Great News: Treatment for Weiner's Psychological Disorders Could Take Years

Naturally, we'll likely be picking up the tab for this psychopath. No wonder he refuses to leave. He couldn't afford his "treatment" otherwise.

First came the crotch photos. Then came the lying and denial. Now, Rep. Anthony Weiner is seeking treatment for his misdeeds, leaving Washingtonians asking: treatment for what?

Based on the New York Democrat’s behavior, which the congressman says includes sending lewd messages and images over the Internet to six women in the past three years, experts interviewed by POLITICO said he could suffer from an array of conditions that could merit treatment, including narcissism, obsessive-compulsive disorder or even some variety of sexual addiction.

None of the possibilities comes with a silver-bullet treatment that delivers quick results — meaning that if Weiner is found to suffer from any of these conditions, he isn’t going to duck into a rehab center and emerge a week later with a doctor’s assurance that he is “cured,” cleared to return to Congress.

Instead, treatment requires weeks, months or even years of one-on-one therapy or group meetings, a slog through a 12-step program or perhaps even medication. It might be easy for a celebrity or politician caught in a scandal to say, “I’m getting help,” but if he really needs it — and wants it — it won’t be a breeze.

“He risked his career, his reputation and his recent marriage to engage in certain behavior while ignoring what the consequence may be,” said Sandra Davis, an addiction expert with Shady Side Psychotherapy Associates in Pittsburgh. “When someone chooses to do that, we say they are progressing down a long continuum of developing an addiction.”