A man in his early 20s opened fire at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Aug. 26. So far, two children are confirmed dead, and 17 other people were injured. The shooter, Robin Westman, also killed himself. This is a developing story, and caution is warranted before committing to a detailed narrative before all the facts become known.

But jumping to conclusions is what news consumers do best, especially when they are easy conclusions that don’t require probing deeply or taking any unpopular stands. The dominant narrative emerging is that it must be SSRI antidepressant drugs or the hormones the man was taking.

The real problem, at least the main one, is likely to be something called a Cluster B personality disorder. In fact, that’s what’s ailing American society from top to bottom, in my view. From the warped curricula in public schools to the moral crime of “transitioning” children to the hostility and rudeness of everyday business transactions — pathological narcissism is at the root.

According to early reports, the shooter was living as a “trans woman.” It is unclear whether he took hormones or had surgery, but it does appear that his liberal-leftist family was supportive of his deceptive identity.

To an experienced observer, this is a maddeningly familiar pattern. From what I can see so far, the shooting appears to be like the majority of other cases of trans violence and social discord. I am neither a doctor nor a mental health professional; my opinion does not constitute an act of medical diagnosis. But just as I can recognize that a blood glucose reading of 600 indicates diabetes, so can I observe that believing you’re the sex you are not and then working out your frustration by murdering children is strongly indicative of personality pathology.

What Are Cluster B Personality Disorders?

“Cluster B” refers to the naming system used by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM puts personality disorders into Clusters A, B, and C.

Personality disorders are deeply ingrained, largely inflexible patterns of relating to the self and others. They usually arise from neglect and abuse in childhood.

The four Cluster B disorders are below. There is much overlap and many shared traits among them. What binds all four together is narcissism.

Narcissistic personality disorder: These people have false and delusional beliefs that they are perfectly beautiful, perfectly smart, perfectly moral, etc. They treat others like objects, but expect to be treated as royalty.

Borderline personality disorder: They ride the line between high neurosis (negative feelings) and actual psychosis (being disconnected from reality). Borderlines have an unstable sense of self and identity. They often switch looks, names, and interests. Their major fear is being abandoned, and they lash out wildly and in bizarre ways, especially to loved ones.

Histrionic personality disorder: They have disproportionate emotional reactions, positive and negative, to ordinary events. Histrionics often seem melodramatic, weepy, and unbalanced compared to people with normal temperaments. Just open up TikTok and listen to any random Gen Z influencer girl, and you’ll get a good example of HPD.

Antisocial personality disorder: You know this condition by the terms “sociopathy” or “psychopathy.” Contrary to popular belief, most psychopaths are not rapists or serial killers. You meet them every day. They have no conscience and use other people instrumentally.

It is clear to me that Cluster B personality disorders, and increasing narcissistic traits among millions of us, are the major reason why the Western world is so unstable and unpleasant. Narcissism is the reason why it’s so fraught to be in public around other people who suddenly can’t remember how to respond politely to small talk. Deep-seated, more-than-normal selfishness is the reason why people “can’t remember” to stop for red lights, but simply take the right of way, your life be damned.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Over decades, American society has been restructured according to what I call “Cluster B rules.” We are are all behaving like the children in a household headed by a violent father and an emotional basketcase mother. We’re terrified to disagree with coworkers or bosses who believe it’s normal to force employees to celebrate “pride” and transvestism. We fear losing our jobs and good name if we make the “controversial” statement that it’s child abuse to “transition” children.

If we are going to look at the psychological reality in America honestly, we will have to dispense with all the excuses and easy crutches we reach for to explain society’s descent into anti-social madness. The cause is probably not SSRI antidepressants, or microplastics, or fluoride in the water, although all of these things have effects on our lives, and some of those are negative.

But the presence of these drugs and substances are effects and correlates of an underlying problem. They are not the cause of the problem itself. And they are not the deep, underlying problem itself. These personality derangements, the same derangement that animated my criminally abusive mother’s mistreatment of her children, are structuring our public and private lives in the 2020s.

These are Moral Conditions

You may not have read the term “Cluster B personality” before, but you know what kind of person it describes. If you’re like most people, you can recall a family member or coworker who was so obviously self-centered and manipulative that you thought “there’s something wrong with her.” You were probably right, and what was wrong with her was probably a Cluster B personality disorder.

Don’t let the term “disorder” fool you: these are moral conditions, not medical conditions. Having a Cluster B personality disorder is not a “disability.” It’s just a fancy medicalized term for what used to be called “moral insanity” or “bad character.”

Just how much of it is “going around?” While the DSM cites rates of between 1.5 and 2.7 percent of the population, that is a major underestimate. Working mental health professionals I know, including those with doctorates and decades of clinical experience, estimate that it may be as high as 20 percent of the modern American population.

With the Annunciation shooting, the suspect is merely the most extreme example of a disturbing decline in the mental and moral health of more and more Americans.