Does President Bush Have Brain Damage? Does he have "Dry Drunk" Syndrome?

[Oddman]

Recently I posted in another thread about George Bush acting like he may have brain damage resulting from the vast quantities of alcohol and drugs he consumed earlier in his life. I noted in particular that his behavior during his press conference was very peculiar and he never actually answered a single question but ventured on a repetitive course of rhetoric that had nothing to do with the original questions. Occasionally he would come back to a question but never answer it.
After researching Dry Drunk Syndrome I was surprised to see so much information about it:

What is the dry drunk syndrome?
Dry drunk is a slang term used by members and supporters of Alcoholics Anonymous and substance abuse counselors to describe the recovering alcoholic who is no longer drinking, one who is dry, but whose thinking is clouded.

"Dry drunk" traits consist of:

Exaggerated self-importance and pomposity
Grandiose behavior
A rigid, judgmental outlook
Impatience
Childish behavior
Irresponsible behavior
Irrational rationalization
Projection
Overreaction
Clearly, George W. Bush has all these traits except exaggerated self importance.

Addiction, Brain Damage and the President:
http://www.counterpunch.org/wormer1011.html

Heavy social drinkers show signs of brain damage:
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=45541
Bush drank heavily for twenty years . . .

George Bush: Dyslexia, Low I.Q. or Brain Damage?
http://www.therationalradical.com/morons/george-bush.htm
Bush has suffered brain damage from alcohol and cocaine abuse.

More Evidence that Bush Is a "Dry Drunk"?
http://hnn.us/articles/3165.html

Dry Drunk Symptoms
http://mailman.io.com/pipermail/perfectuni...rch/000242.html

Researchers have found that brain chemistry irregularities caused by long bouts of drinking or drug abuse cause "messages in one part of the brain to become stuck there. This leads to maddening repetition of thoughts."

One of these powerful "stuck" thoughts, says van Wormer, is that
"President Bush seems unduly focused upon getting revenge on Saddam
Hussein ('He tried to kill my Dad'), leading the country and the world into war, accordingly."

That clinches it!

I think we ought to demand a brain scan from bush before we let him run for re-election . . .

"Say anything stupid and chimpy gets it!"

[aquart]

1. How about a constitutional amendment requiring brain scans?

I could really get behind that one.

I've heard the dry drunk theory before. As well as the narcissist one.

They're both very possible.

[whistle]

2. I think it may be more like power drunk...

...an ego that won't quit and an arrogance and defiance that is completely nauseating.

[cliss]

3. Thanks for the thoughts, Oddm.

I'm with you. I've been perplexed -- and amazed in a perverse sort of way. I just HAD to find out what the man's problem is. I checked out some web sites with his quotes; there are some good ones out there. (poor people who had to run through everything and put it together in a nice website format).

Anyway, I've posted that I believe George has brain damage. Other people have posted some very good theories. I looked at hundreds of his quotes, and it seems that there is something wrong with the part of his brain that assembles words together in sentences.

He seems to know the words OK, but he scrambles them. Sometimes he merges 2 sentences together, maybe in an effort to save time. He sometimes mixes up colloquialisms like, "The senator can't ride on his high horse and take the low road". So he seems to know the words, they just go through this blender in his brain before they make it to his mouth.

I'm sure he's used to having people giggle when he talks, or they give him a blank stare which means they don't understand him.

[grasswire]

4. the question is this:

When did he start to exhibit these symptoms?

Has he always been like this?

Surely somewhere there are video clips of his campaign for congress when he was quite a big younger. Or audio of appearances.

Why doesn't some enterprising reporter who has resources pick up this story? It would be very interesting to know if this is new.

[PaDUer]

5. Remember the thread

about him having a seizure earlier today? Or, was that a sympathy ploy? Put nothing past these pukes.

[charlie]

11. Wha...

Seizure? Really? I missed that thread, could you point me to it?

[PaDUer]

15. Here you go..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1442857


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1450617


http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a876.htm

[Oddman]

14. Did he have a seizure?

Was that recently?

[PaDUer]

16. The threads and article..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1442857


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1450617


http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a876.htm

[Egalitarian]

6. Bingo! Good Question.

[PaDUer]

17. Check these threads and newslink

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1442857


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1450617


http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a876.htm

[sendero]

18. exactly...

.... sorry if I don't put much stock in a psychiatric diagnostic created by AA.

"Dry drunk" really sounds like total BS to me.

[Lexingtonian]

7. try this set of symptoms-

At the mild end, damage may be the loss of some intellectual functioning (IQ), vision and hearing problems and higher than normal pain tolerance. At the severe end, damage may be severe loss of intellectual potential, severe vision problems, dyslexia, serious maxilo-facial deformities, dental abnormalities, heart defects, immune system malfunctioning, behavioral problems, attention deficit disorders, hyper-activity, extreme impulsiveness, poor judgment, little or no retained memory, deafness, little or no capacity for moral judgment or interpersonal empathy, sociopathic behaviour, epilepsy, tremors, cerebral palsy, renal failure, heart failure, death.

