Donald Trump is “showing a lot of signs” of dangerous mental impairment and may be a threat to the survival of American society, a leading Yale psychiatrist has claimed.
In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Yale University’s Dr Bandy Lee said she had seen a “marked surge” in violence among her own patients since the day of Mr Trump’s election, blaming his strong rhetoric.
The lecturer, a former Harvard research fellow and chief resident at Massachusetts general hospital, was defending experts at an event she organised after they called the President “dangerous” and “delusional”.
The claim led one Republican politician to accuse them of “throwing ethical standards out the window because they cannot accept the election results”.
But Dr Lee insisted she and the panellists had people’s safety foremost in mind and that their judgement was not politically-motivated.
She told The Independent: “To say that there are mental health impairments in Mr Trump is not to make a moral judgement on him, and not to indict him in any way.
“It should not be used as a political weapon against him, but rather should be raised as a concern just like any medical issue that may impair an individual’s ability to function in office.
“I actually am afraid of politicisation of this. We wouldn’t make up that someone has cancer, or a disability. Mental health should be treated the same.
“One of the reasons why I think that this matter needs to be out in public discussion is because of the very special stigma that is attached to mental illness. That stigma is due to ignorance.
“It’s about the situation where the presence of mental instability in a person in a position of power [is] affecting the survival and safety, not just of our patients, but of our whole patient base, meaning it spills into our responsibility.
“As mental health professionals we are privy to specialised knowledge that most others may not have, or be able to perceive. That is how psychiatric or psychological dynamics can have public health consequences at large.
“Most of my patients are violent offenders. I’ve been treating them and designing programmes for them for over 20 years. Since the morning after Mr Trump’s election, there has been a marked surge in violence among my patients. They find justification for their violence in the rhetoric.”
Asked whether she had similar fears under Barack Obama’s presidency, she said: “No. None of us had this level of concern.”
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