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Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych Profile picture
Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych
@Nick_Carmody
"Adversity doesn't build character, it exposes it......" Dad; Psychotherapist; Lawyer; Executive Board Member @worldmhc; 2-time Traumatic Brain Injury survivor
LittleGravitas 🇪🇺 🇪🇸 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 🇵🇸 #FBPE Profile picture 🥥🌴🌊☕️Coffee&Robots🤖🌊🥥🌴🇺🇦 Profile picture jthomas Profile picture Antone Johnson • @antonej or @antone everywhere 👋 Profile picture eDo Profile picture 183 subscribed
Jul 23 • 26 tweets • 10 min read
There's fear in her voice.

The Right isn't handling the abruptness of not just the change in reality....but the change in momentum of what felt like an inevitable election.

When people warn that the other side has to "be very careful", it's often because they're scared.

The fact that she calls Kamala, "the luckiest son of gun".....is especially telling.

We don't resentfully say someone is lucky unless we believe they are "unfairly" in a better position than us......or unless we believe they are "unfairly"......"winning".

1/ The Left knows this well, because the narrative after Trump was shot was the Trump was the "luckiest son of b*tch" ever.

Or as @billmaher explains:

2/
Jul 18 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
Watching the convention up to this point has left me with several observations.

Trump now has a very professional organization. The convention was well thought out, well produced, organized, mostly disciplined, did an excellent job of storytelling, appealed to a broad group of people, and did an excellent job of relying upon and manipulating our collective short term attention spans (recency bias)....which create poor short term memories.

This parallels not only a collective "what have you done for me lately".....but a, "what have you not done to me lately" (January 6ht, etc.) mindset.

1/ The convention hit all of emotional buttons...

...anger, hate, resentment, grievance...

...but also positive emotions......including doing a very good job of normalizing/humanizing Trump (and Vance) to/for those who don't understand his pathology.

One of my observations of Cluster B/Narcissists is that they tend to be expert at image creation/maintenance/preservation.

This convention…..especially the speeches by Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Lara Trump…..created a gaslighted image of Trump that is inconsistent with the reality of who he is.

But to the casual voter who doesn’t obsess over politics, this was likely very effective.

Especially just days after Trump was shot.

2/
Jul 15 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
I've been asked how Trump will respond to the assassination attempt.

There are stories about him toning it down to "unite the country".

I'm skeptical Trump can change. It's just not how Cluster B/Narcissistic Personality Disorder works. Especially at Trump's late stage of life.

But nearly dying does affect people.

Ultimately, Trump wants to win the election to kill the criminal cases to avoid going to prison.

So there is incentive to "change".........which, in reality, means there is incentive to "behave"......

....to be more transactionally disciplined:

"I behave, and I receive a desired outcome in the transaction."

1/
 axios.com/2024/07/15/tru…Image There's also a narcissistic supply factor where historically critical "enemies" (mediat/Left/etc) will be more sympathetic/praising of Trump....

....which he may also respond to because he desperately wants validation....to be "liked".

2/
Jul 3 • 71 tweets • 27 min read
@JordanBPeterson:

“The degree of animosity that people have for Trump is.…a mystery to me.…it’s very mysterious.”

Also Peterson:

“[When] trust collapses, [societies] become impoverished & imperiled. The wealth of the West [is] its high levels of trust & honesty. [Trust & honesty is] the fundamental natural resource [of Western society].”

This monologue is rife with projection. Peterson is using Trump as a proxy for his own experience.

Let’s unpack….

1/
foxnews.com/video/63546363…Image One of the most important factors in Peterson's rise to prominence is that he’s been a counterweight to a mental health field that has overwhelmingly aligned with the Left on issues that have become politicized.

Most significantly, is the mental health field’s Cluster B Personality Disorder-focused, opposition to Trump.

But there have been other issues such as the "affirming model" for kids struggling with gender confusion.

The latter issue is a subject that has had a significant effect on Peterson's life, and propelled him to becoming the ”most famous psychologist in the world”.

2/
Jun 13 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
Fear...and the need to self-preserve...creates a lack of empathy...or even the appearance of sociopathy.

This is how/why demagogues exploit fear:

-Create a self-preservational mindset

-Dehumanize the enemy

-Create justification for inhumanity (victimhood)

1/
 Image ...and allow neuropsychology to take over:

If the individual believes a prior provocation exists (victimhood), the same area of the brain that is active during pleasurable experiences (dopamine)....will also be active during "retaliatory aggression:

2/
May 31 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I was asked immediately after Trump's conviction if it would lead to "civil war or social healing".

In the short term, MAGA will defy/rebel against the verdict with their checkbooks. They will defiantly/vindictively send Trump money

Violence seems unlikely because....

1/ ...most MAGA not only believe Trump will win the election, but actually think this will help him.

That's b/c they can't step out of their own subjective experience/feelings about how this verdict makes THEM feel.

Remember the 2022 "red wave"?

2/
May 22 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Trump's Narcissistic Personality Disorder-driven sense of victimhood ("unfairness") & "punitive orientation" will almost certainly compel him respond with why he's justified to engage in vindictive abuse of presidential power.

As analyzed here...

1/
Image Trump's Narcissistic Personality Disorder-driven sense of victimhood ("unfairness") & "punitive orientation" will almost certainly compel him respond with why he's justified to engage in vindictive abuse of presidential power.

As analyzed here...

2/

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May 3 • 15 tweets • 6 min read
Some observations about civil unrest, Jan 6th, the college campus protests, and the election.

Let's unpack...