Ok, here's the intro:

Alcohol damage to the fetus occurs over a wide continuum. Damage varies due to volume ingested, timing during pregnancy, peak blood alcohol levels, genetics and environmental factors.

http://www.acbr.com/fas/media.htm

Babs hit the Jack Daniels a few too many times while preggers, that's my conclusion.

For even more fun, in a depressing sort of way:

http://www.acbr.com/fas/g.htm

[Lexingtonian]

8. plus, this-

http://www.nofas.org/main/front_page_Announce/nofas_announce_FASNewsandNotes.html

April 21, 2003
Study Links Prenatal Alcohol Exposure to Problem Drinking in Adulthood

Scientists have long attributed alcoholism to a variety of factors including environment and heredity. This is one of the first studies to look for an association between maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and future alcohol problems in offspring.

As part of a longitudinal study at the University of Washington, researchers interviewed 433 pregnant women from 1974 to 1975 about their drinking habits. Nearly one-third of the women in the study reported drinking five or more drinks in one sitting at least once during pregnancy.

They followed the women and their offspring for 21 years, assessed each family's history of alcohol problems and gathered self-reported information from the 21-year-old offspring about alcohol use. Fourteen percent of the young adults whose mothers drank five or more drinks at least once during pregnancy had alcohol-related problems at age 21, compared with 4.5% among those who did not have as much prenatal alcohol exposure. Although the offspring of women who drank heavily during pregnancy drank no more and no more often than the offspring of women who did not drink heavily they were three times more likely to show symptoms of alcohol dependence.

According to the researchers, the relationship between prenatal alcohol exposure and alcohol-related problems as a young adult is present even when accounting for other factors thought to influence young adult alcohol usage, including family history, nicotine exposure and other postnatal environmental factors such as parental drug use. "It appears that exposure to alcohol during pregnancy can predict the amount of alcohol problems that a child will have in adulthood," said study author Dr. John S. Baer. The finding "takes us a step further in understanding why some people have alcohol problems," Baer added.

The findings "further support the idea that women should not drink while they are pregnant," said Ann Streissguth, a University of Washington psychiatrist and co-author of the study. "This is not a one-to-one relationship, but a mother's drinking elevates the risk of her offspring having alcohol problems," Baer said. He also said that women in the 1970s, before FAS was identified, had "no reason not to be honest when documenting the amount of alcohol they consumed while pregnant," and so the study may provide better data than a similar study conducted today.

The researchers plan to continue following the study participants to determine if prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with alcohol problems later in life.

[gator_in_Ontario]

9. I've often thought of this

ever since * seized power. It brings to mind a book I read some years ago entitled:
VESSELS OF RAGE, ENGINES OF POWER: The Secret History of Alcoholism (1994)

In this book, " Graham identifies many prominent historical figures who were addicted to alcohol including Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great and Henry VIII. Among modern Americans he names Henry Ford II, Huey Long and Joseph McCarthy. His climactic chapter on Stalin follows a carefully developed argument, backed by many examples, in favor of alcoholism as the root cause of a wide range of destructive behavior including rampant egomania, betrayal of close colleagues, malicious accusations, and serial murder."
(emphasis mine)

http://www.mlode.com/~ra/ra8/alcoholism.htm

I may re-read this one....

[Oddman]

13. Great link!

Thanks . . . I posted this thread over at the CU just so they might consider it. Even if you are the biggest bush supporter you have to wonder if this country is in the hands of a mental defective. I do believe we should demand a brain scan if he wants to continue with his re-election bid.

[doni_georgia]

10. Not sure if that or soemthing he's always had

He could have dry drunk syndrome, then again, he could have ADHD, dyslexia, bipolar, early stages of Alzheimers or Parkinsons, or it could be side effects from some prescription medication that he might take.

I remember the press reporting that Bush has a very slow pulse - supposedly because he runs so many miles a day. This was what they reported when we "fainted." Now I have seen here that it was a seizure. There are a lot of medications that can cause slow pulse, confusion, slurred speech, etc. To me, he seemed worse the other night. He looked terrible. He rambled on and on - didn't seem to understand the questions, and certainly never answered one. Reminded me of my son who has Asperger's syndrome. I have to help him with guide words to keep him on topic.

[DinahMoeHum]

12. He essentially substituted one addiction for another.

n/t

:evilfrown:

[Eureka]

19. The trouble is....

I don't think they make brain scanners with such fine resolution. I think to get this test done you'd need to wait until nano-technology comes along a bit.

Maybe in a few years.

:-)