Daniel and reality

Reality is the world or state of things as they actually exist. In Daniel's case, the definition is less certain.

To our future president, reality is a malleable concept which is influenced by his many mental illnesses, the influences of trolls, and his current life situation. Reality is a concept which Daniel desperately tries to avoid, refusing to accept it as it is. Instead, he retreats into his own delusions as a coping mechanism for the sad state of his life, hoping that reality will eventually bend to his whims. His sense of what is real and what is not real is acutely warped, with him selectively believing what is so to him based on if it fits into his warped perception of the real world.

Daniel's perception of reality has been on a downward spiral since his first appearances on the Internet; the case can be made, however, that it was never quite that strong in the first place, and trolls only gave the final push rather than being the underlying cause of his poor sense of reality.

Many with mental illnesses have struggles distinguishing between reality and fantasy, but most make an effort to reduce the impact it has on their lives. Daniel, on the other hand, embraces his delusional view of the world, no matter how many times he has been told that what he perceives is not real.

His perception of reality is broken to such an extent as to him holding strong in his delusional beliefs well into the Second Jail Arc. Despite periods of institutionalization, nothing has seemed to get through to him on a deeper level. Suffice to say, Daniel is almost certain to have a poor grasp on reality for the foreseeable future, if not for the rest of his life without extreme psychiatric intervention.

Causes of Daniel's poor grasp on reality

Mental health

One of the most concrete causes of Daniel's poor grasp on reality are his numerous professionally diagnosed mental illnesses, specifically Daniel's PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, Autism and Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is the big culprit in terms of mental health causing his poor grasp on reality. On a general level, schizophrenia causes it's sufferers to experience hallucinations, strongly hold delusional beliefs, distortedly take in stimuli and have paranoia. These symptoms are sadly well-documented in Daniel. From his obsession with Grace VanderWaal, delusions of grandeur (exhibited in his belief that he is a celebrity), and persecution complex, it is clear that mental health plays a strong role in his poor grasp on reality can be blamed on his schizophrenia.

Autism, while not the biggest influence on his sense of reality, plays a part in how one perceives reality. Autism Spectrum Disorder influences how a person afflicted with it senses reality due to their differences in perceiving stimuli compared to neurotypical people. Those with autism also sometimes struggle with differentiating fantasy and reality, so much so that it impacts things such as daily functioning and social interactions.

Another strong contender in terms of mental health causing his poor grasp on reality is his affliction with Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar alone can cause it's sufferers to have psychotic episodes, experience delusions, hold a distorted perception of time, and delusions of either grandeur or persecution. Combined with his schizophrenia, this makes Daniel an extremely delusional and violent person.

Upbringing

To say the least, Daniel's childhood was troubled. Daniel was brought up in an unstable household, and before he was even a teenager, his father had disowned him and left his disabled mother. This eventually led him to be taken out of his home by the state of Colorado due to alleged neglect he faced at the hands of his mother. This placed him in the care of his grandmother, Nancy Shimer, as well as the Tennyson Center for Children for a brief time.

In reference to reality, Daniel's grandmother was a known enabler of Daniel's bad behavior. It has been alleged by both Daniel's mother and father that when Daniel would act up (or have violent episodes), Nancy would seldom put down binding consequences. She would instead give Daniel what he wanted or let him get away with disobedient actions to appease him and/or get him to calm down.

Influences of trolls

Trolls have reinforced his delusions in various ways.

Multiple trolls have impersonated Bob Proctor and Grace VanderWaal, chiefly making Daniel say and do humiliating things and/or creating a positive feedback loop for his obsession in regards to the latter. The former would see trolls impersonate Bob and reinforce Daniel's delusions of persecution and maltreatment.

Consequences of Daniel's poor grasp on reality

Delusions of grandeur

One of the chief consequences of Daniel's poor grasp on reality are his delusions of grandeur. He genuinely believes that he is a world-wide famous celebrity and musician with billions of adoring fans and abundant wealth, despite him in reality being a homeless vagrant with an obsessed cult following as a niche infamous e-celebrity.

This has shown itself in many ways. During his Panera Bread Incident, trolls had called the establishment he was loitering in (a Boulder, Colorado-based Panera Bread franchise) and had convinced the staff of it to eject him from the premises. In response, he began to have a self-harming meltdown, exclaiming that fans are "leaking my location" and that he's "fucking famous".

Persecution complex

Daniel has a deep-rooted persecution complex which is deeply intertwined with his delusions of grandeur.

Because he thinks he's a world-wide famous celebrity, he believes that dozens of vehicles have stalked him in the past as he wandered the streets as a homeless bum. During the Haagen-Dazs Incident, he claimed that people were lying about him because he was "fucking famous, bitch".

Delusions

Due to Daniels poor grasp on reality, he has several patterns of delusional thinking. These delusions mostly go hand-in-hand with his deeply-seeded delusions of grandeur and persecution complex.

Grace VanderWaal

Daniel's second-most infamous trait about him is his obsession with Grace VanderWaal, an America's Got Talent star who is now a low-level celebrity, musician and actress. Daniel's infatuation with her was likely planted by his grandmother, Nancy, when he was watching a segment of the show as a teenager. Nancy allegedly remarked that Daniel could get with her one day in the future, and our yet-to-be-sworn-in POTUS took that to heart. It's been displayed multiple times by trolls impersonating her that, when it comes to Grace, Daniel is willing to do just about anything to please her and/or increase his chances of getting romantically involved with her. Despite him being institutionalized twice during the Second Jail Arc, his delusions about Grace have not stopped; to the contrary, they seemed to have gotten stronger, as presumably thoughts of her had been allowed to stew in his warped mind as he rotted in FCI Englewood.

Bob Proctor

Daniel's delusions also extent to his mentor and father figure: Richard "Bob" Proctor. In general, Daniel's views of Bob rapidly shift as time progresses in radical ways. The most plainly-stated evidence of such can be observed during the April 6th Meltdown: at one moment, Daniel is saying "Bob, help!" and at another, cursing a "fuck you!" which he believed was going to be seen by Bob. Trolls have impersonated Bob and made him out to be a malicious and nefarious schemer to Daniel, and despite Bob's quite generous aid to him, Daniel has had several violent incidents where he has attacked Bob.