Henry Marsh: Trump is a Symptom of Social Pathology
Neurosurgeon Henry Marsh argues that Donald Trump's behavior should not be explained solely by personality disorders, but by a social pathology – a system that allows deceitful politicians to gain power.
Renowned neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, in an opinion piece marking US President Donald Trump's 80th birthday, asserts that Trump's grotesque behavior is not appropriately diagnosed as narcissistic personality disorder or frontotemporal dementia, as many suggest. While Trump exhibits narcissistic traits—lack of empathy, belief in his own divinity—Marsh contends the real issue is social.
Marsh describes Trump as an unpleasant individual who lies without remorse and often succeeds, especially in politics. The true pathology, he writes, lies in the social realm: such liars can surround themselves with sycophants and spread simple lies that appeal to people who naively believe in the myth of the "great leader."
This social pathology is exacerbated by the fact that most world leaders are elderly. Marsh notes that in few other professions—neurosurgery, aviation, military, corporate leadership—do people in their seventies or eighties hold such responsible positions. He admits that as he approaches his own 80th birthday, he feels his energy and abilities declining, and assumes the same for Trump. He adds that aging brains appear shrunken and wrinkled on MRI scans.
The problem, Marsh concludes, is not just Trump as an unpleasant old man, but the social system that brought him to power and the timid Republican leaders too afraid to say publicly what they think: that he is utterly unfit for office. The cost of this cowardice is measured in thousands of innocent lives.
