@grafixelguess what
king if kings RT @KhiriaElf: Deconstructing Delusional Dictators. What is #Gaddafi’s psychological profile?http://bit.ly/r2Qx6q #Libya
What is Gaddafi’s mental profile? By just a cursory look at his interviews and quotes, and the way he speaks, the Libyan dictator seems to be suffering from narcissistic rage and paranoid delusions. But despite this apparent handicap, the Colonel seems to be extremely adept at holding onto power, consolidating his resources and running his security forces. His sons are extremely loyal thus far, and, so it seems, are his top generals and security chiefs. He must be an able politician to keep his close circle loyal – even if he does so through threats.
I’ve searched the net and have found very little open-source material on Libyan dictator Muamar Gaddafi’s psychological profile. Would love any input from readers/ experts in this field. Any psychologists ready to take a crack at ‘deconstructing Gaddafi’?
I’m not a psychologist, but Gaddafi seems to me like he has a serious case of narcissism, and an extreme form of delusion. Absolute power for over 40 years seems to have corrupted his mind absolutely. His slow speech, his off-handed disregard for the true reality around him and his rage are probable symptoms of a serious mental condition. Like a true narcissist, Gaddafi says all Libyans love him, and that any talk of the use of force by his troops against civilians is a lie: he would never hurt the people that love him. “All my people are with me, they love me all, they will die to protect me,” he tells the BBC, while Human Rights Watch says over 1,000 people have been killed in the pro-democracy uprising so far.
BBC News – Full interview with Col Gaddafi http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12607478
Like a true narcissist suffering from paranoid delusions, he believes that his former friends in the “war on terror” [Western powers] “betrayed” him and have left him to fend for himself against al-Qaida, who is trying to take over his country. He is convinced that Qaida is trying to bring him down, for it cannot be possible for a narcissist such as him to countenance the possibility that his own people don’t love him, that he is not loved absolutely by everyone. For over 40 years, Gaddafi’s portraits have graced every possible wall in Libya. In his mind, his people love him as much as he loves himself, perhaps even more. Faced with a crumbling reality, Gaddafi must reinforce his belief that the uprising is being driven by outside forces, and that his people continue to adore him.
As if carrying out an act of what psychologists call transference, Gaddafi accuses his opponents of being on hallucinatory drugs, while to the objective observer, this turbaned, sunglass-wearing dictator is the one who looks like he’s on something.
In 1976 then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat called Gaddafi the “the lunatic of Libya,” but the CIA, TIME Magazine reported at the time, commissioned a secret psychological profile, which suggested that he was sound of mind.
Here is a good psychological profile of Gaddafi by a mental health professional. Andrew Page writes:
“Gaddafi’s speech offered the world a curious insight into the psychological make-up of this most eccentric of dictators. His mental health is becoming increasingly fragile and any semblance of statesmanship Gaddafi had gained in recent years has evaporated in the last few days. Here is a man whose self-delusion is fuelling a dangerous paranoia and whose actions are determined by irrational responses rather than reason. At times during his lengthy speech he appeared thought disordered, his speech pressured. But what is most concerning is that Gaddafi has limited or no insight into his psychological condition and – if allowed – would act on his delusions and paranoia with catastrophic effect.”
