Inappropriate speech is a common symptom of Alzheimer's dementia.

[MineralMan]

Donald Trump often speaks with inappropriate words in casual conversation. Yesterday, for example, he told one Puerto Rican to "have a good time." He also referred to the Las Vegas shooting as a "miracle." In speaking about the damage Hurricane Maria left behind in Puerto Rico, he referred to Hurricane Katrina as a "real disaster," when comparing it to the impact of Puerto Rico's damage from Maria.

Those examples, and many other recent ones, are inappropriate word choices, used rather casually. Although the intent may have been OK, what came out of Trump's mouth was not what most people would choose to say. A victim of Maria, is NOT going to "have a good time." Nobody considers the Las Vegas shooting to be a "miracle," and Puerto Rico has certainly experienced a "real disaster."

Nobody who was thinking clearly would use those expressions in those situations. They are commonly spoken platitudes and expressions, but ones that that do not fit the circumstances.

I've seen this phenomenon many times when around people with Alzheimer's disease, and I've been around several such people in recent years from my own family. They say something with good intentions, but the words are not appropriate for the situation.

Donald Trump does the same thing, and perhaps for the same reason.

[bdamomma]

1. He is losing grasp

of his vocabulary, forgetting words and the meaning of those words. Also he seems to repeat himself over and over again using one words great, fantastic, they are doing a fantastic job...etc.

Scary, it will get worse until Congress deems him unfit to serve.

[MineralMan]

3. Exactly. There is a disconnect in his

word choices when he is speaking off the cuff. The wrong words pop out.

[Moostache]

75. Ok...I have to admit it...

I misread your response as "they just poop out" and I snorted Soda out my nose and onto a report that I need to file today...now I have to reprint the title page, but it was worth the laugh!!

[Raster]

79. that statement could also be accurate

[RKP5637]

26. Exactly! He's extremely redundant in words used, often even repeating the same word a few times

after the first time he used it in the same sentence.

[Saviolo]

68. I think the "repeating himself" thing is a habit.

It's a huckster's marketing technique. Tell them what you're about to say, say it, then tell them what you just said. He's been a carnival barker for so long that his speech patterns are stuck there. Even when he's reading off of a teleprompter, he can't resist having a little aside with himself to confirm what he just said. It's a sales tactic meant to keep the thing he's talking about firmly lodged in the brain of the rube he's trying to bilk (in this case, the public).

[CanSocDem]

78. Exactly.

Heard it many times. Also, like a trucker on the CB, trying to keep talking until something intelligent comes out.

.

[TeeYiYi]

81. Palilalia...

pali·la·lia
ˌpaləˈlālēə/
noun: palilalia

A speech disorder characterized by involuntary repetition of words, phrases, or sentences.

Palilalia may occur in conditions affecting the pre-frontal cortex or basal ganglia regions, either from physical trauma, neurodegenerative disorders, genetic disorders, or a loss of dopamine in these brain regions.[4] Palilalia occurs most commonly in Tourette syndrome and may be present in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy.[4][5]

Palilalia is defined as the repetition of the speaker's words or phrases, often for a varying number of repeats. Repeated units are generally whole sections of words and are larger than a syllable, with words being repeated the most often, followed by phrases, and then syllables or sounds.[2] [3] Palilalic repetitions are often spoken with decreasing volume and speed up over time.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palilalia

TYY

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. I like this analysis, let me add one simple thing.

Trump by virtue of daddy and being a criminal himself, has lived a life with zero stress, zero responsibility, every minute of every day is a "good time".

He actually thinks everybody lives like he does. If he thinks at all, that is.

Not unlike the lack of empathy from W when talking to the woman with 3 jobs.

So I think you are right on but at the same time, this is who he has always been as to the lack of human empathy and emotion. No group of adults would allow him to be in charge of the laundry room at a mental facility, let alone the world.

