What About Trump's Mental Functioning?

Numerous experts have said that Covid-19 affects mental functioning. It can produce delirium, PTSD, brain fog, impaired thinking, and stroke,

The American Psychological Association (APA) reports,

"For patients who become seriously ill with COVID-19, survival may only mark the start of a complex recovery path.

Along with potentially coping with cardiac, pulmonary and other physical effects, psychologists report that patients may have to sort through cognitive changes, such as difficulties with attention and memory, as well as mental health symptoms for months to come.

The APA reports that 20-40% of critically ill patients face a higher risk of delirium, 80% if they've been on a mechanical ventilator. And, at Rush University Medical Center, where they established a separate inpatient rehabilitation unit to treat patients recovering from COVID-19. ," they'd anticipated reports of delirium as they began screening patients, Abigail Hardin, PhD, a rehabilitation psychologist says.

"But what surprised me after seeing some of these patients was really how delirious they had been, and how long it was taking for that delirium to clear," she says.

Even after they recovered enough to start rehabilitation, some patients continued to experience hallucinations or delusions."

The APA article adds,

"If the patient wants to get back to work, cognitive testing can determine if there are any attention or other cognitive changes, before developing potential accommodations to request from an employer..."

The New York Times reports that

"nearly a third of hospitalized Covid-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function ranging from confusion to delirium to unresponsiveness - in the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in an American hospital system.

And patients with altered mental function had significantly worse medical outcomes, according to the study, published on Monday in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology."

In addition, Trump is taking a cocktail of drugs-- the effects of the combination we have no idea about what they do to people. Worse, he is taking the drug dexamethasone, which produces serious mental and cognitive dysfunction, including hypomanic behavior-- you know-- like going out for a ride to see supporters, putting the driver and secret service people at mortal risk.

Clearly mental, emotional and cognitive functioning, even reality testing are major issues for Covid-19 patients. Yet I have not heard a single mention of concerns about President Trump's mental capacity since he was diagnosed.

I want to know what assessments of Trump's mental, emotional and cognitive functioning have been made. As president, the testing should be much more aggressive than for the average patient. Before he is discharged back to the White House, back to being in charge, he should be thoroughly assessed for his mental, emotional and cognitive functioning. If Trump is working, as his posed photo of him with a pen in hand at the hospital suggests, then his mental, emotional, cognitive functioning should be cleared, and it should be re-checked every day.

His doctor should be reporting on his mental functioning assessments. That means telling us what specific tests he's been given to assess his functioning. And that is not the job of the osteopath general practitioner or even an internist. A qualified expert in psychology or psychiatry AND a neurologist should be assessing Trump's mental, emotional, cognitive and neurological functioning and competence. And they, not his GP should be reporting on the status of that functioning an competence. That's the way it should be. It should even be inscribed in our laws.

And let's not forget that Donald Trump is a pathological, chronic, serial liar, a con man who is a master of, not of the deal, but of the lie, the con, the fraud, the deception. He knows how to fool people. He knows how to hire levels of people who work for him to. help him lie, deceive and perpetrate fraud.

It is not enough for the media to ask these questions. Congress has a responsibility to be certain that the President is 100% functional. Is 90% mentally, emotionally, cognitively or neurologically functional? Is 80%? What diminished percentage of functionality is acceptable? That's a conversation that we should be having right now .And we should absolutely know the details, not the platitudes Trump's chosen doctor provides.

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