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.

[Candor7]

IMHO, any president who was not learned in military discipline, throughout our history has been a disaster.

Someone should dock his pay.

[Windflier]

...what do you think from this closeup?

I say it's an accidental parting of his hair.

If you look closely, you can even see that the direction of the hair strands goes in different directions on either side of this part.

If you don't have that type of hair, you may not be familiar with how easy it is to do that, but I do, and I can tell you that it's an easy mistake to make.

Most black men are very careful to brush their hair so that it doesn't do that, but Zero is incompetent at everything else, so....

I've seen other pictures with a similar feature showing on the right side of his head that are shaped differently. One is a crooked line. This one is mostly straight.

Methinks there's too much tin foil laying around.

[Windflier]

Poor hair brushing in separate instances? I don’t think so.

I challenge you to get a hold of every picture showing this feature and to compare them for consistency. You'll see that each image will show a different "scar".

One image I've seen shows a crooked line going down the side of his head. The other two images I've seen show a more or less straight line going through his scalp, but even those two are not identical.

If the man makes this mistake once, it's because of his peculiar grooming habits. You can expect and predict that he will repeat it.

Seriously, this is much ado about nothing.

[240B]

Discipline is a big part. But the military is a life experience.

Duty, Honor, Respect, Decorum, Rules, Self Respect, these are all the things that the Libs have fought so hard to eliminate in American life since the 60s.

And I must say, objectively, they have been wildly successful. But, I dare say, I don't think their success is going to benefit them the way they think it will.

History tells us clearly whenever there is a 'takeover', intellectuals, teachers, homosexuals, and Liberal thinkers, are the first ones against the wall, every time, every country, every culture, every religion.

again, this just my opinion.

[little jeremiah]

I will take your word for it, especially if there are photos showing other lines that look different.

The only African kind of hair I’ve dealt with was much longer.

[Windflier]

Might be fun. I’d have to freepmail the boss first, to see if he wants to make it official.

[Windflier]

Well, you can always save the one closeup on this thread, then compare it to the next photo that shows up. I guarantee you’ll see a difference.

The manchild just can’t brush his hair straight, and his handlers keep missing it. That’s all this is.

[Candor7]

History tells us clearly whenever there is a 'takeover', intellectuals, teachers, homosexuals, and Liberal thinkers, are the first ones against the wall, every time, every country, every culture, every religion.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>,

Yes, I agree. Fascism has a "purge" mentality for those who appear to fail, for example. Look at what happened to Obam's socialsecretary, after she allowed party crashers to get in. Suddd

[240B]

I respectfully disagree. It is not about ‘fail’.

It is always about consolidation, power, and control.

Obama has already taught us that he is willing to throw his closest friends, acquaintances, allies, under the bus in a minute.

This is very much a portend as to how he will treat Jews, Staff, and Supporters, when he gets the uber-power that he wants. It is a ‘Scarface’ scenario.

Forgive his supporters, for they know not what they do.

[Candor7]

Well you have "fail" and you have "fail"..... :-) Simply put, there are no honest mistakes without an " Off with her head," Alice in Wonderland, Queen of Hearts response. That makes government ineffective, filled with yes men and women, who live in constant fear rather than doing their jobs.

Its all about fear.

You know, the idea of " hear my name and tremble."

The goal is the political, economic and social destabilization of America.

America is realizing that the effing bastard is a serious threat to our way of life and many are coming to think he should be gone ASAP, anyway, anyhow.

But waht elesis new.

[240B]

I see.
I understand what you mean now.

[Candor7]

I wish I was younger thab 61, say about 23 . It would be afun jaunt to be with them if they go.We would likely hear very little about it.

[April Lexington]

The Pubbie leaders better have emergency contingency plans at hand for the worst they and we can imagine

Trust me... they don't...

[thecodont]

The evil eyes have been persistent in one area, since day one. That is when he has to salute as he embarks or disembarks Marine1 or AF1. For some reason, that really pisses him off.

Good observation. Why do you suppose that is?

[ransomnote]

I am embarrassed to recall that the strategy had worked on me as long as it had. You ask what happens after the tantrum.
My relative was refreshed by her own tantrums - it discharged the psychological stress behind being co-morbid for 3 overlapping personality disorders. However, I was not refreshed by her rages because they were directed at me (she was too cowardly to confront the actual ‘offender’); I found them exhausting and quite damaging. I guess the answer is that training includes punishment - the tantrum is only part of the punishment, there’s always more (i.e. demeaning, clawing, undermining etc.) that is concealed. Punishment is delivered when others are not looking. Wonder if Biden was ‘taken to the woodshed’ after this incident. Then the goal becomes ‘avoid further abuse’ by intervening to defuse ‘impending rage’ episodes before they fester.
I suspect Biden is rather new spending time around someone who employs ‘impending rage’ episodes, especially because Biden seemed to find part of it amusing – but he has seen them. And Obama probably vented on him after that episode.

Yes, it is a…tricky...maneuver (**smiling…at the understatement…..that is large enough… to sustain its own gravitational field**)

[ransomnote]

Thank you for posting that infernal picture! Surely someone must have photo-shopped a Darth Vader helmet into this picture by now!

[Diamond]

Just so we're sure about it, the words in italics in the first line of my post are quoted from the post to which I was replying. The words are not originally mine. I put the words of the other poster in italics, like this:

all I’m saying is that on a constitutional level, it is very difficult for me to defend NOT allowing same-sex couples to be married.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

-----------------------------------------------

The constitution does not mention sex, marriage or homo sexuality, at east the last time I read it last week. Has Obama changed it already?

I did see this last week:

Cordially,

[2harddrive]

Isn’t it AMAZING what happens, when you have a “President” whose brother lives in a hut in Africa? We might as well be led by Idi Amin!

[Windflier]

Thank you for posting that infernal picture! Surely someone must have photo-shopped a Darth Vader helmet into this picture by now!

No Darth Vader helmet needed. That picture is as evil as it gets.

[Quix]

Very well put.

Thx.