Professional psychologists think their cause is advanced when politicians like Henry Waxman protect the NIMH budget from cuts. Humphf. I say we got a real incremental boost in our status when John Edwards became only one of a handful of politicians to self-diagnose the cause of his professional self-destruction in public. Any time a former candidate for Vice President uses the term “narcissism” with reporters taking notes, our stock goes up.

Unfortunately, that’s where my good news ends. You see, Edwards used “narcissism” on 08/08/08 in a statement admitting that he had, indeed, had an extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter, exactly as The National Enquirer had been asserting for weeks. Sounding just like a shrink, Mr. Edwards’ rationale for doing “the naughty” with Ms. Hunter was that success clouded his judgment. In his own words: "In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic." I can hear Dana Carvey (as the Church Lady) saying: “Now isn’t that special…?”

After issuing his statement, almost-VP Edwards went on ABC’s Nightline to reiterate his excuse and close the book on the issue. How did he propose to do that? Why, of course, by saying that he understood what drove him to do what he did and it won’t happen again! “Now isn’t that special…?”

Here’s the BIG HOLE in Mr. Edwards’ mea culpa: He strongly suggests that since he “understands” what he did, he is positioned to live “happily ever after” as a sadder-but-wiser-and-chastened man. Trust me; it won’t happen. Why? Because like most of what has been oozing out of his mouth since being caught virtually in flagrante delicto at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, his “apology” was disingenuous.

In my first blog for Psychology Today I said:

My decision to blog stems from a veritable lifetime of studying the question: "They had the world in the palm of their hands...what made them do it?" This question appears in headlines, dominates the airwaves, and passes over virtually every intelligent person's lips, after people like Eliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton, or Martha Stewart engage in self-destructive, career-threatening (or career terminating) behavior.

Clearly the former Democratic U.S. senator from North Carolina evokes a “Here we go again…” from those familiar with my work. This, of course, is horribly sad, since a man and his family are in pain. The reason why I am neither concerned with what Mr. Edwards did with Ms. Hunter nor the implications his infidelity has for our political system (and the fact that such a huge moral collapse would be ignored by every major newspaper in the USA is a BIG DEAL), is because I think his post-trysting behavior is of greater import.

I have never met nor have I ever spoken to John Edwards, but as a result of studying, and working with men like him for over 30 years, I do know what makes these individuals “tick”. As such, I fear that he is going to be psychologically devastated if he thinks that after last Friday’s “performance” he is on the road to redemption.

Problem: