Robert Bowers is a terrorist and not a person with dementia

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The morning of October 27^thRobert Bowers murdered 11 members of the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During a fight with the police, he unloaded anti-Semitic jabs to explain his crime.

Twelve hours later, at a campaign rally in Murphysboro, Illinois, President Donald Trump described Bowers as "sick," "naughty," and, in particular, "insane." By grouping these descriptions, Trump not only deliberately perpetuates a lie, but also stigmatizes those who are currently living with dementia.

Barely four days before the Pittsburgh murders, Sandra Day O'Connor, a retired Supreme Court justice, announced in a letter that she was suffering from dementia: "Some time ago, doctors were mourning. diagnosed the early stages of dementia, probably Alzheimer's disease.

O'Connor's announcement, like President Ronald Reagan's letter to his nation in 1994 on his own diagnosis, is an act of bravery. Dementia is an emotionally charged diagnostic tag that people do not share as easily as they diagnose cancer or heart attack. Many are slow to seek help because of these emotions. People with memory problems, as well as their loved ones, are worried about the harmful effects of the labels "dementia" and "Alzheimer's disease". They are right to.

Dementia describes a condition in which an adult experiences a gradual loss of cognitive abilities, such as memory and executive function, often accompanied by behavioral changes such as apathy, anxiety, and disinhibition. These losses make sure that the person with disabilities performs the usual daily tasks such as money management, cooking and traveling. A person with dementia usually needs a caregiver for these activities.

In the United States, Alzheimer's disease is the most common disease that causes dementia. The number of people is estimated at 5 million. Other causes include, for example, vascular disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV infection.

Alzheimer's disease is one of the most feared diseases, a fear fueled by lurid metaphors such as "death before death" and "a demon that attacks the brain". These metaphors stir up fear and disgust, which causes stigmatization. Stigma degrades the quality of life and dignity of the person. My patients and their caregivers tell me how far friends and family are. Rather than face this isolation, they are slow to seek a diagnosis and care. After finally being diagnosed, they often withdraw, like O'Connor, from public life. Among the ways to counter this stigma, we can talk like adults about dementia. Describing terrorists and mass murderers as demented is not helpful.

Trump regularly uses "insane" to describe the perpetrators of mass killings and terrorist acts.

The gunman who murdered the spectators in Las Vegas: "a very insane person". At a Cabinet meeting, he speculated on the murderer's neuroanatomy: "He was a crazy, sick person. The threads were very badly crossed in his brain – extremely badly in his brain. "

In a speech to the Israeli Public Affairs Commission in March 2016, he spoke about Iranian missiles containing anti-Israeli slogans: "What kind of demented spirits does he write in Hebrew?

"Sick and insane" was his assessment of the September 2017 terrorist assailants in London and after the August 2016 Pulse Nightclub shootings in Florida.

Dementia is a medical diagnosis. Until Bowers passes a medical examination to assess his cognitive and behavioral health, we should assume that he is in good cognitive health.

Trump's use of the term to describe terrorists and mass murderers ignites the stigma of dementia. This contradicts the strategy of our National Alzheimer's Plan to preserve the dignity of people with Alzheimer's disease. This is insulting to people like Justice O'Connor, Glenn Campbell, Coach Pat Summitt and others who have spoken and spoken about their diagnosis.

He also repeats an inaccurate factual belief that people with dementia are inherently "irrational" or even criminal in their behavior. This false medicalized explanation of mass murder and terror masks the cruel and deliberate reasons that people like Bowers use to justify their voluntary acts of terror. Bowers' social media publications were litanies of antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy. Just before his murders, he accused Jews of supporting Latin American refugee claimants in the United States.

It is true that some people with dementia have an inability to make a decision, and these disabilities can be serious enough for the person to make bad decisions. It is simply not true that the diagnosis of dementia is tantamount to an irrational decision or an act of violence.

Words count. Trump's description of Bowers as "insane" is the latest in its repeated misuse of the term. This confuses our civic responsibility to call people like Bowers what they are: mass murderers and terrorists who commit deliberate and intentional acts. It's also an insult to patients and their families.

