Full Speeches of Our Eminent Mental Health Panelists, on Freedom of Mind

Steven Hassan and Matthew Bywater Speak as Cult Expert and Scholar of Mental Slavery

“Why do Trump supporters not see what I see?” is a common question that arises.  “Trump derangement syndrome,” a phrase that Trump supporters have coined to deflect as “deranged” any mention of Donald Trump’s actual derangements, is more telling of its teller: there is no room for self-reflection.  This “loss of insight,” as it is termed in psychiatry, is a measure of mental impairment.  Even the most severe mental illness has a reasonable prognosis if the patient has insight—that is, the ability to recognize that something is wrong and to seek help.  Conversely, serious mental impairment is measured not by the severity of symptoms but by the unwillingness to consider that anything could be wrong.  Indeed, the most severely impaired patients run from doctors and hospitals as if running for their lives, even as they insist that nothing is wrong.

Hence, the answer to why Trump supporters do not see what other, more independent observers see has a direct correlation to the seriousness of Donald Trump’s impairments.  Because the need to dispel the intolerable feeling that something is wrong with him—all the stronger the more it is true—denial is a core driving force.  In other words, he will ascend to the presidency, refuse to let go, brag about testing as a “genius” (Dr. Ronny Jackson’s fraudulent 10-minute “nursing-home test”), and even cultivate a cult of personality around him to reassure himself of his “fitness”.  This progression occurs through “Trump Contagion,” or the spread of symptoms through exposure, whereby in its advanced state, his followers lose agency, independence, personal discernment, and finally personhood, as they now share their “leader’s” pathology.

A primary example of this dynamic occurred on October 14, 2024, at Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania town hall: his handlers interrupted questions to play music, as two persons fainted in the overheated room.  Trump swayed to the music and said, “Personally, I enjoy this, you know,” as medical personnel were wheeling people out on stretchers.  He asked, “Would anybody else like to faint?” and then asked for more music, adding: “Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?”  His town hall attendees did not object but danced for forty minutes to the tune.

Dr. Steven Hassan is a foremost cult expert in understanding and exposing the psychological tactics of cults and other manipulative groups.  He is currently a Fielding fellow for the Institute for Social Innovation.

Matthew Bywater is an international human rights activist who has studied authoritarian societies such as China and North Korea.  He is currently working for the adoption of the World Mental Health Coalition’s Declaration of the Freedom of Mind by the United Nations.

Here are the full talks of Bywater and Hassan:

The videos of full speeches from the Conference are here. The Conference summary video is here.  The book that was released with the Conference is here.  The Conference website will have regular updates.  Please continue to support our getting out our critical message from the Conference, for, as our gathering revealed, we may not survive another dangerously unfit presidency in this very dangerous world!