New Book “The Trump Card” Provides Satirical Psychoanalysis of America
Extreme Reactions to President Trump Signal a Shift in How Americans Cope
DALLAS, May 30, 2017 – While other psychiatrists have attempted to analyze President Donald Trump’s personality from afar, psychiatrist and author Colin A. Ross, M.D. is turning his attention to the reactions the President elicits. In his new satirical book, The Trump Card: A Psychiatrist Analyzes Reactions to Donald Trump (ISBN: 978-0-9986601-2-7), Dr. Ross suggests that an individual’s response to President Trump reveals so much about their subconscious mind and thinking process that a Trump card should be placed in the Rorschach Ink Blot Test.
The Trump Card’s political satire is focused on what Dr. Ross calls the uninformed, polarized reactions to the President on both the left and the right. He laments that empathy has been devalued as politics deteriorates into an endless series of personal attacks, emotional reactions and behavior that would get an adolescent sent to the principal’s office.
To cope, Americans seek the safety of like-minded people and insulate themselves from those with differing views. The echo chamber exacerbates extremism.
“President Trump is not the problem – he is a symptom of the problem,” said Dr. Ross. According to Dr. Ross, the underlying problems that are contributing to radical changes in our social norms existed before the Trump Presidency and will no doubt continue to exist after it.
Dr. Ross says there is plenty of blame to go around:
• The failure of liberal arts education to teach people how to think critically.
• The absence of historical memory even for recent events.
• The collapse of journalistic standards that has ushered in an era of fake news and emotional reactions that masquerade as political commentary.
• Extreme political polarization.
The Trump Card is an equal opportunity political satire and does not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation. Dr. Ross lambasts both the left and the right, touching on President Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, former President Obama’s deportations, the public’s inability to discern fake news and the folly of body language experts.
According to Ross, American politics is now just one more reality TV show, which may be good for ratings, but not for the health of the country. In the chapter titled, “What I Would Tell Trump If I was His Advisor,” Dr. Ross writes:
“It’s all about the ratings, whether it’s The Apprentice or the Real Live Presidential Race Show. What does it take to get ratings? The more outrageous, the more over-the-top, the better. You played the game perfectly, it turns out…So here’s what I can’t figure out – is all this buffoon behavior just you, or is it strategy? Is there another Donald behind the reality TV mask? A President even?”
The Trump Card: A Psychiatrist Analyzes Reactions to Donald Trump lists for $19.95 (digital list price $9.99) and is available through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Card-Psychiatrist-Analyzes-Reactions/dp/0998660116.
Download a high-resolution image of the book jacket at www.dpkpr.com/files/659/.
About the Author
Colin A. Ross, M.D. is the author of over 200 papers in professional journals, most of them dealing with dissociation, psychological trauma and multiple personality disorder. He is a Past President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. For more information about Dr. Ross and the Colin A. Ross Institute for Psychological Trauma, visit www.rossinst.com.
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