"I did eventually, have a X shot a few weeks ago."
That ↑ was a line from my previous post, except where it then said X, you were able to read cortisone.
Huh?
You see, I had a memory issue when I was composing the post. The word, cortisone, eluded me. I knew that the correct word would eventually surface to the top of my consciousness, so I used X as a placeholder. Rather than getting bogged down in the moment, I went on to compose the rest of my post.
Then, when I was done, was able to replace X with cortisone because it had then risen to the top of my brain.
Temporarily losing track of ones nouns, is a common side effect of aging. There can be many changes in how our brains and bodies work, but that is one of them for some seniors. It is temporary; we know that the words are still there, and we know that other words don't fit, but may fail to come up with the right word in the moment.
When I wrote about the issue quite a long time ago, someone in the geriatrics field commented that retrieving a noun could be likened to looking for an article on a crowded desk. You know that it's there, somewhere, but it can take some time and searching to find it.
My mind is still working pretty well, thank you very much. I do my puzzles in the morning, including what is often an extreme Sudoku. I am seldom stumped by the puzzles, including those very difficult Sudokus.
Mind you, when I am trying to convey something to someone and can't find the word, I can both feel and look pretty dumb, even though I am not.
I call it temporary brainis interruptis.
In my case, I can think logically and coherently, and I can write about my thoughts fairly well, I think. Feel free to comment if you think otherwise. I'll delete it, but go ahead.
However, as much as it seems to be the case so far, this post is not really about me, but I simply cite my example in order to make a point. Rather, I am thinking about the grand debate last week. I confess that I did not watch it, for I feared the worst. On one hand, there was a candidate, who has the gift of the gab, aided by the fact that he doesn't care whether or not he is being accurate and truthful. The other candidate is hesitant due to brainis interruptis as he struggles to find the right words and to tell the truth.
I did not watch because I feared the worst, and the worst, apparently, happened.
It is appropriate to question the latter's competency, but for the love of all that is holy, please take a minute to understand the senior mind. A person may have temporary issues retrieving words or may falter in expressing a thought, but they can be extremely competent. A temporarily lost word or hesitant thought does not necessarily indicate precipitous cognitive decline.
People and the press should know this. It's not difficult to understand.
Age and competency are certainly concerns in this election, but I have an opinion about who is the more stable candidate, and it is the one who has a good governing track record and no criminal convictions and nor required to report to a parole officer.
21 comments:
Happens to me often these days. I rely on the online thesaurus to find words, which helps a lot.
I spent ten years working in geriatrics. There is a difference in forgetting a word, having a momentary lapse, maybe forgetting your point for a minute and entering dementia. This is what I see. I will still vote for him. Because I have to. This is not agism, it's looking at a situation and seeing what you see and believing it. Again, I will give him my vote. Now the fact that 45 gets a free ride from the media....you have to look at who owns the media outlets and you have an answer.
Trump is obviously a vile pile of feces and Biden is a good human being; however, I think Biden has lost the confidence of the people? I don't know how to ensure the right person wins the coming election (for the sake of the entire world), but if I were a US citizen, there would be no choice (even if Biden is replaced). And yes, we all glitch here and there and (most) seniors deserve a pass (unless you're the other senior: Trump).
The phenomenon can be normal if infrequent. But brain snap or completely blank look or brain pause for that frequency or duration is definitely a feature of neurodegenerative disease.
I can’t/won’t comment on the political side (not my president) ……but as Sandra above says - as far as the ‘slip ups’ go there is a difference.
I’ve been there - done that…..not the role - just the ‘forgetting part’ but aren’t in the spotlight for all the world to see. If the gaffs become more frequent all the armchair medical know it alls will really start pushing and possibly a countries leadership will change for the worse
I’m with you about the difference between word retrieval issues and dementia. It is not only the Americans’ future depends on the results of this election.
You put up a strong defense for some of us old fellers.
I wholeheartedly agree with you but I think the writing is on the wall with Biden. Too many people have lost confidence. He's always been gaffe prone, even before he got old. I remember wincing at several of his statements when he was still youngish. I am angered that the vile and lying T. isn't held to the same standards; have you listened to him speak? He is incoherent and crazy.
