Is James Comey Mentally Ill?

For years, Republicans have expressed outrage and bewilderment at former FBI Director James Comey’s ability to dodge the law. In part, he escaped indictments because the Democrats were in power. But to a great extent, James Comey can take credit for his evasions. The man could very well be a sociopath.

The term sociopath should not be used lightly:

‘Sociopath’ is an outdated, harmful term once used to describe someone who’s been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Sociopathy itself isn’t a formal diagnosis. But the behaviors it describes are often part of the diagnostic criteria for ASPD. The most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR) defines ASPD as a disorder that causes you to:

• Have a lack of empathy for others

• Disregard social norms

• Act impulsively without considering the consequences

The term may be "outdated," but given James Comey’s many lies and deceptions, most of which will not be prosecuted, I think he has earned the title, if not the diagnosis, of “sociopath.” I’m not concerned whether calling him one is harmful. His determination to destroy Donald Trump was relentless.

Just what is a sociopath? The list of attitudes and behaviors varies, but this partial list provides some descriptions. Here is a summary, followed by examples from Comey’s own life: a hunger for power and dominance (his role as FBI director put him at the top of the heap); devious or deceptive strategies (Comey repeatedly misrepresented the truth, exaggerated, or pled ignorance); ruthlessness in pursuit of their goal (Comey used his own staff to protect himself, leak information and spread lies); irresponsible decision making (one only needs to recall Comey’s interfering with the investigation of the Clinton emails and pushing aside the attorney general); superficial charm and powers of persuasion (Comey persuaded the political left of his moral and ethical behavior in the face of his inappropriate use of the FISA courts to incriminate Carter Page); sociopaths believe they should be exempt from the rules (the Russian hoax and Crossfire Hurricane were examples of Comey trying to prevent Trump from winning, and then trying to remove him from office; social deviance (these occur when a sociopath believes he can even commit small infractions).

There are also cheap thrill-seeking tendencies — one of the best examples was Comey’s “discovery” of the shells on the beach:

The FBI questioned the former head of the agency this year after his Instagram post about a collection of seashells that formed the numbers ‘8647.’

‘Cool shell formation on my beach walk,’ Comey posted. What does 8647 mean? Comey’s post was interpreted by some as saying to ‘86’ – or, get rid of − No. 47. Trump is the 47th president. Comey took down the photo and said in a subsequent Instagram post that he was unaware the message could have been associated with violence. ‘I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,’ Comey posted May 15. ‘It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.’

These examples demonstrate several of the criteria describing a sociopath: they demonstrate an outrageous display of lying repeatedly, irresponsible decision-making, and one more opportunity to poke the establishment for its inability to indict him.

You might ask, aside from curiosity, why this information might be valuable. First, we seem to have a number of government employees who demonstrate these attitudes and behaviors, particularly in the FBI. At the highest levels, most of them have probably been removed, but a tier or two down, they probably are waiting for their opportunities to manipulate and deceive their colleagues. If sociopathy has been identified as a possible factor, it is worth exploring the people who have demonstrated these behaviors.

Even if we can identify people who might be sociopaths, it will be difficult to deal with them. They will likely not see anything wrong with their actions; they are not interested in pursuing therapy for that reason. Instead, leadership in any organization must realize that people demonstrate sociopathic behavior in every area of government, and if they choose to prioritize their own personal goals over the needs of the country, the U.S. will lose if they are ignored.

Recently, we have seen much discussion about the mental illness of the people who are attacking, even assassinating, others in this country.

Sociopathy (or its equivalent) must be added to the list of mental illnesses to watch for in government employees.