The worldview of Vladimir Putin raises questions about the Russian leader’s state of mind after he announced the invasion of Ukraine in a “chatty, terrifying, apocalyptic” way.
Rumors about the Russian leader’s health have been circulating for years, with reports of cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
On top of that, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the president’s physical and mental health cannot be underestimated, and it is speculated that the brain fog resulting from Long Covid could impair his cognitive function.
Although it is not clear if he had the virus, Sputnik’s vaccine is not known to be reliable, and after isolation in September, after members of his inner circle tested positive, he disappeared from view for a long time in October.
The Council on Foreign Relations speculates that after behavior and statements that are “wrong” and “wrong”, he is suffering from a brain fog caused by Long Covid.
Moreover, the isolation caused by the pandemic itself could have left the 69-year-old even more detached from reality, with one neuropsychologist arguing that “progressive isolation” could lead to a syndrome of arrogance that “reduced his ability to weigh risk.” .
It is usually associated with loss of contact with reality and overestimation of one’s own competence, achievements or abilities.
It is characterized by a model of excessive self-confidence, recklessness and contempt for others and is recognized mainly in subjects occupying positions of considerable power.
Speculation is mounting that Vladimir Putin could be suffering from the effects of long-Covid, which experts suggesting his ability to ‘weigh up risk’ may have been impacted during the pandemic
Experts were amused earlier this month when photos of Emmanuel Macron being kept at a distance during his critical meeting with Putin on Ukraine appeared.
Surrounded by Russian confidants who are afraid to say no, Putin is hardly a world leader who could be linked to being the most grounded or the highest level.
But in televised speeches that led to the invasion of Ukraine, he became a mess, horrifying and apocalyptic, until yesterday he issued a chilling warning to Western allies, promising terrible consequences for any foreign country that “intervened”.
Professor Ian Robertson, a neuropsychologist at Trinity College Dublin, has suggested he may be suffering from arrogance.
Speaking to The I, Robertson said Putin’s political trajectory was as personal as it was political, because once arrogance syndrome takes hold of the brain, personal and national are identical because the leader is the nation and its destiny.
Meanwhile, he also said that changes in the frontal lobe of the brain caused by the condition could reduce a person’s ability to weigh risk.
At the start of the pandemic, Putin worked hard to avoid contracting the virus during a hospital visit by wearing a full protective suit at the main coronavirus clinic.
But overall, the president remained far from the public eye during the Covid-19 crisis, with officials and journalists having to isolate themselves before meeting with the president.
In March 2020, Putin went to great lengths to avoid contracting the virus during a hospital visit by wearing a full protective suit at the main coronavirus clinic.
The power really goes to the head: the syndrome that leaders develop, which leaves them with a “loss of contact with reality”
Arrogance, researchers say, is usually associated with a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one’s own competence, achievements or abilities.
It is characterized by a model of excessive self-confidence, recklessness and contempt for others and is recognized mainly in subjects occupying positions of considerable power.
Fourteen clinical symptoms of Hubris syndrome have been described. People who show at least three of them can be diagnosed with the disorder.
In a 2013 study, researchers at St. George’s University in London sought evidence of some of these clinical features of the language used by three British prime ministers – Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and John Major – by examining transcribed samples of spoken language. . from the questions of the Prime Minister.
They believed that the frequent use of certain words or phrases, such as “sure”, “sure” and “confident”, first-person pronouns “I” or “I”, references to God or history, may occur during “Hubristic” periods.
They found that “I” and “I” and the word “sure” were among the strongest positive correlations over time in Tony Blair’s speech.
Mr Blair’s use of the word “important” has also increased over time. Words and phrases that become more frequent in the speeches of Lady Thatcher and Tony Blair also include the phrase “we will”, while phrases that include the word “duties” are declining.
The authors also found that language became more complex and less predictable during the Hubrist periods.
For example, Lady Thatcher’s language became more complex at the end of her term when her decisions and judgments created deep divisions within her own party. The same thing happened with Tony Blair’s speech during the preparations for the invasion of Iraq.
These language models were not reflected in the language of John Major. The relative frequency of the word “we versus” I was, in fact, higher during Thatcher and Blair’s tenure than at any time during Major’s term as prime minister.
In addition, changes over time in the words and phrases adopted by both Thatcher and Blair seem to reflect the course of humanist behavior.
Dr Peter Garrand, a lead researcher at St George’s University in London, said: “Hubris syndrome is a radical change in a person’s outlook, style and attitude after gaining power or great influence.
“They become obsessed with their self-image, overconfident in their own judgment and neglect of others, which often leads to hasty, ill-considered decisions.
“In other words, gaining power can lead to a change in personality: it’s as if power is almost literally going to their heads.”
“This work shows us that language can reflect this extremely characteristic change of personality.”
Last year, Russian Olympic medalists, invited to meet with the president, were told they would have to spend a week in quarantine before the meeting resumed.