[MineralMan]

6. As one doctor who was speaking of a relative of mine said,

"With Alzheimer's, we often see that people's natural demeanor and attitudes are magnified by the disease. Happy people continue to be so, and so do angry people, but the emotions are less under control, so they can seem inappropriate."

[Eliot Rosewater]

7. Old joke, "why do you use cocaine?"

"it amplifies my personality"...what if you are an asshole?

[safeinOhio]

14. Alzheimers progresses quickly.

It won't be long, one or two years at the most, and will know.

[Scarsdale]

39. The gop covered

for Saint Ronnie, and he stayed for the entire term. It is disgraceful that we are stuck with this supremely ignorant, incompatant idiot because the gop needs him to sign their bills. He has ALWAYS been uncouth, uneducated (you can not educate stupid) with low morals. The entire world is shocked that this "man" is in the WH. The gop gave no respect to President Obama, who was more intelligent, more caring, more MAN than this clown will ever be. Guess this proves that the gop loves ignorance in their "leaders".

[mgardener]

59. 24/7

News coverage makes that close to impossible now. People with cell phones can capture all sorts of things that others want hidden.
I'd be worried if they start to hide him or we don't see him for extended periods of time. Or if his tweets become civil instead of disjointed and nasty.
He seems to have lost the filter between the brain and mouth.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

54. Not always. Sometimes it takes years to become so obvious

that it can't be covered up, as was done with Ronald Reagan.

[bdamomma]

12. not to say this lightly

or as many of us know here, we are in trouble. He can cause or cause even more problems, but he is only one man, and we are many. I am not advocating anything but we can see we are off the track. He will continue to go downhill and he has shown his disconnect with basic values and emotions. Let us see what he says in Las Vegas, no empathy whatsoever.

in the meantime, Mr. Putin is very happy with our demise.

I hope Mr. Mueller is working very hard to get this bastard out Mr. Don the Con.

[brush]

30. If he succeeds Mueller will have done one of the greatest services to the country

God, I hope he does.

[Scarsdale]

42. One thing is for sure

the traitors in the gop will not give any help to the Mueller team. Many of them are complicit in the Russian deal.

[brush]

46. Agreed. They all need to be exposed.

[Eliot Rosewater]

51. To put it mildly, big trouble. BEST case scenario

still means our entire court system will be radical rightwing assholes for decades.

This is so much worse than people realize.

But hey, at least we didnt have ... ... ... oops,not allowed to bring that up, am I

[cwydro]

4. Well, you and I differ on one point.

That man has no "good intentions" toward anyone.

Nice of you to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. I agree.

herr drumpf has good intentions only to his family, but primarily to himself.

[cwydro]

9. Absolutely.

That ass cares for no one except himself (and family).

He wouldn't know a good intention if it bit him.

[DBoon]

82. he only cares about is family because to him they are part of himself

I doubt he considers family as independent individuals with their own wills. Bet he just sudumes them into his ego.

[redstatebluegirl]

27. I honestly think if it was choice between him going down or throwing his kids under the bus

the kids would go under the bus. He is TOTALLY self absorbed.

[Scarsdale]

43. The sons, Beavis and Butthead, yes.

Ivanka? NO WAY. He seems to think she is something special. She agrees with him.

[MineralMan]

10. I agree with you, but

saying things like "have a good time," are more or less automatic responses, said hundreds of times in the past as a parting comment. They rarely mean anything, really, but Trump is using them in the wrong settings, which is why it's a symptom.

Maybe I should have said he "meant to feign good intentions," but said the wrong thing. Trump is often insincere, of course, but now he's being insincere in even less appropriate ways.

[cwydro]

13. Lol. Yes, I think you nailed it there.

I wish so much this nightmare of a "president" would go away.

[geardaddy]

67. +1

Regardless if he does have Alzheimer's, he's a nasty piece of work and has no sympathy for anyone but himself.

[tblue37]

8. I have long said that he shows Alzheimer's symptoms. His father's symptoms

began to show at about the same age.

