Thread by @PaulHRosenberg

Caretakers of young psychopaths experience pervasive depression. It's a micro-model of what's happening in the US under Trump, also seen elsewhere around the world. But it can be overcome: 1/13
salon.com/2019/09/15/the…

Trump generates so much chaos it's exhausting, impossible to follow much less understand. A clarifying lens is needed, and physician/scholar Fred Burkle gave me one, as he'd done before describing Trump as a schoolyard bully: 2/13
salon.com/2019/07/22/und…

The new lens Burkle provided, to understand Trump's psychological impact, was the effect young psycopaths have on their caretake families: 3/13

Those with mental illness internalize depression & other ill effects, while those character disorders externalize them onto others around them. That's the basic dynamic we're experiencing, Burkle explained: 4/13

The spread of depression can't be understood apart from the spread of the psychopathic leader's power. @yourauntemma explains that "Tyrannies are three-legged beasts"—tyrant, his supporters & society as a whole—aka the “toxic triangle”: 5/13 salon.com/2017/10/15/don…

Mika introduced two key concepts. First, #Pathocracy, the rule of pathological characters: 6/13

Second, #PositiveDisintegration, the cure that comes from realizing the importance of higher values: 7/13

.@disorderedworld added nuance to how the toxic triangle works, distinguishing between those sharing the leader's pathology and those temporarily swept up in it under stress, a majority amongst supporters: 8/13

But the minority who *do* share the leader's pathology amplify & normalize his behavior. They've helped accelerate the craziness in recent months & weeks: 9/13

America is in a much different place from full-blown pathocracies. The bulk of my story looks at where we are—but with an eye to where we may go—and where we need to go instead: 10/13

As happpened with Solidarity in Poland, courageous leaders may come from all social groups—and have already done so—from #BlackLivesMatter to @sunrisemvmt: 11/13

But similar courageous visionary leadership should come from the Democrats' 2020 nominee, too: 12/13

In sum: #Pathocracy (not Trump alone) is the disease. #PositiveDisintegatation is the cure. Read the whole story here: 13/13
salon.com/2019/09/15/the…