Hi all,

Well, I've been busy writing this last month. I had two more encounters with Psychology Today's quest for neutrality on politics (read avoidance, in my book),  so I ended up publishing those articles at East Wind instead. Particularly with the one on media bias, you can compare for yourself and see the difference between my voice and theirs. They may not be wrong, but they do exert strong editorial control - which some might view as censorship.

Also, I was interviewed by Steven Hassan, who is a fantastic expert on cult mind control and the author of The Cult of Trump. See it on YouTube, or see his post about it on his Substack: "It's More Important to be Related than Right!" The takeaways are that I recommend 1. We are in the mental health equivalent of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and organized psychiatry is acting like a diffident NIAID in the 80s. 2. The Goldwater Rule be eliminated. 3. The APA should get over its "political phobia." 4. Psychiatrists and the general public need to learn about undue influence (you can read Steve's books or take an online course with him if you go to his website). Finally, 5 - our minds are fragile, and we are all susceptible to undue influence, especially under stress or conditions of vulnerability. We can help each other by learning about it. See the bottom of this email for an image of the Influence Continuum from healthy to unhealthy influence, which you can also download on Steve's website.

I will also make a plug for donations to East Wind eZine. I'm a volunteer there, and I'll be taking over as volunteer publisher next year. Some other writers get a small stipend for articles, and there are website maintenance costs. Please help by donating via APICC.

MOSF 19.6: Media Biases 2024: Hysteria, Hype, and Hate July 17, 2024

Media has unconscious and implicit biases, and also can consciously manipulate through ideology. How do we help cultivate cool heads and warm hearts in the media and political scrum? An expansion of a redacted article published today in Psychology Today. (links to the redacted article that was published in Psychology Today, here.)

MOSF 19.5: Dangerous Charisma: Unpacking Trump’s Leadership and His Followers’ Mentality July 1, 2024

Former CIA psychiatric profiler Jerrold Post looks at leader-follower relations, predicts outcomes. (Rejected by Psychology Today)

MOSF 19.4: “Joe is a Weak Palestinian”: Trump’s Racism and Toxic Masculinity Are Unconditionally Disqualifying June 28, 2024

As a psychiatrist, my professional opinion is that a single exchange in the debate last night reveals, exposes, and reminds us:  Trump is a racist, toxic male. As a leader, he will be continue to be destructive to our mental health and social well-being. Biden is old yet competent, and has broadly earned our trust. Historians and experts rate Biden in the top third of all presidents, while Trump ranks dead last. Our choice in November is not ideal, but should be clear to us all.

From Psychology Today, since my Inside Out 2 article

Executive Function: Does America Have a Judgment Problem?  (July 12, 2024)

Personal Perspective: What do we want in a leader? And what do we want in a process that chooses leaders?

Political Rally Shooting: Keeping Cool Heads and Warm Hearts (July 14, 2024)

How to keep balanced and righting our course.

Warmly,

Ravi