Bipolar Demons?

It is tempting to view this guy as having been an embarrassment to his father’s presidency. A political liability. A shadow of the man his brother Beau was. But he’s also a presidential son with some of the same demons other presidential sons had. I suspect in his case, he has bipolar disorder.

There is something called the Goldwater rule in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Principles of Medical Ethics, which states that psychiatrists are not to give a professional opinion about public figures whom they have not actually examined and have not given consent. 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater was seen as somewhat of a loose cannon, unacceptable in the nuclear age. That hasn’t stopped psychiatrists from analyzing President Trump publicly.

But Hunter is not a president, and I am not bound by professional ethics. I am an armchair psychologist. There is no harm in me saying that Hunter needs help. And he’s apparently gotten some.

What Joe Had to Say

In 2019, Hunter’s father, the former vice president, opened up about his son’s addictions and mental illness. Except he didn’t. He left it open for us to guess what exact mental illness or illnesses he meant. Us armchair psychologists. When asked about Hunter's struggles by Chris Cuomo, Biden gave a political non-answer: "The idea that we treat mental health and physical health as though somehow they're distinct -- it's health,

Substance use disorder (SUD) is indeed itself a mental disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) recognizes it. The disorder co-occurs with many other disorders, such as anxiety, unipolar depression, ADHD, and personality disorders. And we know it’s associated with bipolar disorder. Some 60 percent of people with bipolar disorder have struggled with substance abuse, compared to a figure closer to 10 percent of the general population.

Erratic Behavior

Like many with bipolar disorder, Hunter has at times been very productive, having received a degree from Georgetown and law degree from Yale. But he’s known to act impulsively.   After divorcing his first wife, he married a woman he knew for six days. They got matching tattoos. A child born out of wedlock has surfaced. And Hunter dated his brother’s widow after  his second marriage broke up. It is common for bipolar sufferers to have money problems, and Hunter has always struggled to pay for his lifestyle. Seems maybe like bipolar.

A fellow sufferer of bipolar could easily think that it’s nice to have a father who can pardon you. But it has to be difficult for famous people to deal with their challenges in such a public way. Maybe worse for Hunter. Half the country wanted him to go to prison. And they wanted his family to be considered guilty by association.