Donald Trump's Cognitive Decline - Alzheimers or Dementia? Sundowning Trump?

[GondwanaLand]

I happened upon an odd video on Twitter of a moment during Trump's visit to Israel . I hadn't given any thought to Trump having a mental disorder, like early stage Alzheimers or dementia but that video reminded me strikingly of my grandfather who suffered from a rather quick onset of Alzheimers: https://twitter.com/pacelattin/statu...49635028959232 Just watch it. He seems to stand up, immediately forget what he is doing, and almost shambles off with a blank look on his face as Bibi looks at him with bafflement at his sudden behavior. He then has to be essentially herded back

That got me thinking, and set me to googling, and apparently I'm not the only person who has had this thought (and many of them were from well before the video above), and even looked very detailed into his current speech patterns and behaviors compared to his past. And then of course is his notorious lack of attention span that even the people who write his briefings have spoken about. Even more interestingly, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (and it seems to have a genetic trend), and as the oldest president at age 70, he's several years past the age that it usually begins to show itself. And we know from experience with Reagan, that it's certainly possible to try to mask and hide it, even while in the role of President.

The blogger behind the Neurocritic laid out what he sees as proof of Trump’s mental deterioration. He notes that President Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 83, though he began to manifest symptoms far earlier. Researchers have combed through records of off-the-cuff speeches Reagan delivered and found significant declines in his mastery of language. By his second term, Reagan’s speech showed a deep drop-off in the use of unique words; a marked increase in the use of non-specific nouns (thing, something, anything); an uptick in filler words (well, so, basically, actually, literally, um, ah); and a greater use of low-imageability, high frequency verbs (get, give, go, have, do).

Trump seems to have parallels in all these areas. He has become notorious for his word salads, incomprehensible soliloquies delivered at the speaking level of a fourth-grader. He frequently falls back on words like “tremendous” and often drags on without using specifics. Trump often speaks at length while saying nothing.

Alex Leo of the Daily Beast transcribed one sentence Trump delivered at a campaign stop in South Carolina, a series of dead ends, unfinished thoughts and ramblings:

Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart—you know, if you're a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it's true!—but when you're a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that's why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my, like, credentials all the time, because we're a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it's not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what's going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it's four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger, fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven't figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so you know, it's gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.

In the clip below, David Pakman shows how typical Trump bluster could actually be indicative of something more problematic. He compares old footage of Trump to the Trump of today, and looks at how Trump's physical problems may also be linked to Alzheimer's:

At 70 years old, Trump is the oldest person to be elected president. His father Fred was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six years before his death. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “age, family history and heredity” are the most important risk factors in developing the disease. Most sufferers start to show signs of the illness at age 65.

Remember when Trump forgot which country he’d just bombed? When it just slipped his mind to sign a pair of executive orders during an event created for that explicit purpose? When he couldn’t locate Rudy Giuliani, who was sitting directly across from him at a media briefing? Those things don’t seem like innocuous senior moments.

Trump also seems to exhibit other signs of Alzheimer's listed by health organizations. Moodiness, paranoia, belligerence and erratic behavior are all key indicators of the onset of dementia. Trump’s inappropriate tweets, his belief that his phones are tapped and his quickness to anger, as described by his staff, all fit the bill.


http://www.alternet.org/personal-hea...ing-alzheimers

 

[chevyontheriver]

I happened upon an odd video on Twitter of a moment during Trump's visit to Israel . I hadn't given any thought to Trump having a mental disorder, like early stage Alzheimers or dementia but that video reminded me strikingly of my grandfather who suffered from a rather quick onset of Alzheimers: https://twitter.com/pacelattin/statu...49635028959232 Just watch it. He seems to stand up, immediately forget what he is doing, and almost shambles off with a blank look on his face as Bibi looks at him with bafflement at his sudden behavior. He then has to be essentially herded back

That got me thinking, and set me to googling, and apparently I'm not the only person who has had this thought (and many of them were from well before the video above), and even looked very detailed into his current speech patterns and behaviors compared to his past. And then of course is his notorious lack of attention span that even the people who write his briefings have spoken about. Even more interestingly, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (and it seems to have a genetic trend), and as the oldest president at age 70, he's several years past the age that it usually begins to show itself. And we know from experience with Reagan, that it's certainly possible to try to mask and hide it, even while in the role of President.






[video=youtube;N3CFwkoqxIs]

Er, Trump himself told us that he was the most fit candidate evah, so it can't be.

 

[rambot]

While it may explain why his messaging isn't very consistent, I'm just not convinced of this one. I could see him really just not caring at all and so he'd just get up and walk away.

More importantly, I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to handle the kvetching from Trump apologists about how he's getting "picked on" again.

 

[cow451]

One of the reasons I said well before the election that I wouldn't vote for any candidate old enough to collect Social Security retirement benefits.

 

[DaisyDay]

It's possible. I hope not. The stress of the job would speed up deterioration, if it were true, so I guess we'll know one way or the other fairly soon.

 

[DaisyDay]

One of the reasons I said well before the election that I wouldn't vote for any candidate old enough to collect Social Security retirement benefits.

See, that's just ageism. Sanders, Bush I, Jimmy Carter are all eloquent, sharp old guys who could out-think Perry any day of the week.

 

[Nithavela]

I remember Bush 2 being alleged to have alzheimer during his presidency. He still seems fine.

