

So what is the matter with Obama? Conservatives have been asking this question for some time. I've written a number of articles trying to solve the mystery.  

Even some liberals are starting to wonder. James Carville railed about Obama's blasé attitude after the catastrophic oil spill. The New York Times' Maureen Dowd revamped Obama's "Yes We Can" motto into "Will We Ever?"

The liberal women of the TV show "The View" have expressed sympathy for Michelle Obama's living with a man so out of touch. Peggy Noonan, hardly a vehement Obama foe,  recently pronounced him disconnected. 

Obama's odd mannerisms intrigue a psychotherapist like me. He also presents a serious diagnostic challenge.  

For one, Obama's teleprompter and the men behind the Blackberry keep him well-scripted. We know so little about the facts of his life.

But it's more than just a lack of information. Obama himself is a strange bird. He doesn't fit easily into any diagnostic category.

Many people attribute Obama's oddness to his narcissism. True, Obama has a gargantuan ego, and he is notoriously thin-skinned.

Yet a personality disorder like narcissism does not explain Obama's strangeness: his giggling while being asked about the economy; his continuing a shout-out rather than announcing the Ft. Hood shootings; or his vacations, golfing, partying and fundraising during the calamitous oil spill.

Take also Obama's declaring on the "Today Show" that he wants to know whose ass to kick. Consummate narcissists would never stoop to this vulgar display of adolescent machismo.

Obama is flat when passion is needed; he's aggressive when savvy is required. What's most worrisome is that Obama doesn't even realize that his behavior is inappropriate.

So if it's not just simple narcissism, what is wrong with Obama? Since I've never evaluated him, I can't say for sure. But I can hazard some educated guesses.

If I saw a client as disconnected as him, the first thing I would wonder: Is something wrong with his brain? And I'd consider the following theoretical diagnostic possibilities. 

--Physical problems: There are a multitude of physiological conditions that can cause people to act strangely. For instance: head injuries, endocrine disturbances, epilepsy, and toxic chemical exposure.

It makes me wonder: Did Obama ever have a head injury? His stepfather in Indonesia was purportedly an alcoholic abuser. Was Obama subject to any physical abuse?

-- Drugs and alcohol: Damage to the brain from drugs and alcohol can also cause significant cognitive impairments. Obama once said that there were 57 states -- and didn't correct himself. Memory problems can be caused by both illicit and prescription drug use.

Obama admits to a history of drug use in his youth. Did his usage cause some damage? Does Obama still use? 

--Asperger's Syndrome: Also known as high-functioning autism, Asperger's causes deficits in social skills. A person with Asperger's can't read social cues. Consequently, he can be insensitive and hurtful without even knowing it. 

Could Obama have Asperger's? He might have some mild traits, but certainly not the full-blown disorder. In contrast to Obama, those with Asperger's get fixated on some behavior, like programming computers. Obama lacks this kind of passion and zeal.

--Mental Illness: Obama's family tree is replete with the unbalanced. His maternal great-grandmother committed suicide. His grandfather, Stanley Dunham, was particularly unhinged: He was expelled from high school for punching his principal; named his daughter Stanley because he wanted a boy; and exposed young Barry to not just drunken trash talk, but unrestricted visits with alleged pedophile Frank Marshall Davis (who might or might not be Obama's biological father). Barack Sr. was an abusive, alcoholic bigamist.

Since mental illness runs in the family, does Obama have any signs? Yes and no. No, he is not a schizophrenic babbling about Martians. But there are red flags for some other conditions.

While Obama doesn't appear to hallucinate, he seems to have delusions. His believing he has a Messiah-like special gift smacks of grandiose delusions. His externalizing all blame to conservatives, George W. Bush, or the "racist" bogeyman hints at persecutory delusions. 

Along with a delusional disorder, Obama may fit for a mild psychotic disorder called schizotypal disorder. It may explain some of Obama's oddness. 

People with schizotypal disorder hold bizarre beliefs, are suspicious and paranoid, and have inappropriate and constricted affect. They have few close friends and are socially awkward. A schizotypal is someone like your strange cousin Becky who is addicted to astrology, believes she is psychic, and is the oddball at social gatherings.

Schizotypal Disorder does ring some bells vis-à-vis Obama. One way the diagnosis doesn't fit, however, is that schizotypals are generally harmless, odd ducks. Not so with Obama.

--Trauma: My gut tells me that Obama was seriously traumatized in childhood. His mother disregarded his basic needs, dragged him all over the place, and ultimately abandoned him.

But I think there may be something even more insidious in his family background. While I can't prove it, the degree of Obama's disconnect reminds me of my sexually abused clients.

With serious sexual abuse, the brain chemistry may change. The child dissociates -- that is, disconnects from his being -- in order to cope. Many adult survivors still dissociate, from occasional trances to the most extreme cases of multiple personality disorder.

Apparently, young Barry was left in the care of Communist Frank Marshall Davis, who admitted to molesting a 13-year-old girl. As a teenager, Obama wrote a disturbing poem, "Pop," that evoked images of sexual abuse -- for instance, describing dual amber stains on both his and "Pop's" shorts.

