Is Something Neurologically Wrong With Donald Trump?

The last few days have brought forth questions about the president's mental state. Rumours of dementia, and the fear that he is unravelling has sparked some speculation. His spectacularly unhinged tweet about his 'big nuclear button' is just the latest in a series of incidents leaving many wondering just what is going on inside the mind of Donald Trump.

www.politico.eu...

Lawmakers concerned about President Donald Trump’s mental state summoned Yale University psychiatry professor Dr. Bandy X. Lee to Capitol Hill last month for two days of briefings about his recent behavior.

In private meetings with more than a dozen members of Congress held on December 5 and 6, Lee briefed lawmakers — all Democrats except for one Republican senator, whom Lee declined to identify. Her professional warning to Capitol Hill: “He’s going to unravel, and we are seeing the signs.”

No, not just partisan shots either. Getting the tax bill through seemed to stabilize the ship temporarily, but it seems the alarms have been raised again.

“The tendency was anti-alarmism among Republicans,” said Bill Kristol, editor at large of The Weekly Standard and one of Washington’s leading conservative voices.

That made Trump’s sudden fit of saber-rattling “more jolting,” according to Kristol — and it reopened the national conversation about the president’s mental stability. “I was focused on Iran, and talking to people in the administration about serious policy,” Kristol added, “and then to see in the middle of what might be a serious policymaking process, Trump’s just flipping out.”

On Wednesday, Kristol tweeted: “I trust @VP has asked his Counsel to prepare a draft document transferring power in accord with Sec. 4 of 25th Amendment in case it’s suddenly needed, & that he’s discussed this with COS Kelly.”

Over at The Atlantic, another article also questioning the state of Trump's mind.

www.theatlantic.com...

Trump’s grandiosity and impulsivity has made him a constant subject of speculation among those concerned with his mental health. But after more than a year of talking to doctors and researchers about whether and how the cognitive sciences could offer a lens to explain Trump’s behavior, I’ve come to believe there should be a role for professional evaluation beyond speculating from afar.

I’m not alone. Viewers of Trump’s recent speeches have begun noticing minor abnormalities in his movements. In November, he used his free hand to steady a small Fiji bottle as he brought it to his mouth. Onlookers described the movement as “awkward” and made jokes about hand size. Some called out Trump for doing the exact thing he had mocked Senator Marco Rubio for during the presidential primary—conspicuously drinking water during a speech.

edit on 4-1-2018 by bgerbger because: (no reason given)

He's just the same as he always is

...continued..

Then in December, speaking about his national-security plan in Washington, D.C., Trump reached under his podium and grabbed a glass with both hands. This time he kept them on the glass the entire time he drank, and as he put the glass down. This drew even more attention. The gesture was like that of an extremely cold person cradling a mug of cocoa. Some viewers likened him to a child just learning to handle a cup.

Incidents with slurred speech last month as well.

His ability to speak in coherent sentences also seems to be an issue.

The frontal lobes also control speech, and over the years, Donald Trump’s fluency has regressed and his vocabulary contracted. In May of last year, the journalist Sharon Begley at Stat analyzed changes in his speech patterns during interviews over the years. She noted that in the 1980s and 1990s, Trump used phrases like “a certain innate intelligence” and “These are the only casinos in the United States that are so rated.” I would add, “I think Jesse Jackson has done himself very proud.”

On Larry King in 1987

King: Should the mayor of the city be someone who knows business?

Trump: Well, what we need is competence. We don’t have that. We have a one-line artist. That’s all he is ...

Compare this to the Trump of today, in an interview with th Associated Press.

People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall, my base really wants it—you’ve been to many of the rallies. Okay, the thing they want more than anything is the wall. My base, which is a big base; I think my base is 45 percent. You know, it’s funny. The Democrats, they have a big advantage in the Electoral College. Big, big, big advantage ... The Electoral College is very difficult for a Republican to win, and I will tell you, the people want to see it. They want to see the wall.

It is not possible to diagnose dementia based on speech patterns, but Trump's speech seems not dissimilar to that of Reagan.

Though it is not possible to diagnose a person with dementia based on speech patterns alone, these are the sorts of changes that appear in early stages of Alzheimer’s. Trump has likened himself to Ronald Reagan, and the changes in Trump’s speech evoke those seen in the late president. Reagan announced his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 1994, but there was evidence of linguistic change over the course of his presidency that experts have argued was indicative of early decline. His grammar worsened, and his sentences were more often incomplete. He came to rely ever more on vague and simple words: indefinite nouns and “low imageability” verbs like have, go, and get.

So what is Trump is neurologically damaged? The article discusses a presidential-fitness committee.

The idea that the president should not be diagnosed from afar only underscores the point that the president needs to be evaluated up close.

