OPINION:
Although deciphering the mind remains a challenge for most of us (“Obama’s doctor says Trump is in excellent health,” Web, Jan. 18), some psychiatrists in our fair land, casting the Goldwater Rule aside, have assessed President Donald Trump’s mental status from afar and judged him a proximate danger to the republic. While a presidential straitjacket is being designed by these highly educated and politicized do-gooders, we might consider prescribing a psychotropic drug for them, one designed to ease anxiety and panic.
Of course, not all masters of the mind share the tocsin raised. The Goldwater Rule, suggesting that evaluations of mental status in the absence of personal observation are unethical, has as much credence now for most psychiatrists as it did when first issued as an advisory by one of the closed guild’s professional organizations. Psychiatrists who disavow the rule diminish the art they practice.
Paul Bloustein, M.D.
Cincinnati, Ohio
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