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Does John McCain Suffer from Mental Illness?
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McCain Shows Classic Symptoms of BPD
Over the course of this presidential campaign that I have been watching quite closely, I’ve made a few startling discoveries. Now while this is strictly based on brief observations and statements from John McCain over the past few years, I have come to the conclusion that Senator John McCain exhibits some symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder.
A few points: BPD is usually a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As many Americans know John McCain was a Prisoner of War during Vietnam in the Hanoi Hilton. Five years as a prisoner being tortured is indeed enough to cause PTSD in anyone.
Symptom: Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)
Case: John McCain has a known volatile temper: Lashing out a number of times at critics as well as his wife. Recent discussion has been made by pundits on both sides of the aisle whether or not he has the “temperament” to be president. McCain himself has admitted to being a “trouble-maker” growing up and that he has trouble controlling his temper. Also one should noteJohn McCain's legendary anger, citing this article in the UK Independent which quotes McCain:
Right up to his twenties, he remained a strikingly violent man, "ready to fight at the drop of a hat", according to his biographer Robert Timberg. This rage seems to be at the core of his personality: describing his own childhood, McCain has written: "At the smallest provocation I would go off into a mad frenzy, and then suddenly crash to the floor unconscious. When I got angry I held my breath until I blacked out."
Symptom: Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating)
Case: There is the issue of impulsivity; sexual and otherwise. It was a known fact that McCain was cheating on his first wife before divorcing and marrying Cindy. Also in regards to impulsivity, McCain has been on buying sprees with his 13 cars, his rash choice in Vice President.
Symptom: Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
Case: From a political perspective McCain has had several revolving identities. He has called himself a reformer, but has also prided himself as a deregulator. He calls himself a “maverick” and “iconoclast” yet by principal and by voting record he has been in lockstep with his party and the current administration quite frequently. A full list of his inability to identify himself can be found here.
Symptom: Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation.
Case: During the primary season, McCain was known as being very affable with the press, giving them complete access to him and on his “Straight Talk Express” bus. However, in recent weeks negative criticism has amped up on all corners of the press. He claims that the press have been attacking him and has expressed a great deal of paranoia about New York Times, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, CBS and others.
Symptom: Persistent threats or ultimatums to try to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
Case: Most recently, McCain has threatened not to attend the presidential debates unless the $700 Billion Bailout bill is passed; McCain has been quoted as saying that he knows where Osama Bin Laden is, however, he won’t do anything about it unless he is elected president. McCain launched a great many negative and largely untrue attacks against Obama because Obama would not attend his town hall style meetings over the course of the summer. He said that if Obama had attended these meetings, then there would be no negative ads.
While it should be noted that this article is in no way a fully scientific or medical diagnosis, these are purely just observations that I made as if I were reading a case report on a patient’s history to try to determine what disorder they may have. The parallels are continuously longer and far more in depth but this is all the word count will allow for this particular article.
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