He also has had several on camera episodes of what appears to be sundowning.

I think Ivanka's main job in the West Wing is to babysit him and manage his episodes.

[bdamomma]

17. Ivanka was there to

actually put words in his mouth or let her do the talking, he has always had his family around him. They know full well what is wrong with him, they should be held responsible for their father he is a risk to himself and others many many others. He is putting us all in jeopardy and should not be overlooked.

The Mental Health Professionals need to be very loud about his symptoms and this shouldn't be discussed behind closed doors either.

[Freddie]

20. His wacko tweets

Usually happen Friday nights/early Sat. morning when Ivanka and Jared are observing the Sabbath and not there to babysit.

[machoneman]

36. I wonder if Kelly & the generals had the CIA, NSA, etc. do a pro-forma mental....

analysis on Trump? I mean, with all the resources at hand by the Joint Chiefs, perhaps they have been told he's unstable, unfit and could get the USA into a lot of trouble.

Kelly's presence already has been heralded as an effort to stop the internal bleeding, back-biting and more. But what if the chiefs, recognizing well he has the nuclear football, flipped a coin, Kelly lost, and he's doing a lot now to protect America from this madman?

[raccoon]

74. Sundowning? Elucidate, my dear Watson. Nt

[area51]

80. One site w/a little info on

sundowning.

[ChicagoRonin]

11. It's also common among the overprivileged

Not to counter the extremely compelling observations that something is not right upstairs with Herr Trump, but I've also encountered similar behavior among people who are, for lack of a better word, really spoiled.

If you're and average and ordinary person, and if especially lucky circumstances have not come your way, your interactions with other people involve a lot of navigation and negotiation. You learn through trial and error that being inconsiderate, not being mindful of what you say, and not communicating clearly will not get you what you want. Sure, some bullies and louts manage to secure jobs, spouses, etc. but mostly you end up socially isolated or rejected.

However, being blessed with material wealth (like Trump) and being constantly surrounded by family or friends who forgive your every transgression means you never master the above social skills. It's because you don't have to.

Not to stereotype all rich people, but in college it was always the wealthier kids I met who acted like brats towards RAs, trashed dorm room public areas with impunity, or ran up massive credit card debt (which their parents covered). And they never, ever, ever seemed to show any remorse for it.

[MineralMan]

15. Yes. Absolutely.

He is less in control of his responses now than he may have been in the past, which means we see more and more inappropriate comments.

[bdamomma]

21. Your last comment is spot on.

Rich kids or rich people do not understand how to struggle. They feel that they are entitled to everything, they could never be "middle class" which is no more. I know, we all know how are our parents sacrificed for us, no one held their hand out everyone wanted to be respected. Our parent instilled those values in us and those in upper class have not struggled. We have continued to instill those values in our children. Just posting my opinions and a very good thread. Thank you

oh i forgot to say this Welcome to DU!!

[redstatebluegirl]

29. They think only the "little people" get sick and if they do they can buy their way out of it.

In some cases this is true. Lots of stories of rich people buying organs when they don't want to "wait on a list like everyone else".

[bdamomma]

34. isn't that how they function anyway,

it's entitlement or they have been privileged to secure so much money or to find any means to acquire more wealth even to the point of stealing it be it all social programmes such as Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.

Greedy bunch

[HopeAgain]

44. It could be that he is so out of his element as well...

This is a man who never faced someone who needs help before, who blustered and lied his way through everything and used his fame to intimidate and influence people.

Now he is in a role he is completely unaccustomed to. It must be discombobulating for him to now get called out, for the first time in his life, for all of his pathological lying.

[HipChick]

16. Sorry...not looking to normalize him...he has been like this most of his life..

and that's from folks that had direct dealings with him in NYC circle..

