re: #50 goddamnedfrank

Donna is nuts, like Rosanne Barr nuts. She’s experiencing a dissociative meltdown, reality & her are moving in opposite directions. Her publisher seems to be exploiting her sickness for a quick cash grab but it’s pretty clear that Donna is sick and sadly probably won’t get the help she so desperately needs.

When somebody can assemble a variety of information sources—actual events, anecdotes, speculation in various public media—into a narrative that’s self-serving, they’re less likely to be disassociating or delusional than engaged in a mixture of confabulation and outright lies to validate themselves and/or draw sympathy. And people do that without having any pathology at all, because we’re shit, our memories are shit, we’re not inherently rational, and damage to the ego cause intense distress and pain.

Self-serving bullshitting and redirecting blame (“I saw it was all wrong”) could be narcissism, but it could also just be regular old ass-covering and/or thirst for attention and money.

…but add in that this is a book and its related ad campaign. Misdirection and unsubstantiated claims are part of the sell, consequences be damned, because prurience and fast takes drive the consumption market. And chances are pretty good it’s a book written with a specific audience in mind, so…frame things in a way that sells. Porn that’s niche enough to have enthusiasts but not so outre you weird out casual buyers.

Occam’s Razor applied to mental illness: unless you know the person and have seen a long-term pattern, their new hot mess is less likely to be the kind of extreme mental illness that is very visible, and more likely to be shitty human habits at slightly higher volume.