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The morning of October 27^thRobert Bowers murdered 11 members of the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During a fight with the police, he unloaded anti-Semitic jabs to explain his crime.

Twelve hours later, at a campaign rally in Murphysboro, Illinois, President Donald Trump described Bowers as "sick," "naughty," and, in particular, "insane." By grouping these descriptions, Trump not only deliberately perpetuates a lie, but also stigmatizes those who are currently living with dementia.

Barely four days before the Pittsburgh murders, Sandra Day O'Connor, a retired Supreme Court justice, announced in a letter that she was suffering from dementia: "Some time ago, doctors were mourning. diagnosed the early stages of dementia, probably Alzheimer's disease.

O'Connor's announcement, like President Ronald Reagan's letter to his nation in 1994 on his own diagnosis, is an act of bravery. Dementia is an emotionally charged diagnostic tag that people do not share as easily as they diagnose cancer or heart attack. Many are slow to seek help because of these emotions. People with memory problems, as well as their loved ones, are worried about the harmful effects of the labels "dementia" and "Alzheimer's disease". They are right to.

Dementia describes a condition in which an adult experiences a gradual loss of cognitive abilities, such as memory and executive function, often accompanied by behavioral changes such as apathy, anxiety, and disinhibition. These losses make sure that the person with disabilities performs the usual daily tasks such as money management, cooking and traveling. A person with dementia usually needs a caregiver for these activities.

In the United States, Alzheimer's disease is the most common disease that causes dementia. The number of people is estimated at 5 million. Other causes include, for example, vascular disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV infection.

Alzheimer's disease is one of the most feared diseases, a fear fueled by lurid metaphors such as "death before death" and "a demon that attacks the brain". These metaphors stir up fear and disgust, which causes stigmatization. Stigma degrades the quality of life and dignity of the person. My patients and their caregivers tell me how far friends and family are. Rather than face this isolation, they are slow to seek a diagnosis and care. After finally being diagnosed, they often withdraw, like O'Connor, from public life. Among the ways to counter this stigma, we can talk like adults about dementia. Describing terrorists and mass murderers as demented is not helpful.

Trump regularly uses "insane" to describe the perpetrators of mass killings and terrorist acts.

The gunman who murdered the spectators in Las Vegas: "a very insane person". At a Cabinet meeting, he speculated on the murderer's neuroanatomy: "He was a crazy, sick person. The threads were very badly crossed in his brain – extremely badly in his brain. "

In a speech to the Israeli Public Affairs Commission in March 2016, he spoke about Iranian missiles containing anti-Israeli slogans: "What kind of demented spirits does he write in Hebrew?

"Sick and insane" was his assessment of the September 2017 terrorist assailants in London and after the August 2016 Pulse Nightclub shootings in Florida.

Dementia is a medical diagnosis. Until Bowers passes a medical examination to assess his cognitive and behavioral health, we should assume that he is in good cognitive health.

Trump's use of the term to describe terrorists and mass murderers ignites the stigma of dementia. This contradicts the strategy of our National Alzheimer's Plan to preserve the dignity of people with Alzheimer's disease. This is insulting to people like Justice O'Connor, Glenn Campbell, Coach Pat Summitt and others who have spoken and spoken about their diagnosis.

He also repeats an inaccurate factual belief that people with dementia are inherently "irrational" or even criminal in their behavior. This false medicalized explanation of mass murder and terror masks the cruel and deliberate reasons that people like Bowers use to justify their voluntary acts of terror. Bowers' social media publications were litanies of antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy. Just before his murders, he accused Jews of supporting Latin American refugee claimants in the United States.

It is true that some people with dementia have an inability to make a decision, and these disabilities can be serious enough for the person to make bad decisions. It is simply not true that the diagnosis of dementia is tantamount to an irrational decision or an act of violence.

Words count. Trump's description of Bowers as "insane" is the latest in its repeated misuse of the term. This confuses our civic responsibility to call people like Bowers what they are: mass murderers and terrorists who commit deliberate and intentional acts. It's also an insult to patients and their families.