 

[Hank77]

I happened upon an odd video on Twitter of a moment during Trump's visit to Israel . I hadn't given any thought to Trump having a mental disorder, like early stage Alzheimers or dementia but that video reminded me strikingly of my grandfather who suffered from a rather quick onset of Alzheimers: https://twitter.com/pacelattin/statu...49635028959232 Just watch it. He seems to stand up, immediately forget what he is doing, and almost shambles off with a blank look on his face as Bibi looks at him with bafflement at his sudden behavior. He then has to be essentially herded back

That got me thinking, and set me to googling, and apparently I'm not the only person who has had this thought (and many of them were from well before the video above), and even looked very detailed into his current speech patterns and behaviors compared to his past. And then of course is his notorious lack of attention span that even the people who write his briefings have spoken about. Even more interestingly, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (and it seems to have a genetic trend), and as the oldest president at age 70, he's several years past the age that it usually begins to show itself. And we know from experience with Reagan, that it's certainly possible to try to mask and hide it, even while in the role of President.






[video=youtube;N3CFwkoqxIs]

There was already a thread about this last night. If you continue down in the tweets there is another video of the exact same thing only a couple of mins. longer which shows him immediately returning, shaking hands, and then clearly speaking to the press.

The OP of the other thread chose to ask that it be closed because it wasn't complete and factual.

 

[Hank77]

I happened upon an odd video on Twitter of a moment during Trump's visit to Israel . I hadn't given any thought to Trump having a mental disorder, like early stage Alzheimers or dementia but that video reminded me strikingly of my grandfather who suffered from a rather quick onset of Alzheimers: https://twitter.com/pacelattin/statu...49635028959232 Just watch it. He seems to stand up, immediately forget what he is doing, and almost shambles off with a blank look on his face as Bibi looks at him with bafflement at his sudden behavior. He then has to be essentially herded back

That got me thinking, and set me to googling, and apparently I'm not the only person who has had this thought (and many of them were from well before the video above), and even looked very detailed into his current speech patterns and behaviors compared to his past. And then of course is his notorious lack of attention span that even the people who write his briefings have spoken about. Even more interestingly, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (and it seems to have a genetic trend), and as the oldest president at age 70, he's several years past the age that it usually begins to show itself. And we know from experience with Reagan, that it's certainly possible to try to mask and hide it, even while in the role of President.






[video=youtube;N3CFwkoqxIs]

Here is the full video clip on youtube.

 

[DaisyDay]

I remember Bush 2 being alleged to have alzheimer during his presidency. He still seems fine.

Not Alzheimer's, but a definite verbal quirkiness. His thoughts were not disordered but sometimes his words were.

 

[Nithavela]

Not Alzheimer's, but a definite verbal quirkiness. His thoughts were not disordered but sometimes his words were.

I miss Bush 2. He had to have his information written on two page cliff notes, but at least they didn't have to mention him all the time to keep his attention.

 

[Hank77]

Not Alzheimer's, but a definite verbal quirkiness. His thoughts were not disordered but sometimes his words were.

He looked to me like he had a case of gas that he needed to get rid of.

 

[GondwanaLand]

There was already a thread about this last night. If you continue down in the tweets there is another video of the exact same thing only a couple of mins. longer which shows him immediately returning, shaking hands, and then clearly speaking to the press.

The OP of the other thread chose to ask that it be closed because it wasn't complete and factual.

Yes , it shows him "returning" after being herded back to the spot by an aide. As I already noted in my OP. So kindly refrain from your aspersions.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

It looks to me as if another entity took him over. Just my observation so don't shoot, hands up.

 

[GondwanaLand]

Here is the full video clip on youtube.

Yes, he had to be herded back from his dazed wandering by an aide there, and reminded of what he was doing.

 

[GondwanaLand]

I happened upon an odd video on Twitter of a moment during Trump's visit to Israel . I hadn't given any thought to Trump having a mental disorder, like early stage Alzheimers or dementia but that video reminded me strikingly of my grandfather who suffered from a rather quick onset of Alzheimers: https://twitter.com/pacelattin/statu...49635028959232 Just watch it. He seems to stand up, immediately forget what he is doing, and almost shambles off with a blank look on his face as Bibi looks at him with bafflement at his sudden behavior. He then has to be essentially herded back

That got me thinking, and set me to googling, and apparently I'm not the only person who has had this thought (and many of them were from well before the video above), and even looked very detailed into his current speech patterns and behaviors compared to his past. And then of course is his notorious lack of attention span that even the people who write his briefings have spoken about. Even more interestingly, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (and it seems to have a genetic trend), and as the oldest president at age 70, he's several years past the age that it usually begins to show itself. And we know from experience with Reagan, that it's certainly possible to try to mask and hide it, even while in the role of President.






[video=youtube;N3CFwkoqxIs]

It certainly explains other things like this: Angela Merkel reportedly had to explain the 'fundamentals' of EU trade to Trump 11 times

 

[Hank77]

Yes , it shows him "returning" after being herded back to the spot by an aide. As I already noted in my OP. So kindly refrain from your aspersions.

Sorry I missed your short one liner in the OP before you went on with your commentary.

Yes, he had to be herded back from his dazed wandering by an aide there, and reminded of what he was doing.

I didn't realize you were there to see this herding back take place or did an aide or someone else state that is what happened?

 

[Goonie]

Wow, it's a let's debate Donald's Health thread. In an alternative universe we'd be saying exactly the same things but with Hillary instead.

 

[Hank77]

It certainly explains other things like this: Angela Merkel reportedly had to explain the 'fundamentals' of EU trade to Trump 11 times

Merkel reportedly told her cabinet members that Trump had "very basic misunderstandings" on the "fundamentals" of the EU and trade.

The exchange occurred when Merkel met with Trump last month and reportedly convinced him to negotiate with the EU as a bloc after attempts by his administration to deal with individual countries were declined.

It appears that his administration didn't want to accept the facts either.

 

[GondwanaLand]

Sorry I missed your short one liner in the OP before you went on with your commentary.

I didn't realize you were there to see this herding back take place or did an aide or someone else state that is what happened?

You can see the herding right on the video you yourself posted...... maybe read and watch things more carefully.