Early onset or personality defect...Alex for $500 going with defect

[zipplewrath]

25. There are differences

There have been study of his speech from years ago and today. His vocabulary is shrinking and he is repeating himself more often. I've noticed too that he has many of the characteristics of my father's initial descent into dimentia. If I'm right, it will become almost unavoidable in about 2 - 3 years. Sad part is, this will ultimately generate a degree of sympathy for him which the GOP could leverage into avoiding responsibility for electing this guy in the first place.

[MindPilot]

18. And maybe he is just an ignorant asshole

If he has some kind of degenerative brain disorder, he's had it since the start of his campaign.
Living on the left coast, I had never heard of this guy until the campaign. I had heard his name associated with the birther thing, but I really never even saw him until the campaign.

Was he at one time the brilliant business man he's reputed to be, and suddenly changed a couple years ago?

[MineralMan]

19. He is that, too, but Alzheimer's tends to exaggerate

emotions and behaviors as it progresses.

[delisen]

71. He is who he has always been. Most New Yorkers,

like Bloomberg, see the same old con.

[bdamomma]

24. Many New York businessmen

hate him, he is a swindler and a con always has been. He had screwed so many people and businesses. Bankruptcy seems to be his downfall.

[Maggiemayhem]

62. I do not have a degree to diagnose demntia

I agree with the asshole part and a dumb one at that. He may be suffering from his narcissistic behavior because he certainly is being judged more than admired. Remember his briefings consist of whatever positive news about him. He is definitely overwhelmed in his position and should step down, but he never will. He was never a brilliant businessman, hence the multiple bankruptcies. If The Apprentice had not come along, who knows where he would be. He became successful at trademarking and lending the Trump name. I can't believe people would base a vote on a reality show! Maybe we need to put up billboards that say all "reality " shows follow a script. Nothing real about it. He tends to appeal to really thick people who are losers or looking to gain something ( like an increased portfolio.) I hope people quit thinking government should be run like a business and wouldn't consider someone again like Mark Cuban who has no political experience at all.

[world wide wally]

22. I guess this is what happens when someone who is already an asshole gets Alzheimers

[MineralMan]

23. Yup. If you visit memory care units, you'll no doubt

encounter someone whose anger and suspicious nature has been amplified by the disease.

[redstatebluegirl]

31. I had a family member who was a jerk before he got it and got SO much worse after the disease

progressed. It is harder to hide who you really are.

[MineralMan]

32. Yes, I've seen that happen, too.

I've also seen the reverse, with a sweet, gentle person becoming even more so as things slipped away for her.

[redstatebluegirl]

33. Yes, my grandma was like that, always sweet and even more so towards the end.

[Initech]

28. He has never been around people who aren't billionaires.

So I can see why he would throw his own one man ticker tape parade.

[mopinko]

35. sounds exactly like my mom did.

just that kind of platitudes apropos of nothing.

the president should have to have an annual physical, starting before they take office, w results made completely public. i want an mri of what is left of his brain. i have no doubt it looks like swiss cheese.

yes, he has always been a privileged asshole. but he used to be able to speak in complete, appropriate sentences.

[mainstreetonce]

37. How much of this

could be assigned to the stress of the job?

He has never had to handle criticism.
He can't learn to do that at 70.

I think there is a possibility he has some type of medical problem, but it is also possible that he is just not mentally equipped to handle challenges he has never had to face.

[MineralMan]

38. I don't think that's it at all, frankly.

[cwydro]

50. Me either. Nt

[Scarsdale]

57. Remember during the campaign

Donald Jr. approached Kasich spokesman and asked him to ask Kasich "How would you like to be the most powerful VP in history? He will be in charge of domestic and foreign policy" The spokesman asked "What would your father be doing?" Answer, with a smirk "Making America great again" tRump did not want the job, just the title and prestige. He can not even FAKE presidential behavior. Everything about the job overwhelms him, while he desperately pretends he has everything under control. I wonder how much he owed to Putin, that has been forgiven???

[bdamomma]

76. you know

Putin has been very quiet huh?? I guess his grasshopper is doing well in destroying the USA. Putin's presence is in this on a FULL scale.