A presidential-fitness committee—of the sort that Carter and others propose, consisting of nonpartisan medical and psychological experts—could exist in a capacity similar to the Congressional Budget Office. It could regularly assess the president’s neurologic status and give a battery of cognitive tests to assess judgment, recall, decision-making, attention—the sorts of tests that might help a school system assess whether a child is suited to a particular grade level or classroom—and make the results available.

I say go to it. There are valid questions about Trump's mental fitness, and not just from partisan sources, it certainly is worth investigating.

People who are political rivals and that do not interact with him daily are pushing another ad hom through media.

Classless. Truly classless.

a reply to: bgerbger

Problem is you liberals,never have constructive things to say,try to make speculations,you end up making yourself look redundant,just because you don't like someone,don't try to pretend you have any intelligent thing to add other then a half assed opinion

Not that I can tell, at least going by his words and actions. Who knows what he does in a room by himself.

But I can absolute state with 100% certainty that the anti-trump people have absolutely gone off the deep end. The descent into madness is rather shocking to see.

Upholding election promises, sticking to his guns, and not being a run of the mill polished career politician = mentally unfit, something wrong with him, rabble rabble.. constant threads about what he eats, drinks, how he holds a bottle, feeds fish, says a word...

it's a bit pathetic...

a reply to: badw0lf

but but but, he eats at MCDONALDS !!!
REEEEEEEE !!!

a reply to: bgerbger

apparently, there's alot of money to be made by assessing Donald Trumps deplorable mental state...

a reply to: Oldtimer2

Oh please you are all as guilty doing the same but from the opposite side of the political spectrum.
This left right nonsense has to stop.
It is no more than a school yard filled with 7 year old spiteful children at the moment here.
Both sides in power will and do screw you all and you all accept scraps from them we should be fighting them all.

Yeah I wrote about this not to long ago.

Does Trump have Dementia.

You might find some interesting stuff there OP.

No. A president who places America above all? Perfectly sane.

Maybe soon I’ll stop paying $2.5 for gas and pay sub .50¢ prices like the Saudi’s...

Anyone seeking that (or any) level of authority is insane and should not be trusted.

originally posted by: EvidenceNibbler
a reply to: badw0lf

but but but, he eats at MCDONALDS !!!
REEEEEEEE !!!

I saw a thing on 2 minute noodles the other day, just as a side topic. They are made to NOT digest. Literally. You eat them, and they sit in your stomach being macerated and squished, but they do not break down. The stomach enzymes don't touch it, so it passes into the intestines largely still unprocessed. Talk about eating death...

At least maccas is awesome at midnight when you find one on the way home from a night out

I remember how horrible the right was for suggesting the same about Hillary. But it's OK for your side. No, really.

originally posted by: network dude
I remember how horrible the right was for suggesting the same about Hillary. But it's OK for your side. No, really.

The problem with this line of thinking is that it fall into the usual trap of assuming anti-Trump means pro-Hillary which is simply not true.

It was right and fair to ask questions of Hilary's health, I do think however the right went a bit far becoming obsessed with her broken toe but thats a matter of opinion. The physical and mental ability of any presidential candidate to preform the duties of POTUS is a fair factor in voting in my view.

Personally I think its also fair to highlight that Trump is now POTUS and as such its only right to ask that he is of sound mind to preform his duties. Do you really want a guy who isn't mentally stable having the power of POTUS?

a reply to: network dude

Assange was a hero under obama, now he is a spy. Same playbook by the left over and over again...

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

The evidence used is his Twitter. Which he doesnt solely own. Meaning that assessments of mental health are being made on a single person based on written messages coined by people other than him

Hes not been clinically assesed individually.

Meaning these "experts" are as FOS as the guy with dementia.

Can't MAGA if the POTUS is incoherent, reckless and unstable due to cognitive issues. It's sad and perplexing to me that his base thinks they can get the ball down the field without a functional.quarterback.

a reply to: kosmicjack

Didnt Trump tick off several campaign commitments in his first year?

Seems like hes moving the ball down the field pretty well. Hes been able to keep promises that werent all that popular in DC.

I logged out a couple months back because of how out of touch anti trump people are on here, people still making 5 threads a day talking absolute nonsense.

I said it back then and I'll say it again, back then all the anti trump people never answered me, dodged the question etc.

Can anyone explain to me, a non American, how this man is a bad president ? Explain to me all of the bad things he has done to be awarded by so much hatred and mockery by the world. Don't come at me with things he said on tweetville either, explain to me the bad things he has done to America.


I waited months on end for a good answer to that question, lurking in ATS searching for answers, so I can wait a few months more, or maybe 7 more years


I'm not left right up down this guy or that guy, I just support what I think is right for us as humans, to me this man seems right, if someone can prove me wrong PLEASE do, I need to know why so many people feel the way they do about Don, thanks ATS, and have a good new year