Experts say Trumps speech deterioration is a clear sign of early dementia

[zipplewrath]

8. Sounds like my father

Last edited Tue May 23, 2017, 02:10 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm no expert, but his public speaking has reminded me of when my father first started his decline into dementia. At the earliest stages, they start to struggle for words, especially proper nouns. They also begin to talk themselves into "corners" where they have no real point to what they are saying, so they make up stuff to appear to have had a point. But it quickly becomes absurd stuff. It was like that "priming the pump" schtick. They get to a point where they have no idea what they are talking about, so they quickly go on a tangent, and it is a ridiculous tangent in an attempt to sound "smarter" or more accomplished. They repeat things, especially phrases, as a delaying tactic to figure out what to say next.

His short attention span is another suggestive indicator. They really can't follow for too long, because they are in essence "forgetting" the beginning of the conversation, so they get fidgety which comes off as "bored" when it is really that they are completely lost.

And this last schtick in Israel where he was "exhausted". It doesn't take much for people in this condition to become completely incapable of engagement at all. Dad started taking more and more "naps" where it wasn't clear he was sleeping at all, but merely lying quietly and resting without distraction. It was taking everything he had to just engage, much less actually comprehend.