[Stuart G]

40. k and r..no text

[oberliner]

41. It's also a symptom of being a moron

Which is my diagnosis.

[cwydro]

48. Lol.

I'm with you on that one.

[loyalsister]

45. I think it's stage managing gone wrong

I suspect he has been told a number of times to be positive. "People will like you if you're more positive."
The fact that he can pull it off under these circumstances once again reveals his narcissitic tendencies, ignorance, and social incompetence.

[lindysalsagal]

63. I think you're right. He repeats what he hears but doesn't understand

Context, implication, sensibility, empathy, and totally lacks compassion.

As my mother slipped into her 80's she would rapidly become frustrated, tired, annoyed, and more and more paranoid. She went on the attack (verbally) with us kids, who have always been family oriented. We all get along. It was a loving family until she lost touch with the details of reality. At times, we had to talk to her as if she were a young child, but her paranoia had won out, when her brain slipped in and out of competence. Even her own kids couldn't get through the garbled brain defects.

He's on his way. You'll hear his kids make excuses for his lapses. Really, they've been his apologists from the beginning. I think they've all got Stockholm syndrome. They believe this is normal.

[hatrack]

64. But he's only positive about one thing - himself . . .

. . . and when there's nothing there to be positive about, that's difficult to do.

And he doesn't do difficult - or complicated, or decent, or civil.

[loyalsister]

73. He is using positive language about these incidents, too

The point is it's easy for him to look away and spin it to positivity. There is something seriously wrong with that, and it's not just him. Norman Vincent Peale infected our culture long ago...

In his book, The Power of Positive Thinking, and in his preaching, Peale promoted a faith message that appealed to Donald Trump.

"Peale got very interested in the notion that the Gospel could unleash power, that having a divine relationship with God could unleash power within a person for success," says Michael Hamilton, a historian of American Christianity at Seattle Pacific University. "And he defined success pretty broadly, so it partly included material success. God didn't want people to be poor."

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/03/488513585/how-positive-thinking-prosperity-gospel-define-donald-trumps-faith-outlook

He said "what happen in Las Vegas was a miracle" then praises first responders. Someone probably steered him away from making about himself, and kept the message positive.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/353571-trump-what-happened-in-las-vegas-is-in-many-ways-a-miracle

[samnsara]

47. John Mc Cains bazaar speech before his cancer scare...

[Mountain Mule]

49. Dementia combined with a complete lack of empathy!

The guy can't talk in complete sentences. I have a brain injury and I write better posts than he does tweets. He is wealthy, never had to work for anything, never had to stand on his own feet thanks to Daddy's money and now he's growing senile. The republicans do nothing because they like being in power better than they like avoiding a nuclear war with N. Korea and they like the national conversation turned to football players while they sneak their tax break for the wealthy through. I hate them all and I loathe and despise Trump.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

52. It can also be a sign of being a clueless, insensitive asshole.

[GeorgeGist]

53. Warmest condolences ...

on his dementia

[MineralMan]

55. Another example. The standard platitude is "deepest condolences"

"Warmest" is awkward, really, and could be confusing to the person hearing it. "Warmest" is for "greetings." I wouldn't use it with condolences. Wrong word choice.

[L. Coyote]

56. "Trump is dangerous to the entire planet." #TrumpDementia

Link to tweet

Best not wait until he hits 3% approval rating.
Temer is dangerous too, destroying the Amazon is a global concern.

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

58. Trump is not up to the job of being POTUS

[Motley13]

60. He told Harvey victims "have a good time"

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-told-hurricane-harvey-survivors-to-have-a-good-time-while-visiting-shelter-2017-9

another one of his brilliant comments


When Trump was asked about the flooding, he replied, "The flooding? Oh, yeah, yeah, there’s a lot of water, but it’s leaving pretty quickly. But there’s a lot of water, a lot of water, but it’s moving out."

