WHAT WAS "MENTAL ILLNESS?" Is the sitting president "mentally ill?"

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2025

The dumbness of the cetacean: We've spoken, again and again, about the apparent change in the preferred language.

(We've also cited an obvious fact. We're forced to offer our best impressions about such matters because the people who pose as Blue America's journalists refuse to interview the medical specialists who might actually know what's what.)

The times, they don't seem to be a-changin', but it seems like the language is. For perhaps the ten millionth time, this is what the leading authority says about the question of appropriate—about the language which should be used to discuss the condition(s) once known as "mental illness:"

Mental disorder

A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is also characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, often in a social context. Such disturbances may occur as single episodes, may be persistent, or may be relapsing–remitting...

[...]

For a mental state to be classified as a disorder, it generally needs to cause dysfunction. Most international clinical documents use the term mental "disorder," while "illness" is also common. It has been noted that using the term "mental" (i.e., of the mind) is not necessarily meant to imply separateness from the brain or body.

The language, it seems to be a-changin'! As you can see in the title which sits atop this lengthy report, this leading authority prefers the newer term, "mental disorder" to the older term, "mental illness."

For reasons which aren't directly explained, the newer term, "mental disorder," now seems to be preferred. Presumably due to issues of stigma, the previous terms—"mental illness," "mentally ill"—now seem to be on the way out.

We've also stressed a second fact. If you have any confidence in the state of medical science, the incidence of certain kinds of "mental disorder" may be surprisingly large. In her 2020 best-seller, Too Much and Never Enough, Mary L. Trump, Ph.D., offered certain facts about the prevalence of the "mental disorder" (antisocial personality disorder) which is colloquially thought of as "sociopathy:"

[S]ociopathy is not rare, afflicting as much as 3 percent of the population. Seventy-five percent of those diagnosed are men. Symptoms of sociopathy include a lack of empathy a facility for lying, an indifference to right and wrong, abusive behavior, and a lack of interest in the rights of others. Having a sociopath as a parent, especially if there is no one else around to mitigate the effects, all but guarantees severe disruption in how children understand themselves, regulate their emotions, and engage with the world.

According to most studies--according to most accounts of those studies—something like five percent of adult men can be diagnosed with what used to be known as "sociopathy." 

For the record, the people who are afflicted that way aren't all Hannibal Lecter! That is to say, a person can be afflicted in the enumerated ways—with "a lack of empathy a facility for lying, an indifference to right and wrong"—without having engaged in mass murder or even in Hollywood cannibalism.

Further disclosure: Mary L. Trump, Ph.D., said in her book that the current president, her uncle, actually is the child of a "high-functioning sociopath." We've also stressed a reported finding of medical science, a finding Mary Trump briefly cites in her book:

"Sociopathy" is, at least in part, a heritable condition. Quoting again from the leading authority (see above):

It has been noted that using the term "mental" (i.e., of the mind) is not necessarily meant to imply separateness from the brain or body.

What used to be known as "mental illness" isn't necessarily separate from the brain or the body! A "mental disorder" can be a biological condition, much like the measles, the flu or the mumps.

Elsewhere, that same authority says this about ASPD: 

Personality disorders are generally believed to be caused by a combination and interaction of genetics and environmental influences...Research into genetic associations in antisocial personality disorder suggests that ASPD has some or even a strong genetic basis.

In short, it sounds like "sociopathy" can be bred in the bone, though we no longer call it that.

All in all, we'd be inclined to put it like this:

People don't choose to be what was once known as "mentally ill." That brings us to what we saw—or to what we failed to see—on MS NOW's programs last night.

On the one hand, we thought we saw a bunch of the dumbest mother-frumpers ever assembled on earth. It could also be thought that we simply saw a collection of the world's most obedient corporate employees.

We say that because, as you already know, the president's behavior yesterday was stunningly disordered—so much so that it brought near-universal condemnation from all points inside MAGA world. 

Even MAGA rose to condemn the president's conduct! As you can see by clicking the links, those condemnations were reported by Mediaite in such reports as these:

Fox News Panel Unanimously Condemns Trump’s Reaction to Rob Reiner’s Killing

Here Are the Fox News Stars Horrified by Trump’s Gloating Post About Rob Reiner’s Murder

Former Trump Adviser Rips President’s ‘Indefensible’ Comments on Rob Reiner

MAGA Actor James Woods Tears Up as He Praises ‘Patriot’ Rob Reiner in Rebuke of ‘Distasteful’ Attacks

On and on the condemnations from inside MAGA world went. Indeed, the lengthy interview with James Woods was conducted by none other than Jesse Watters on Jesse Watters Primetime! 

Even Watters agreed to let the president's conduct be criticized. Only two MAGA stars explicitly refused to condemn. We refer to Speaker Mike Johnson and (of course) to the Fox News Channel's Greg Gutfeld, who refused to rebuke the president on yesterday's The Five.

All across the MAGA realm, leading figures of that world denounced the president's conduct. For the record, who behaves in the startling way the president behaved yesterday, on two separate occasions?

Who behaves in the way he did? As a mere speculation, might such behavior perhaps emerge from people afflicted with "a lack of empathy a facility for lying, an indifference to right and wrong and a lack of interest in the rights of others?" 

From someone afflicted with those characteristics, perhaps through genetic inheritance?

Is that who might behave in the way the president did? Whatever the answer might be, everyone has heard about how bizarre his conduct was—everyone except viewers in Blue America who watched last evening's MS NOW "cable news" TV shows.

We're going to spend the next few days showing you what was said—and what amazingly wasn't said—on those shows last night. For today, we'll only tell you this:

As we scanned a succession of such shows, it seemed to us that we were watching a succession of profoundly ineducable people.

We Blues! Do we believe that some people are what used to be called "mentally ill?" Do we believe in medical science at all? Whether by the older or the newer name, do we believe in the existence of something once called "mental illness?"

Amazing! All over the MAGA realm, stalwarts condemned the president's inexcusable conduct. All over MS NOW, from Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow on through to the end of the night, Blue America watched its stars discussing everything else.

Melville puzzled over "the whiteness of the whale." Last night, we surveyed the unyielding dumbness which has long been our species' lot.

Dear friends, what is the condition which was once called "mental illness?" At this site, we'll pursue that cetacean all week!

Tomorrow: Could the sitting president be "mentally ill?" Let's start with Deadline: White House