Letter to the Editor

America's fear psychosis

Today, fear psychosis permeates America's democratic institutions such as CDC, FDA, EPA, FBI, DOJ, USPS, etc. There are police brutalities, racial strife, culture wars, chaos, division and disruptions. These are clearly products of Trump's malignant narcissism.

What is malignant narcissism? Due to various severe emotional traumas, deprivation of parental love and humiliations, the child develops extreme feelings of inferiority, insecurity and helpless rage. To cope with these, the child loves and praises himself excessively. He boasts incessantly; craves constant attention, awards and rewards; loves flattery; lies compulsively to impress and manipulate people; talks tough to sound strong; belittles, intimidates and bullies "enemies" to feel better about himself, and indulges in antisocial activities to get whatever he wants. He becomes obsessed with exacting revenge against those who reject, humiliate and criticize him. He avoids self-awareness by denial and blaming others. Due to extreme self-centeredness, he becomes incapable of empathy. He constantly fights with other kids and attracts shady characters. These destructive behaviors take deep roots and continue into adulthood.

Malignant narcissist's future behaviors are highly predictable, as the pattern is well-established. If Trump is defeated, humiliation and fear of prosecution would cause such severe rage that he would refuse to stepdown, seek revenge against America and resort to scorched earth policy. He would even encourage his supporters to launch armed revolt.

Trump reminds us of other destructive malignant narcissists in history: Nero and Caligula in ancient Rome, and Hitler and Mussolini in modern Europe. Brace yourself for unspeakable tragedies ahead.

K.P.S. Kamath, Cape Girardeau