The psychiatric profession, a generally leftist group, does not yet recognize Trump Derangement Syndrome as an official malady, but the evidence is everywhere that large numbers of people have become mentally disturbed by their hatred of Donald Trump.  Examples abound, even within the last few days.  For instance, actor Robert De Niro hijacked an award ceremony for his friend Al Pacino by launching an obscenity-laced attack on Trump, appearing to channel the murderously insane character Travis Bickel, whom he portrayed in Taxi Driver.  And author Fran Liebowitz embarrassed TV host Bill Maher with her comment implying that President Trump ought to be murdered and dismembered, triggering an apology and an expression of regret.

As if that is not bizarre enough, my friend Andrew Malcolm reports:

A new study finds many Democrats were exaggerating the anxiety and stress they felt after the absolutely certain presidential election of Hillary Clinton that didn't happen. You may recall Clinton herself was so shook up she could not appear on TV to concede on election night. She had to wait a day to compose herself.

Well, now this new study published in the journal SageOpen finds that many Democrats were, as Mark Twain would put it, telling stretchers about their stress and anxiety levels as a twisted way, they felt, of supporting their party.

"Our research suggests that for many Democrats, expressing mental distress after the election was a form of partisan cheerleading," said the researchers Masha Krupenkin, David Rothschild, Shawndra Hill and Elad Yom-Tov.

"Clearly," they added, "many Democrats were, and are, upset about the 2016 Republican victory. These findings do not invalidate those feelings but put their depth and related actions into perspective."

Is this an example of Munchausen Syndrome (now renamed Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self)?  As described by the Cleveland Clinic, it is:

... a mental illness, in which a person repeatedly acts as if he or she has a physical, emotional or cognitive disorder when, in truth, he or she has caused the symptoms. People with factitious disorders act this way because of an inner need to be seen as ill or injured, not to achieve a concrete benefit, such as financial gain. They are even willing to undergo painful or risky tests and operations in order to get the sympathy and special attention given to people who are truly ill.

Or perhaps it is simply a play for prestige among other progressives.  People gain prestige within a social system by claiming to embody the values of that group.

Even CNN notices TDS (Vimeo screen grab).

But how looney is it to pretend to be looney?  Is that crazier than just being crazy itself?

We live in the weirdest political moment of my lifetime.