The reports about President Trump’s recent annual physical
exam, which reportedly included an assessment of his mental functioning,
brought back memories of six years ago, when the doctors I was seeing routinely
administered some form of a mental status exam. Here is one of the standard
versions.
The President’s recent examination reportedly included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which includes many similar questions.
My strongest memory is that they would start these sessions by telling me three specific and unrelated words, continue to other topics, and then come back and ask me to repeat the three words. At the beginning I could not remember any of the words. Little by little as the months wore on I began to remember some of the categories, such as remembering that one was an animal, one was a piece of furniture, and the like. It took a long time before I was able to “nail it.”
For most functioning adults it is not an especially high bar. I was “out of it” but not so much that I did not find the experience both incredibly frustrating and more than a little frightening. Six years later, I continue to struggle with short term memory unless I am extremely focused on remembering a particular piece of information.
From all reports, the President had no trouble with this exam. Well, I would surely hope not!!! It just may not be asking the right questions.
Love,
Rebecca
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