Psychiatrist Bandy Lee, an assistant clinical professor at Yale University, has determined that President Trump is a threat to the survival of the human race. Yes, you read that correctly. This psychiatrist is really just trying to get her 15 minutes of fame, similar to author Michael Wolff, whose book on the Trump White House just came out. VG Marta Hernandez wrote about his book in her posting here. Many of Lee’s colleagues in the psychiatric field have been sounding alarm bells of their own since she first published her book “The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump” along with 26 others in October of last year.

Lee’s fellow psychiatrists have stated that her book and her overly dramatic and hyperbolic warnings about Trump’s mental health violate the “Goldwater Rule“. This rule was established by the American Psychiatric Association after Barry Goldwater was the target of similar articles during his Presidential campaign in 1964. In 1973, Goldwater successfully sued Fact magazine, who published an article claiming that half of the psychiatrists it surveyed about Goldwater had cause to question his mental state and called him “unpredictable” and “a dangerous lunatic”.

Now, I am no fan of Trump, but I do think that it is certainly very dangerous to have medical professionals calling into question the mental fitness of any public figure that they have not examined themselves, in person. The Goldwater Rule was created to protect public figures from exactly the type of libel that Ms. Lee is pushing. Ms. Lee’s “warnings” are very similar, even in their phrasing, to the types of accusations leveled against Goldwater all those years ago. From an article published on The Blaze:

“As more time passes, we come closer to the greatest risk of danger, one that could even mean the extinction of the human species,” Lee said. “This is not hyperbole. This is the reality.”

How bad does she say it is? According to Lee, it’s a “public health emergency that needs to be responded to as quickly as possible.”

Lee also said there is a good chance Trump will violently lash out in the future.

His “verbal aggressiveness, history of boasting about sexual assault, history of inciting violence at his rallies, and history of endorsing violence in his key public speeches” is a predictor for impending violence, she said. “He has also shown an attraction to violence and powerful weapons.”

Sounds pretty similar to the Fact magazine article that targeted Goldwater. I would advise Ms. Lee and her other colleagues to spend time with any other public figures that they feel are a “threat to humanity”, in person. No one should be subjected to hysteria over postulations about the state of their mental health without a valid medical examination from a qualified mental health professional. In the meantime, I advise Dr. Lee and her colleagues to invest some time in pursuits that help reduce their anxiety levels, like yoga or meditation. In politically trying times like these, everyone could use a little extra self-care.