Would trauma explain Obama's disconnect? In many ways, yes. A damaged and unattached child may develop a "false self." To compensate for the enormous deficits in identity and attachment, the child invents his own personality. For Obama, it may have been as a special, gifted person.

Let's return now to my original question: What is wrong with Obama? My guess is a great deal. The answer is complex and likely includes some combination of the above.

Along with the brain issues are personality disorders: narcissism, paranoia, passive-aggressiveness. There's even the possibility of the most destructive character defect of all, an antisocial personality. Untreated abuse can foster antisocial traits, especially among boys.

If my assessment is accurate, what does this mean? 

It means that liberals need to wake up and spit out the Kool-Aid...and that conservatives should put aside differences, band together, and elect as many Republicans as possible.

Because Obama will not change. He will not learn from his mistakes. He will not grow and mature from on-the-job experience. In fact, over time, Obama will likely become a more ferocious version of who he is today. 

Why? Because this is a damaged person. Obama's fate was sealed years ago growing up in his strange and poisonous family. Later on, his empty vessel was filled with the hateful bile of men like Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers. 

Obama will not evolve; he will not rise to the occasion; he will not become the man he was meant to be. This is for one reason and one reason alone:

He is not capable of it.

A frequent AT contributor, Robin is a psychotherapist in Berkeley and a recovering liberal. You can e-mail Robin at robinofberkeley@hotmail.com. She regrets that she may not be able to acknowledge your e-mail.

[Quix]

Those groups just have bit parts serving the globalist oligarchy.

Some very central bit parts but still bit parts.

[mojitojoe]

Very telling isn’t it. He does the same thing over and over. Did you see how nervous Biden was? He acted as if he didn’t know if O was going to lose it. After a while it almost looked as if Biden wanted to laugh. :P

[ransomnote]

Thanks for the link. Actually, I am referring to a different pose that does not favor a left or right tilt but instead, Obama closes his eyes, smirks, and tilts his head back to place his nose in the air. He holds this pose in the most unbelievably self satisfied manner and so far, the one person I’ve seen pictures of posing like that, is Mussolini. I don’t know how to post pics but other Freepers occasionally post Mussolini next to Obama, each with his nose in the air and a self-love smirk on his face.

[Quix]

Yeah, I think he has more than a tinge of psychopathic horror, too.

[Quix]

INDEED.

[Quix]

One more opinion.

If you REALLY think that this destroyer traitorous jerk with a horrendous amount of Reactive Attachment Disorder

is merely an odd duck . . .

that’s probably all I need to know about your assessment skills.

[Quix]

What’s your profession?

[ransomnote]

Interesting point you make. Biden didn’t know if Obama was going to lose it. This means Biden has seen Obama lose it before.
I used to socialize with a relative who routinely ‘lost it’. Then one day, I realized that she was using my knowledge of her rage as a tool. When someone was offending her, she began signaling me that she was about to lose it. It made me terribly nervous - I had seen such epic rages and I was frantic to try to redirect the conversation to ‘safer’ ground. At some point, I realized that she had ‘trained me’ to ‘make things more to her liking’ by signaling me that she was going to lose it if I didn’t. This may mean that Biden has been trained thusly. Once I realized what my relative was doing, I feigned a languid contentment throughout the offending proceedings no matter how frantically she signaled impending rage in order to tell her ‘handle it yourself!’.

[Quix]

What the heck can we expect in that regard with this misfit?

== =

The worse he can possibly get away with . . . before they jerk him off the stage very rudely.

Which will likely be very much too late and after enormous deaths and chaos . . .

[RummyChick]

Oh, I know the pose. But that link shows that there is another indicator that something is wrong with him.

There may be some medical condition that causes his Mussolini chin in the air pose - or at least exacerbates it. From the medical physical issue to the insane mental issue. Could be some of both.

I tracked down the Warren video and he does have a distinctive head tilt in that one but the position of the interviewer may have increased his need for the head tilt. If the interviewer had been in front you might have got more chin in the air.

[Quix]

INDEED. WELL PUT.

[Quix]

WHO are they?

My tagline link is to a lot of their quotes from the last 110 years . . .

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2519352/posts?page=2#2

[Quix]

INDEED.

[autumnraine]

If this doesn't say "CRAZY EYES", then nothing does.

[Quix]

INDEED.

[justsaynomore]

A person can be both a Narcissist and a Marxist, Communist, Fascist Dictator. I believe some of the most deranged, evil, power-hungry leaders in history were also psychopaths and/or narcissists.

The mental illness is compatible with the left’s political ideology (government=ultimate power), the left’s agenda is a narcissist’s dream situation because it feeds unlimited power and admiration. A true conservative has a much harder time being a narcissist in government (that is if they actually believe htey are public servants and not gods)

[Quix]

More than a little reasonable in this day and age.

. . . though . . . given many professional colleagues . . . I’d sure want THEM picked carefully!

[cpforlife.org]

don't have obozo w Mussolini but I made this one w Marx the week he talked to Joe the Plumber:

"I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
B Hussein Øbama

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
Karl Marx

B Hussein Øbama is
The Marxist Messiah

[Quix]

We won’t.

Not in anything like the form we went into his reign of terror in.

[WHBates]

I don’t care what’s wrong with him, I want him gone. In fact I don’t care enough about him to give a s**t.