Mental Health Professionals got together and wrote a book about Trump's (deteriorating)mental state. The article is an interesting read.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/these-27-top-shrinks-think-trump-might-be-nuts
"
They warn that the Trump effect has created a “malignant normalcy,” a collective psychological anesthesia. It’s the kind of hush that falls before an impending hurricane or an October surprise. As comforting as this lull may feel, evidence mounts that the worst is coming.
In fairness, many reasonable people would argue that anyone who exalts him or herself to the degree of exceptionalism necessary to lead the world as president of the United States must have at least a healthy degree of narcissism.
They’re right, according to Craig Malkin, a clinical psychologist and lecturer for Harvard medical school and a contributor to the book. Healthy narcissism is a trait that all of us carry: the drive to feel special or unique. “In fact, people with a healthy dose of narcissism are happier, more optimistic and consistently confident than people at the low end of the spectrum,” he writes. Pathological [or malignant] narcissism begins “when people become so addicted to feeling special that, just like with any drug, they’ll do anything to get their ‘high,’” writes Malkin, author of
Rethinking Narcissism.
The call to action for Zimbardo came when he recognized in Trump the pathological behavior he has defined as “extreme present hedonism.”
These are people who live for the moment, he told me, “mostly children, but some adult hedonists, too. They make decisions on the spur of the moment, never thinking about the consequences.” Easily bored, they constantly seek novelty and are vulnerable to addiction. This extreme present hedonism is apparent in Trump, “because he will say whatever it takes to pump up his ego and to assuage his inherent low self-esteem, without any thought for the potentially devastating future outcomes from his off-the-cuff remarks or even major decisions,” according to the scholar psychologist.
Who would have guessed that the Army Field Manual identifies empathy as an essential attribute of a leader’s character? The Army repeatedly stresses the necessity that a leader” “demonstrates an understanding of another person’s point of view,” and “identifies with others’ feelings and emotions.” It’s not enough to understand how another person feels—the best dictators are adept at sensing people’s vulnerabilities and exploiting them. A democratic leader also has to care about the impact of his words and actions on others.
The final chapter of the book is subtitled “Tyranny as a Triumph of Narcissism.” Elizabeth Mika, a clinical psychologist who earned her degree in an Eastern European country once ruled by a dictatorial regime, made the point to me that narcissism contains within itself the seeds of its own demise. “It animates the beast while, paradoxically, eating it alive, bringing its downfall in due time,” she has written. She gave me her definition of “narcissistic collusion,” as “the interplay of grandiose hopes and expectations between the tyrant-in-the-making and his supporters.” I asked if narcissistic collusion inevitably expands as time goes on. “Yes, like a balloon we keep inflating,” she said. The darkest outcome, she predicts, is “an explosion that could destroy all within its reach.”
"
