Thursday, May 9, 2024 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
I’m not afraid of much. Typical fear-inducers like heights, spiders and snakes are no problem for me.
Two things do bother me, though. The first involves young ones who don’t know how to swim being near a body of water that is dark or murky. Panic rises up in my chest. If they accidentally fall in, how will I see them to save them? Just thinking about this makes me shudder.
My other fear is humongous. I’m desperately afraid of losing my mind, my mental capacity, before my body is done. Dementia is my sworn enemy. Senility, my fearful foe. To ward off the corruption of brain cells, I work challenging crossword puzzles, logic games and try new things, like learning to play a new instrument or memorizing a piano piece. I’ve also read that socialization staves off memory loss, so I engage with people a lot.
Fortunately, writing and music are full brain activities. When I pick up my bass guitar (newest effort) or when I’ve spent hours in my writing hole, it’s a brain workout, and I can feel it. It feels good.
I understand physical wellness influences brain health. Hopefully, this truth will kick my butt into action this summer, and I’ll do more walking and swimming because it’s likely I’ll live another three decades. I’ve got longevity genes, thanks to my mom’s side of the family. She was 95 when she passed away, and her mom was 93.
Now, both of these dear women did suffer from dementia, but not until the last year or two of their lives. I could live with that. Time will tell, but I’ve already told my family that if my thinker has left the building, please don’t save the structure it lived in.
This year, brain health has taken on political importance. Our assumed presidential candidates are each accusing the other of losing cognitive ability. Given that both candidates are old, dementia is a possibility, but age alone does not a weak mind make.
Diagnosing dementia is the domain of experts, typically psychologists.
Hundreds of such professionals have signed a petition certifying that, in their expert opinion, Donald Trump is suffering from mental decline. I trust these people. Besides their education and experience, they would have no motivation to lie and risk their reputation, practice, family or safety just to sway voters.
Psychologists and many others in society have a duty to warn if they believe someone is a danger to themselves or others. They are required to notify those who may be in danger and in some cases, law enforcement. Otherwise, diagnoses and treatments are nobody’s business. This is their duty to protect. Health information is private.
Dr. John Gartner, a respected psychologist, was one of many to contribute to the book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.” It’s a work created to sound the alarm. Gartner is often a guest on talk shows and podcasts, and he has an active petition on Change.org. Only mental health professionals, both active and retired, doctors, therapists and nurses can sign it.
More than 2,000 people have done so.
I expect Gartner and others to sound off more and more as the November election approaches. One of the main complaints he raises is that news media and other politicians are not amplifying the warnings, and the public — we, American voters — are not paying attention.
No matter if we’re Republican or Democrat or Green or Libertarian or any other affiliation, shouldn’t we beware? If so many have risked so much to warn us, then we certainly should at least listen to them.
I find it strange that Trump wants to make a big deal out of President Joe Biden’s mental acuity, while he’s the one who conflates people, confuses time periods and too often can’t finish a coherent sentence that sticks to one idea for its duration. But I’m not a psychologist or dementia researcher, I just recognize jumbled garble when I hear it, and he spouts a lot of it.
Like with so many things, what people accept as truth will depend on who they trust and what they want in the end. Sadly, many well meaning people are deluded by Trump’s lies and emotionally attached to him. If only people would just listen to the words and ideas apart from the person, then maybe they would begin to understand how dangerous he and those supporting him really are.
In November, we will be forced to vote for an old white man. I’ll take the one who occasionally forgets a name, rather than the one who uses superlatives to cover up a lost train of thought. My mind is made up.
Leslie Kouba is a columnist for cleveland.com.