No telling what he will say in LV or what he will toss to the people

[still_one]

61. Alzheimer isn't trump's problem. Trump has always been a selfish, self-centered, cruel ignoramus.

He is an asshole

[klook]

65. Good thing I grew out of the Alzheimer's I had as a teenager. (n/t)

[nini]

66. Alzheimers is always worse when the person is already a jerk

He has never been capable of giving a damn about others.

[delisen]

69. His words are also consistent with his

his own logic, his belief system and his main focus on himself and his performance

1. He is measuring disasters according to how many people were killed. Katrina was a real disaster due to the number of lives lost. In Puerto Rico he was counting only 16 lives lost (an undercount). Therefore he considers Katrina a "real" disaster, and Puerto Rico not so much.

This type of measuring is a reflection of his "size" obsession-a life-long obsession.

2. He considers that Puerto Ricans are lazy, and that the aid they are going to receive is a windfall. They will be getting a lot of "free stuff." He believes that will take what is given and have a good time.
Throwing the paper towels at the crowd was to him a symbol of the free stuff they they will be getting from the federal government

This is a Trump projection. It is reportedly what he did when he vastly inflated damage to his home in Florida in filing his 75 million property loss claim.

3. The "miracle" of Las Vegas comment was just another Trump attempt to avoid being held accountable for the results of his actions.
He has been an outspoken advocate of NRA policies. In order to avoid blame he immediately states that it was a miracle that the disaster was not even worse and injects "god" into the situation. (God works in mysterious ways, he decided to save some people. It's a miracle)!

This is all consistent with a personality who has over decades denigrated, dehumanized and blamed others, gotten free stuff by lying and not paying people for their work, and refusing to take responsibility.

Projection is probably Trump's most glaring personality feature or "bug."

Alheimer's-whether he has it or not, is not needed to explain his recent performance. He is who he has always been.

I suspect he would be quite willing to use Alzheimer's as a defense to avoid accountability in either an impeachment process or a state legal action. If so, it will be just another con.

[Dustlawyer]

70. While not disputing that this is a sign of Alzheimer's dementia, I believe Trump's problem to be

firmly rooted in his malignant narcissism. I worked for someone with the identical behaviors Trump exhibits.

Thinned skinned to the point they accept no criticism or fault for anything; vain to the extreme; condescension and verbal abuse is a constant to those around them; poor leadership skills; complete lack of genuine empathy, but with some knowledge that they need to try to appear empathetic, usually ending in disaster; if it doesn't happen to them personally then it didn't really happen; and permanent victim-hood.

They are always right and no one else suffers like they do. They constantly lie to fit this view that they are much better than everyone else.

Because they lack any understanding of others or ability to "walk a mile in their shoes," they appear as tone deaf when they attempt to fake normal emotions towards others.

This is Trump to a "T."

[raccoon]

72. I think you're right on target. Nt

[The Wizard]

77. He sounds half coherent

when he's praising himself. The rest of the time he has trouble articulating any semblance of real thought bigly.

[TexasBushwhacker]

83. He's been saying stupid stuff for decades n/t

[William Seger]

84. The one that got me was, PR should be "proud" of having so few deaths

is that supposed to mean? It's so inappropriate, in any sense, I can believe it was a cognitive misfunction.

[Tarheel_Dem]

85. Sadly, I have to agree. I've seen interviews with Trump from the 80's, and he sounded much more...

rational and articulate back then. I also think his over reliance on superlatives is also a symptom of something. It's like he relies on certain words to replace ones he may have forgotten. Everything is usually either "tremendous", "huge", etc, or it's "fake". How many educated adults speak this way in the normal course of conversation?

[kwassa]

86. Donald Trump has always said inappropriate things.

He might have dementia, but his primary condition is a narcissistic personality disorder, with ADHD features added on. Narcissism with a very short attention span might seem like Alzheimers, but Trump has no sense of appropriate.