NEWSWEAK DIAGNOSES GWB AS MENTALLY ILL

Leftists have been accusing conservatives of mental illness at least since 1950. Given the Leftist talent for projection, I think that tells you who the real mentally ill ones are. So the latest malicious diagnosis comes as no surprise at all. I have commented on a couple of such "diagnoses" of GWB previously (here and here). The Anchoress, News Busters, The American Thinker and others have taken the latest nonsense apart pretty comprehensively so all I want to do here is say a few words about the psychiatrist who was dragged into the article to give it some semblance of authority.

Kerry Sulkowicz, clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University Medical Center is the dude. He is a psychonanalyst -- a devoteee of the evidence-free theories of Sigmund Freud. Although Freud was a good observer and an innovative thinker, his theories have failed the only really important test -- the test of whether they work or not. At least since the 60s it has been known that the cure-rate among those who undergo Freudian psychotherapy is no different from placebo. Psychoanalytic theories DON'T WORK. And the reason why they don't work is not far to seek. They are all speculation-based, not evidence-based -- and the sort of speculation indulged in by Sulkowicz is a good example of that.

Almost any psychologist will confirm what I have said above and psychoanalysis now has little following outside New York. That a psychoanalyst is one of the few people in NYC who will listen to you is my speculation about why they remain popular there.

So Sulkowicz adds no authority whatever to the article. He is just speculating. That is his trade. Sounding good is the criterion for excellence in psychoanalysis -- very similar to the criterion for excellence in Leftist thinking. Evidence is turned to only when convenient.

Maybe I should do some speculative diagnoses too. If Leftists can speculate so can I. In my view, GWB's failings stem from the fact that he is a true Christian gentleman. He is too kind, too forgiving and too trusting -- and other people take advantage of that. I think that theory matches reality far better than the hate-crazed accusations that Leftists pour out at him.

Update:

In case it is not immediately obvious, I suppose I should mention a couple of really basic points about the Sulkowicz and Newsweek "diagnosis":

1). Psychiatrists are supposed to do an extensive personal interview with the person concerned before they offer a diagnosis. Absent that, the diagnosis is garbage.

2). Making a diagnosis public is ethically challenged, to put it mildly. That Sulkowicz took part in this exercise reveals him to be an unethical charlatan.

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