PTSD

by Jim Buckley

Give the Man Some Time… and Some Room

Donald J. Trump is precisely the kind of president our founding fathers expected would come along one day. He is a competent and successful businessman whose executive expertise can hardly be questioned. He didn’t spend his life as a politician but did spend a lot of time observing politicians. And, for the most part, he didn’t like what he saw. He didn’t really want to run for office. After all, he was wealthy, popular (with the public, in many circles, though not all), and enjoyed the proverbial Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous.

Yet, run he did. He had often threatened to, especially if he saw that those vying for the nation’s highest office weren’t up to the job (YouTube has several interviews of a 30-something Donald Trump expressing that view). He’d known Congressmen, Senators, Mayors, Attorneys General, Governors, and Presidents, had donated to their campaigns, attended their weddings, and saw that they rarely lived up to the promise of their candidacy.

He also saw – I’m conjecturing here – that many of them were… not so bright.

And, you know the rest of the story (with a bow to Paul Harvey). At least, the rest of the story up to this point.

Then he was shot at.

By a gunman with a rifle.

From a nearby rooftop.

Less than a pitching wedge (120 to 150 yds) away from where President Trump was speaking.

It was a rooftop that anyone interested in a career in law enforcement security and who’d attended a preliminary “Security 101” detail would have been sure to cover.

And – as a former President of the United States – Mr. Trump was being “protected” by the elite forces of the United States Secret Service.

They missed it.

Completely.

Luckily, so did the shooter.

Had President Trump not moved his head at the last minute, we’d be examining – Zapruder-style – the bloody and explosive footage of the assassination of a former and likely future president.

There would have been no more Donald Trump.

We’d seen that movie before.

Too many times.

It was a close call.

Very close.

And yet, President Trump got up from the floor under the podium on stage and before allowing the Secret Service detail to take him to the safety of a nearby vehicle, raised his fist in defiance, blood streaming across his face from his ear, and mouthing the words “fight, fight, fight” before being whisked away.

It was a courageous response in anyone’s book.

And, just a few days later, bandage on ear, he was back on the campaign trail.

With no evident loss of enthusiasm or courage.

Yet, there’s something different about him now. A demeanor unrecognizable to those of us who’ve followed him from The Apprentice to the Presidency. He’s not as quick with a joke. He doesn’t suffer fools as easily.

People experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often (I am told; I have no medical or psychological degree or experience) seem okay on the outside but inside they need serious psychological attention.

President Trump needs some down time. He needs to take care of himself.

He needs time to get back to being who he was.

A perfect opportunity exists right now for him to do just that.

He should remove himself from the public eye for a week or two, beginning with the Democrat National Convention as Kamala is coronated in Chicago.

Who needs to watch that?

Not I.

Probably not you.

And definitely not President Trump.

He’s put a good face on his PTSD but he’s not the same man he was before the events of Butler Pennsylvania.

The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends at least four interventions, preferably followed by four more in such cases.

He’s had none that we know of.

Another, more likely possibility: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) therapy, described as “a structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories.”

The APA recommends EMDR be delivered once or twice a week for a total of six to twelve sessions. EMDR also “differs from other trauma-focused treatments,” the APA website informs, “in that it does not include extended exposure to the distressing memory, detailed descriptions of the trauma, challenging of beliefs, or homework assignments.”

Sounds perfect for a guy who doesn’t seem to like doing homework or dwelling on his faults. In two or three weeks, he’d be back to his old self.

A good week with his wife, Melania, would go a long way in his recovery.

As it is, my guess is he can’t help thinking about what almost happened if not for what many believe – including him – was the divine intervention that took place.

Otherwise, he’d be dead. Gone forever.

At best, he’s got maybe another ten, twelve years to actively enjoy life.

He’s got to be wondering why he is doing what he’s doing.

If his children and grandchildren or his wife safe.

If it’s worth it. And if anyone really cares.

They do. We do.

But he and we know the stakes are as high as they could possibly be.

We do need him. America needs him.

We know too that if he should decide to go balls out and develop a real campaign, he’ll win this thing.

It’s not too late to mitigate many of the symptoms of PTSD and to put this courageous and talented man back where he belongs.

In the White House.

Let’s not think about the alternative.

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