Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff (D-CA) has come out swinging, somehow emboldened by an exhaustive study by special counsel Robert Mueller that puts a nail in the coffin of American collusion with the Russians in the 2016 election. The report, according to a four-page summary by Attorney General William Barr, clearly states that “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” But Schiff doesn’t seem capable of accepting this reality.
Anosognosia and Schiff
The California Democrat appears to be exhibiting signs and symptoms of a serious illness known as anosognosia. Essentially, it is denial on steroids. “Anosognosia … is not simply denial of a problem, but the genuine inability to recognize that the problem exists.” This is a situation in which there is an obvious gap between reality and belief that “typically yields a flurry of thin excuses that support his position and can provoke an outburst of anger if continued long enough.”
To add insult to injury, “Someone who has anosognosia isn’t being difficult or refusing to face the truth. He is literally unable to believe that his illness is, in fact, an illness.” This malady seems to describe Mr. Schiff to a “T.” Ergo his comments in The Washington Post:
“Undoubtedly there is collusion … We will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. That is, is the president or people around him compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power? It doesn’t appear that was any part of Mueller’s report.”
Schiff has been beating this drum since Barr’s report was released. On Sunday, the House Intel Chairman went on network TV and said there was “still significant evidence of collusion.” These statements and others point to the underlying condition of anosognosia which is not just a mental illness but rather a neurological disorder initially discovered by Joseph Babinski in 1914. This serious condition demonstrates a total lack of self-awareness that is derived from injury to the parietal lobe in the right hemisphere of the brain.
Is there anyone out there who is worried that the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee might be suffering from a serious neurological disability? Apparently, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is concerned. She called for Schiff’s resignation on Fox & Friends and then doubled-down when later asked about her recommendation to remove the man from his post:
“…full of vim and vigor, snark and bark [Schiff has been saying] that there is a mountain of evidence of collusion against the president that may actually be bigger than Watergate … So, if he wants to be Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he should get off the TV and go and do his job. But he hasn’t been able to do that.”
Psychiatrists typically use the “Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder” as a tool to diagnose anosognosia. Several other conditions are associated with this neurological disorder including schizophrenia, dementia and major depressive disorder. Mental health professionals often use antipsychotics to treat people who demonstrate similar behavior to that of Rep. Schiff. Thorazine and Loxitane are two medications that appear to help. If push comes to shove, perhaps the congressman would benefit from the president’s “Right to Try” law, as experimental therapy could help him get a grip on the world around him and his apparent inability to accept reality.
