A Forensic Psychiatrist Warns of Trump's Mental Decline

The mainstream media jumps on every gaffe that Joe Biden makes during public appearances yet remains largely blind to Donald Trump's near nonstop gaffes and seeming disorientation and incoherence during his so-called campaign rallies and rants on social media, most of which are strewn with outright falsehoods.  While never a mental giant,  Trump has greatly deteriorated from the Trump of the 1990's and even "The Apprentice" yet much of the media ignores Trump's outward signs of deterioration and the untethered nature of many of his diatribes.  Why?  Several reasons, actually not the least is the media's refusal to see Trump as something far different and dangerous than a typical political candidate combined with a desire to push the "horse race" narrative.  Add to this never ending false equivalency, a tendency to normalize Trump's excesses and danger to the nation and, of course, the simple laziness on the part of too many self-styled journalists.  A piece in Salon that among other things interviews a forensic psychiatrist and a professor of forensic and general psychiatry looks at the signs of Trump's mental decline and why he should never regain the White House.  Here are excerpts: 

Donald Trump’s obvious public challenges with speech, language, and thinking are continuing to get worse. At a recent rally in Ohio, the former president continued to act like a broken computer, going off on odd tangents, rambling, muddling his speech, and saying, “Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama, has anyone ever heard of him? Every swing state, Biden beat Obama but in every other state, he got killed.”

This is not an example of one so-called gaffe or misstatement but rather part of a much larger pattern where Donald Trump confuses people and time. Experts have empirically shown such behavior likely indicates some type of brain disease. Psychiatrist Dr. John Gartner, a prominent psychologist and contributor to the bestselling book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President," has repeatedly warned in a series of conversations about Trump’s apparent challenges in cognition and communication that something seems to be very wrong with the ex-president:

Not enough people are sounding the alarm, that based on his behavior, and in my opinion, Donald Trump is dangerously demented. In fact, we are seeing the opposite among too many in the news media, the political leaders and among the public. There is also this focus on Biden's gaffes or other things that are well within the normal limits of aging. By comparison, Trump appears to be showing gross signs of dementia. This is a tale of two brains. Biden's brain is aging. Trump's brain is dementing.

Dr. Gartner’s attempts to sound the alarm about Trump’s behavior have been joined by the hundreds of medical professionals who have signed his Change.org petition, “We diagnose Trump with probable dementia: A petition for licensed professionals only.”

To deny the obvious about Donald Trump’s evidently diseased mind is to deny reality and to ignore the real possibility that a man who is already morally and ethically corrupt and now appears to be experiencing problems with his thinking could be back in the White House with the awesome responsibility and power of the presidency – including the sole authority to order the use of America’s nuclear weapons. Trump’s mind and overall behavior and character are not just a national emergency but a global crisis as well.

Because of a commitment to horserace journalism, fake objectivity and balance, self-interest and fear, the mainstream American news media – especially the elite agenda-setting news media – has largely ignored Donald Trump’s obvious struggles with communication and cognition. The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin is a notable exception.

Dr. Elizabeth Zoffman, a forensic psychiatrist and an Associate Clinical Professor of Forensic and General Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Zoffmann shares her evidence-based preliminary conclusion that Donald Trump is displaying a range of behaviors that suggest cognitive challenges if not impairment. The former president appears to be suffering from Behavioral Variant Fronto-Temporal Dementia, Dr. Zoffmann concludes, and needs to be evaluated by neurologists who specialize in the condition.

[O]bservations from viewing old videotape interviews and coverage of Mr. Trump as a younger man form part of my impression that Mr. Trump might benefit from a thorough evaluation by a neuropsychiatrist with expertise in neurodegenerative disorders.

When social awareness is deteriorating the sufferers may become irritable with caregivers. In Mr. Trump’s case, the overall picture is consistent with Behavioral Variable Fronto-Temporal Dementia (with the caveats mentioned about needing a thorough evaluation including an MRI brain scan.) The associated disinhibition exposes unfortunate aspects of his personality and worldview where he repeatedly dehumanizes anyone he sees as “the other." His repeated statements dehumanizing migrants and exaggerating their numbers and suggesting they are all killers is a good example. This meme has caught on with his supporters and in situations of mass-thinking they may pose a danger to migrants seeking refuge.

Mr. Trump’s memes seem to resonate with a stratum of American society that feels disaffected and maligned in a rapidly changing world. Being blinded to new information and new ways of experiencing scientific discovery poses a risk for those people – for example, anti-vaccine people frequently dying of COVID-19 when they could have vaccines.

The most cogent example of President Biden’s cognitive abilities is his recent State of the Union Address. He spoke for 63 minutes, without a teleprompter during many points. There were no tangential digressions, no word-finding problems, his sentences and paragraphs were articulate, he was coherent, and there were no insults or other disinhibited behavior. At times he spoke slowly and purposefully and at other times he was passionate (not shouting). Throughout his speech, there were instances where his stutter caused him to start and pause but he was able to correct himself and not lose his train of thought.

In other instances, I observe President Biden speaking more slowly and purposefully. That may be a sign of thoughtfulness, attempts to control stutter or needing to take more time to gather his thoughts. Whatever else is going on his responses are coherent and socially appropriate.

[Trump's likely] FTD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to progressive deterioration and early death. Once again, I caution that my observations combined with those of other experts should lead to a thorough assessment by a neuropsychiatrist expert in the diagnosis and management of neurodegenerative disorders.

Will the media ever wake up and get its head out of its collective ass?  Trump is a clear and present danger to America.