My brain farts (to be a bit crass) ended up with me remembering the star of the movie "Mrs. Potter" was Rene' (....)-weger. The rest of her surname was not available, and my friend looked at me blankly. Within 15 minutes I said Zellweger. There seem to be conversations I should just avoid...those including the names of anyone, tittles of books and movies, and maybe places too. Whew. Those are keen topics of my friends these days! We just keep on keeping on.
I guess I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one AC. Hunting for the right word is not Biden's issue. Watching his off the script news conference session last night is proof of that. He can't maintain his focus for more than a few seconds at a time. He would start answering a question, input some verbal pause or redirection, try again and repeat this a half dozen times or more and still miss answering the question entirely. Of course his stalwarts will say he was just misdirecting but Biden of old didn't do misdirection, much to the chagrin of his party. Not to mention that twice yesterday, he got the names wrong for two people he should never have gotten wrong, and not only did he use the wrong name but he used the wrong name that was the biggest slap in the face to the people he told them too.
He might not have dementia but he certainly is feeling the affects of aging. According to many in his own party, he has drastically been altered mentally since October of last year. With four and a half more years to potentially go, this is very alarming and not something I would call as "stable". Biden is the most important man in the free world and makes decisions regularly that could drastically affect us all. Having him in office holding the nuclear "football" scares me as much as having former President Trump for four more years.
Biden was a decent man and even though I didn't always agree with him, I was never afraid of him like I am now. I really think his friends and close advisors really did him a disservice on this one by trying to shelter him from things like what happened two weeks ago and again last night. I hope for the sake of us all, they sit down with him and try to reason that it might not be in the country's best interest that he run for another four years. His legacy will already have an asterisk behind it but lets not make it bigger by having him complete lose grip with reality in his next term in office. Let the Democrats do what they should have done and get someone in there where time is really on their side.
I think brain interruptus happens to all of us young and old. I don't mind Biden's mental lapses, because he has a clear vision of what needs to be done for the good of our country.
I watched the debate, the ABC interview as well as the news conference and was impressed with his clear vision. I and many others will vote for Biden.
Nouns and names seem to be my buggaboo these days too.
Yep, brainus interruptus is a real thing for us older folk. And while I understand people's concerns about Biden, they are NOTHING to the very real craziness of the MAGA fella. I'd vote for a piece of belly button lint over him.
When Larry went in for cortisone shots, he kept telling the staff he was there for silicone injections! I finally reminded him that he didn't need a book job, he needed his knee jabbed! Every one had a good laugh.
That is a malady I have displayed my whole life. I am resentful of how the media is treating Biden.
PipeTobacco
I too am a BI sufferer. Fortunately, it's not too advanced, but it is definitely there. I so wish that what I saw in the debate was a simple case of BI. It seemed much more advanced. Sentences that bordered on gibberish that trailed off into nothingness. Slurred words that were difficult to understand. My wife commented that without the captioning she would have had no idea what he was saying. The vacant stare. If he doesn't step down, I'll still vote for Joe, but only to block the other guy. Scary times in the USA.
Sometimes I'll leave a blank _________ like that when I'm knowing I'll want to fill in -- maybe a name or something. And then up goes the post and pooh! It happens! X is pretty good. (It's how I do wordle -- I need to see the word so I might type xxANx so I can try out combos! If you hit enter by mistake, it won't take it if it's not a word!)
Couldn't agree more! Now what did I come in here for.... Aloha?
I often do that, unable to retrieve words, and leave a placeholder.
I think I've heard all the arguments for and against all this.
I'm at the point where the harm done by both Biden and Trudeau being targets is just ridiculous.
Well said, AC.
It will never cease to astound me that people can totally freak out about Biden's lapses and yet turn a completely blind eye to his opponent's 'word salad'. Biden made more sense than trump makes on a good day. But, all that being said, I believe that if the Democratic party had a candidate who was young and could articulate, the Republican presidential candidate would not stand a snowball's chance in hell.
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