Trump-Corbyn
Syndrome Defined As New Mental Disorder
New editions of two major
mental disorder classification manuals are to
list Trump-Corbyn Syndrome (TCS) as a mental
disorder.
The naming of the condition
was inspired by the behaviour of Donald Trump's
supporters in the US and Jeremy Corbyn's
supporters in the UK.
The disorder is triggered
by often justifiable anger about a person or
institution. TCS is diagnosed if the person
experiencing such strong negative feelings then
rejects the object of their anger in favour of a
radically different alternative that is entirely
unfit for purpose.
The draft DSM-6 manual (Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -
Sixth Revision) gives an example of a person with
Trump-Corbyn Syndrome purchasing an airline
ticket:
The Australian carrier
Quantas is consistently rated as the world's
safest airline. The Indonesian domestic airline,
Transnusa, is currently rated by AirlineRatings.com
as amongst the least safe.
A TCS sufferer might take a
dislike to the Quantas logo and book with
Transnusa on an impulsive, emotional whim. He or
she would dismiss the dangers and simply hope
that the safety issues for which the Indonesian
airline has been criticised would somehow be
resolved before his or her flight.
The draft ICD-11 manual (International
Classification of Diseases - Eleventh Revision)
quotes the example of a person with Trump-Corbyn
Syndrome snorkelling on a reef that contains
angelfish and other such small, inoffensive
creatures:
Such a swimmer might judge
the reef to be boring and instead plan to snorkel
in a location populated by hungry sharks and
crocodiles. A person afflicted by TCS would see
the new location as hugely more interesting but
be deaf to warnings by others about the
disadvantages of swimming there.
Both these examples
illustrate the key characteristic of the
condition. This relates to passionately pursuing
whatever feels good in the present while applying
no intelligent thought at all to future
consequences.
'The difficulty with TCS is
that it's a personality disorder,' explained a
representative of the UK Royal College of
Psychiatrists. 'This means that the beliefs and
attitudes involved are so integrated with the
personal identities of sufferers that, firstly,
they are unable to recognise that they're ill,
and, secondly, there are no effective treatments.
Medication is ineffective in treating personality
disorders,' she continued, 'and psychological
interventions tend to have only limited effects
in less severe cases.'
A consequence of the lack
of insight of TCS sufferers is that their views
are not influenced by objective facts. The focus
of their passionate support can fail
catastrophically and yet those afflicted with TCS
remain unable to accept the obvious.
'A good example of this
occurs in relation to end-of-the-world cults,'
explained a representative of the American
Psychiatric Association. 'One might think that an
end-of-the-world cult would disintegrate if the
appointed day for the apocalypse passed without
incident.
'What has actually happened
on many occasions, however, is that the faith of
believers - all of whom could be diagnosed with
TCS - has become strengthened by the experience.
They find ways to reinterpret the new reality in
the context of their delusions. A classic way to
achieve this is to give thanks to their god, or
whatever entity was due to destroy the world, for
sparing them.'
There is no doubt among
experts that exactly the same phenomenon would
occur in relation to the supporters of Donald
Trump in the US and those of Jeremy Corbyn in the
UK if either were to gain power.
'If Donald Trump was
elected to US president,' the APA representative
continued, 'and he impetuously started a nuclear
war on the following Tuesday, his supporters -
all of whom, by definition, experience some
degree of TCS - would not blame him for poor
judgement. They would, instead, blame Iceland -
or whichever random country he had chosen to nuke
- for provoking an attack by a totally reasonable
and rational president.'
The representative of the
UK Royal College of Psychiatrists described a
related scenario in a British context. 'Suppose
Jeremy Corbyn became the British Prime Minister,'
she began. 'It's pretty obvious to anyone who
thinks about it that within twelve months the UK
would have reverted to the political, economic
and social chaos of the 1970s.
'Supporters of Mr Corbyn
would not blame him, however. His TCS afflicted
followers would, in fact, have a pre-existing
narrative to explain the carnage that they had
brought upon the country - a narrative that did
not implicate Mr Corbyn at all.
'They would be likely to
argue that the breakdown of British society had
been an inevitable consequence of conflict
between those who owned the means of production
and the proletariat. Not one of them would grasp
that simplistic Marxist ideology should never
have been applied to the complex political,
social and economic circumstances of the early
twenty-first century.'
Donald Trump and Jeremy
Corbyn appear to be at opposite ends of the
political spectrum. In the context of the above,
therefore, it is interesting that identical
campaign slogans have been adopted by supporters
of both - and that these slogans resonate with
those in George Orwell's book, 1984. 'Inconvenient
truths are lies' shout supporters of both men at
their rallies together with 'If it feels true; it
is true'.
The real catastrophe would
occur, of course, if enough people became
afflicted with TCS to result in someone who was
potentially dangerous gaining significant
political power.
For previous examples of
the dire consequences of such a development,
please consult any world history book that covers
the early to mid-twentieth century.
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