MAGA was furious that Ukraine flags were waved in the halls of congress after a constitutionally enacted bill was passed to fund/fight for democracy.

However...

1/ ...these very same people glorify Jan 6th "hostages"...

...many of whom waved "other" flags while violently overrunning the halls of congress to undemocratically/unconstitutionally subvert an election in order to keep a lying, traitorous, sociopathic narcissist in power.

2/
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Apr 11 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Article about device addiction by @brianklaas, which references @JonHaidt's book "the Anxious Generation" analyzing the effect smart phones have on kids.

I work with kids who struggle with electronic device dependency/addiction.

Let's unpack...

1/
forkingpaths.co/p/the-moronic-… In my sessions kids & parents, we focus on device dependency/addiction...

...the neuropsychology of addiction (dopamine)...

...analogizing it to other addictions for perspective...

....and distinguishing it from other addictions to show how difficult it is to manage....

2/
Apr 3 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Good article by @brianklaas:

I attached relevant threads about Qanon, the neuropsychology of conspiracy theory susceptibility, and how dopamine/addiction and celebrity gossip/entertainment factors in, etc.

1/
forkingpaths.co/p/the-science-… ....2/....

Mar 16 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
The Left doesn't want to hear this, but it's extremely important.

There must be a distinction between MAGA leadership....

...and MAGA voters.

I'm being interviewed by Worthy Strategy Group/@BartonGretchen for a project this week...

...and...

1/
 This was my response to being included in their project.

It's important to remember we are all targets/victims of extremely sophisticated psychological warfare by foreign/domestic bad actors.

When we take the bait, and demonize/disparage/attack each other...

..."they" win.

2/ Image
Mar 9 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
It's difficult to remember all of the things that should repulse otherwise decent people who continue to support a severely disordered man who they would otherwise condemn in any other context.

Relevant threads are attached below:

1/ ....2/....

Jan 12 • 22 tweets • 12 min read
Thread of threads analyzing the psychology of why tens of millions of people support/follow/defend someone as severely disordered as Trump:

First, a thread analyzing how victimhood erodes self-efficacy, and creates susceptibility to authoritarianism:
1/
Image Thread of threads analyzing the psychology of why tens of millions of people support/follow/defend someone as severely disordered as Trump.

A thread analyzing the "non-falsifiability" of the Trump myth:

2/

Image
Dec 1, 2023 • 28 tweets • 8 min read
Perhaps the most important factor in analyzing political behavior:

People have an innate need to believe they are the "good guys".

Let’s unpack….

1/
Image At the core of “Us-versus-Them” narratives is the in-group’s innate belief that they are the "good guys"...

.....and that the "out group", or the “them” are the "bad guys".

2/
Nov 13, 2023 • 18 tweets • 8 min read
Dopamine appears to play a role in confirmation bias, tribalism, conspiracy theory susceptibility, & “revenge politics".

People often ask:

How do we fix this, or “detox” the country?

After studying recent clinical trial data...

...is the answer “Ozempic”?

Let’s unpack…

1/ First, let’s review:

In 2018, I observed the parallels in political tribalism/conflict, and addiction.

I asked an advisor if i could focus on this in a grad school thesis, but was told I didn’t have the time, and the program didn’t have the resources.

2/
Oct 10, 2023 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
A few relevant threads analyzing the relationship dynamic between Trump and some of his supporters.

Let's unpack...starting with the role that humor comedy plays creating connection and rapport...

1/

Image One of the stated reasons that people claim to be drawn to Trump is because, "he tells like it is".

This is false....

2/ Image
Sep 30, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
A sociopathic narcissist.....

....who has been indicted four times and charged with 91 felonies....

....makes jokes about an 82 year old man having his skull fractured with a hammer....

....and his loyal supporters laugh....

1/
Image Relevant threads:

....2/....

Sep 23, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Attached below are several relevant threads analyzing the neuropsychology involved in conspiracy theory susceptibility and belief.

1/ Relevant thread #1 analyzing the neuropsychology involved in conspiracy theory susceptibility and belief.

2/
Aug 4, 2023 • 28 tweets • 10 min read
Regardless of whether it’s impeachment hearings, or political violence…

…Trump’s indictments, and potential criminal convictions, make it increasingly likely the Right will engage in revenge politics.

Let’s unpack the neuropsychology of the “hedonic reward” of revenge…

1/ I’ve analyzed the role of dopamine/addiction in confirmation bias, tribalism, conspiracy theory susceptibility......

2/
https://t.co/CdJLPGmBug



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Jun 24, 2023 • 77 tweets • 19 min read
Is there a potential relationship between a lack of self-efficacy....

(“Learned helplessness”….fragility….and victimhood)

….and an attraction to authoritarian leaders?

Is self-efficacy lower in rural conservatives?

Let’s unpack……

1/ https://t.co/gWUefaClJI
After listening to the podcast referenced...

...one of the things that wasn’t mentioned was the role that personality traits play in political ideology.

A short story:

2/
May 23, 2023 • 42 tweets • 11 min read
The response to E. Jean Carroll’s sexual assault verdict is the latest example of the Right’s tribal defense of Trump.

Defending Trump requires detachment from reality…

...and, most importantly…

...abandoning, what science refers to as:

"Falsifiability”

Let’s unpack…

1/ In science, a hypothesis/theory is credible if it is “falsifiable”.

This means there must be the possibility that the claim can be tested and proven wrong…

...with the conclusion being that, if the hypothesis/theory is tested and proven wrong, then it is not true/accurate.

2/