Trump's potential mental problems are 'a public health emergency': Yale psychiatrist tells critics
Saturday it was revealed that Yale University psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee is being sued by President Donald Trump's lawyer Alan Dershowitz for saying he may have a shared psychosis with the president. While the lawsuit may not proceed in court, there's a very real question about the burden psychiatrist and psychologists have when warning about the president's instability.
In a Twitter thread Sunday, Lee explained that she complied by "the Goldwater rule" for 20 years, though, as a forensic psychiatrist, she wasn't obligated to. As critics like Dershowitz assail Lee, she clapped back, saying that there is a "public health emergency" due to the president's instability.
"If our political system were working and dangers were contained, the reasons for my speaking up would cease, and I would be able to go back to my own life, which is radically different than the one I am leading now," Lee wrote.
She recalled the powerful speech from climate activist Greta Thunberg, who said that she fell into a deep depression because, if climate change was real, those in charge weren't acting rationally. They were doing nothing, which meant she had no future.
"I find myself unable to continue my own routine work, for if the signs I see in the president were real (and there is no doubt now), and he has access to nuclear weapons as well as many other lesser powers, then those in charge are not acting rationally to save humanity," Lee continued.
"Some say I have no place in this discussion as a health professional. If that is the case, can they possibly name a greater public health emergency? Especially as a mental health professional, as a violence expert, I cannot think of anything that is more my business right now," she closed."
When Lee explained Dershowitz's "shared psychosis," she said he "may" have it. That could be enough protection for Lee, particularly given Dershowitz is a public figure.
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