Donald Trump has 'lost touch with reality', according to mental health experts

Mental health experts are growing concerned about Donald Trump’s potential “cognitive decline” amid fears he’s “lost touch with reality”.

Trump famously gave President Joe Biden the nickname “Sleepy Joe” which his supporters ran with over concerns his cognitive faculties were on the decline before he dropped out of the presidential race. But now, experts are convinced the same thing is happening to Trump himself.

Speaking to The Independent, several specialists, including a former White House doctor, fear that 78-year-old Trump appears to “have lost touch with reality” – something they claim is exhibited by his “rambling” rally speeches and “erratic” performance during the televised election debate between himself and Kamala Harris.

In an op-ed for The Atlantic, Richard A. Friedman, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, said he was “alarmed” by what he saw from Trump during the 10 September debate, arguing he “displayed some striking, if familiar, patterns that are commonly seen among people in cognitive decline”.

At his rallies, Trump has been known to go on bizarre tangents, jumping from topic to topic while making little sense. During a recent appearance in Pennsylvania, Trump was ridiculed for his “word salad” of a speech while talking about his political rival Harris.

He said: “She had the other interview with the other guy who was a nice guy I think from Philadelphia, from Pennsylvania. He was a nice guy, he was asking her all these (scrambles words) – the daily take – they don’t take like I do! Anybody wants to go, go what the hell difference does it make – they have – and how dishonest was ABC.”

Speaking to The Independent, Dr. Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist with experience carrying out cognitive assessments for the New York Supreme Court suggested Trump is “really not in a strong cognitive place”.

While he stressed he has not assessed Trump in person and is therefore unable to give a formal diagnoses, what he saw during the debate, which began at 9pm, was concerning.

He said: “There’s a term when you’re talking about people with dementia called sundowning, it’s a lot harder for them as the day goes on.”

“It’s very difficult for them to maintain focus on a topic,” he continued. “The idea of being able to maintain that level of focus for that amount of time, that late in the day…you wouldn’t think twice about it if that was your grandfather. It’s just he happens to be running for president.”

Despite concern from elsewhere, Trump continues to insist he is “cognitively very strong”.

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