Elizabeth Mika
Jul 23, 2017 · 2 min read

Thank you for reading and commenting, Greg.

Yes, there is always a possibility of dementia; there’s just no observable, from a distance at least, evidence of it, I’d say.

Those changes noted there are easily attributable to natural aging, stress and greater exposure — i.e., we are seeing now things that were always there but we didn’t pay attention to them. The media interviews etc. that Trump gave throughout decades were always done under favorable circumstances and on the topic of his greatest interest: himself and his tremendous awesomeness and success. This allowed him to (looking for a clinical term here…oh, yes) BS freely and mesmerize the always easy to mesmerize audience with it.

Today, Trump’s dealing with wide-ranging problems of grave importance, and under constant scrutiny of a skeptical, at best, audience, something that would easily discombobulate a stronger psyche. He’s not used to such challenges and has no capacity (or desire) to meet them in constructive ways. So he does what he’s always done: BS, hoping no one will notice and it’ll work (to his advantage, consequences for others be damned) as it always has. Sadly, it may, as his sycophants, drunk on delusions of power and glory, not to mention immediate monetary rewards, try to make sure of it, as they always have.

The author of Trump’s “Art of the Deal,” Tony Schwartz, confirms that The Donald we see today is, psychologically, the same Donald he had the (mis)fortune to work with decades ago. So while dementia is a possibility, we may think of horses (when hearing hoofbeats) first — character defect and its consequences — before we start looking for zebras — dementia and other secondary problems.

On a related note, it continues to astound, in a disturbing way, that we would consider the possibility of dementia to be a greater problem than (easily observable) narcissistic psychopathy.

This is an important question of our society: Why is it easier to suspect / admit to / name dementia than a character defect which has been on full display since, well, forever? A character defect, by the way, that is the most dangerous form of psychopathology known to humankind.

Our denial doesn’t apply only to the case of our current resident of the White House, obviously, but is a general problem that we should acknowledge and try to deal with. Psychopaths cause far greater damage to society than people with dementia. In fact, dementia in a narcissistic psychopath in power could possibly ameliorate his worst symptoms by weakening his destructive impulses and drives, so in some aspects at least it could be a positive, if one could use that term, development.

Thanks again for commenting!

    Elizabeth Mika

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    On Twitter as @yourauntemma