IS BUSH A MANIAC

IS BUSH MANIC?

By Peter Fredson

Rewritten
July 8, 2005

Why does Bush swagger, prance, smirk, gesticulate, glad-hand, grin, and act as if he just swallowed a handful of uppers? He does this even though each speech is basically the same as the one before: staying the course, insurgents hate us, our troops are really brave, we mustn’t criticize or troops will get killed, and not setting any exit strategy so as not to give comfort to an enemy. There seems to be no reason for euphoria.

Why all this hoopla, this fervor without substance, this tempest in a broken teapot? Does Bush need to express his emotions at failure after being chosen by God Himself to bring the Apocalypse to True Believers?

Why all the intense personality display, the pleading, the staged sincerity, the pre-arranged clapping of assembled troops? Is it a prelude to the Ides of March? Is it a mental disorder?

A Bellacio blogger suggested that Bush suffers from bipolar disorder, manic-depressive behavior and a quick Google glance reveals the Positive Aspect of manic-depression. Examine a list of symptoms and ask if George Bush is exhibiting manic behavior. Here is a culled list of some symptoms:

Bipolar disorder is characterized by an alternating pattern of emotional highs (mania) and lows (depression) with varying intensity. Check the following list and see if Bush matches the symptoms.

- The "highs" of bipolar disorder
Increased physical and mental activity and energy
In the most severe cases, delusions and hallucinations

Symptoms

During the manic phase, symptoms can include:

High level of energy and activity

Irritable mood

Decreased need for sleep

Exaggerated, puffed-up self-esteem

Rapid or "pressured" speech

Rapid thoughts

Tendency to be easily distracted

Increased recklessness

Quick to anger

Impatience with other people

Persecutory delusions.

Delusions of jealousy

False beliefs (delusions) or false perceptions (hallucinations)

During elated moods, a person may have delusions of grandeur, while irritable moods are often accompanied by paranoid or suspicious feelings.

 

Manic symptoms may also include:

overly inflated self-esteem

decreased need for rest and sleep

increased distractibility and irritability

increased physical agitation

excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that may result in painful consequence; this may include provocative, aggressive, or destructive behavior

increased talkativeness

excessive "high" or euphoric feelings

increased sex drive

increased energy level

uncharacteristically poor judgment

increased denial

Many projects may be started but few are finished

Obsession to finish a single project while other work is neglected

Grandiose ideas with delusions of grandeur

Tendency when speaking for sentences trail off without finishing them

Forget words but may invent new ones

Speech may speed up and become unintelligible

Intense urge to do things, even knowing that they are stupid

Get irritated about the smallest things

Ignoring people and criticism

Denial of any responsibility for acts committed

Talking to oneself

Getting verbally twitchy

Illusions of hearing voices of unseen persons

Irritability, anger, worry, agitation, anxiety

Excessive irritability, aggressive behavior

Grandiose delusions, inflated sense of self-importance

Racing speech, racing thoughts, flight of ideas

Impulsiveness, poor judgment, distractibility

Reckless behavior

In severe cases, delusions and hallucinations

distractibility (i.e., attention too easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli);

increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation;

more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking;

flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing;

affective instability

"rejection hypersensitivity"

dysphoria

irritability, intense anger

anxiety

Poor concentration is an early symptom of this disorder. A depressed person quickly becomes mentally fatigued when asked to read, study, or solve complicated problems.

Marked forgetfulness often accompanies this disorder. As it worsens, this memory loss can be easily mistaken for early senility (dementia).
Psychomotor retardation manifests as a slowing of coordination, speech, and impaired articulation. A person appears sluggish and seems hesitant or confused in speech and intention.
Mood incongruent themes include delusions of control, persecution, thought broadcasting and thought insertion.

Psychomotor agitation can also lead to generalized restlessness.
Psychomotor activities are the physical gestures that result from mental processes and are a product of the psyche. Many psychomotor behaviors associated with mental disorder affect impulses, cravings, instincts, and wishes. The spectrum of agitated behavior includes: Incoherent conversation, Expansive gesturing, Pacing and hair twirling

Feelings of euphoria, extreme optimism and inflated self-esteem
Rapid speech, racing thoughts, agitation and increased physical activity
Poor judgment
Recklessness or taking chances not normally taken
Extreme irritability

Bipolar disorder may be confused with Psychosis, a major mental disorder in which the personality is disorganized and contact with reality is impaired, often including auditory hallucinations and delusions - firmly held erroneous beliefs.

Of course it may all be coincidence, imagination, or wishful thinking, but our petulant and arrogant leader, who talks to God and has grandiose illusions, who often makes unintelligible remarks, is extremely impatient, and denies all responsibility for his acts, seems to match many of the symptoms listed.

One of the best synopses of Bush’s illness was written by Sheila Samples, in an article entitled “Onward Christian Soldiers” March 11, 2003 at the following URL:

– http://www.democraticunderground.co... - 27k

I’m no psychologist, psychiatrist or health professional so it is only my opinion, but I feel that a petulant, irresponsible, mentally-ill, megalomaniacal Bush is our most dangerous President, and can do irreparable damage to world diplomacy, peace, stability, and morality