And in September, it turned out that Putin had entered into self-isolation after a member of his entourage became infected with Covid-19 despite stringent precautions.
The Russian president has given up a planned trip to Tajikistan and is not personally campaigning for the parliamentary elections.
He was fully vaccinated with the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V – he received his second stroke in April.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin was “absolutely healthy” but would isolate himself after coming into contact with someone who had contracted the virus.
He did not specify how long Putin would remain in isolation, but assured that the president would continue to work as usual.
Asked if Putin had tested negative for the virus, Peskov said: “Of course, yes.”
Peskov did not say which of Putin’s contacts was infected, saying only that there were several cases.
Earlier this month, it was alleged that Emmanuel Macron was kept at a distance during their critical meeting on Ukraine after the French president refused to test for Covid for fears that the Russians would receive his DNA.
Experts were stunned by photos of Macron and the Russian president sitting at opposite ends of a 13-foot-long table to discuss the Eastern European crisis.
But two sources familiar with the French leader’s health protocol said Macron had been asked by the Kremlin to test for Covid before meeting with Putin.
Speaking to Reuters, sources said Mr Macron had been told either to accept a PCR test by the Russians and be allowed close to the dictator, or to refuse and adhere to stricter social distancing.
“We knew very well that this did not mean a handshake and this long table. But we could not accept that they would get the president’s DNA, “said one source, referring to security concerns if the French leader was tested by Russian doctors.
“The Russians told us that Putin should be kept in a tight health bubble,” said the second source.
Footage weeks later showed the leader had a bout of coughing during a television appearance.
Putin was meeting with officials to discuss the “acute financial problems” caused by the coronavirus when he had a cough.
The video was later edited to make Putin’s cough less severe.
The state news agency TASS asked the Kremlin about Putin’s health and was told he was “absolutely normal.”
“The president apologized and continued the meeting almost without a break,” the agency said.
This is not the first time there have been reports of ongoing battles over Putin’s health.
Experts have previously noted his “shooter’s gait” – a clearly reduced swing of his right hand compared to his left, which gives him a slight swing.
Asymmetrically reduced arm swing is a classic feature of Parkinson’s disease and can occur in “clinically intact subjects with a predisposition to later development,” according to the British Medical Journal.
In 2014, the Kremlin denied reports in an American newspaper that Putin could suffer from pancreatic cancer.
A spokesman for Russian President Dmitry Peskov, quoted by RIA Novosti, said: “Dream – and curse their languages. Everything is normal. ‘
Peskov was asked to comment on reports from The New York Post, which were spread in other media.
Vladimir Putin went into self-isolation after a member of his entourage contracted Covid-19 a day after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last September
A report in the American newspaper, entitled “Putin’s Health Problems”, claims that there are rumors in Poland and Belarus that the 62-year-old strong man has “spinal cord cancer”.
But Richard Johnson of The Post writes: “My sources say it’s pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease.”
WHAT IS PARKINSON’S?
Parkinson’s disease affects one in every 500 people, including about one million Americans.
It causes muscle stiffness, slow movement, tremor, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, poor quality of life and can lead to severe disability.
It is a progressive neurological condition that destroys cells in the part of the brain that controls movement.
Sufferers are known to have a reduced supply of dopamine because the nerve cells that produce it have died.
There is currently no cure or way to stop the progression of the disease, but hundreds of scientific studies are underway to try to change that.
The disease took the life of boxing legend Mohammed Ali in 2016.
The report continued: “Putin is said to have been treated by a doctor from old East Germany.
“The doctor has tried various treatments, including steroid injections, which would explain Putin’s swollen appearance.
“But I was told that the doctor had recently resigned, admitting that he had been mistreated by Putin’s bodyguards.”
Later that November, a prominent critic of Putin claimed that the Russian president was suffering from cancer and underwent surgery.
Valery Solovey, who claims there are sources “at the epicenter of decision-making”, suggested that the 68-year-old Putin had surgery in February.
Another unnamed source suggests that the operation was on Putin’s stomach.
Nightingale also suggested that he had Parkinson’s.
Nightingale, a former head of PR at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, then thought Putin was planning to step down in January due to health problems and was planning to name his daughter Katerina Tikhonova as his successor.
Speaking about Putin’s alleged health, he said: “One is psycho-neurological and the other is a cancer problem.
“If someone is interested in the exact diagnosis, I am not a doctor and I have no ethical right to reveal these problems.
“The second diagnosis is much, much more dangerous than the first, because Parkinson’s disease does not endanger the physical condition, but only limits public appearances.
Earlier, critics noted his “shooter’s gait” – a clearly reduced swing of his right hand compared to his left, which gives him a slight swing. Asymmetrically reduced arm swing is a classic feature of Parkinson’s disease
“Based on this information, people will be able to draw conclusions about his life horizon, which does not even require special medical education.”
The Kremlin then categorically denied that there was anything wrong with Putin’s health.
It was not clear when exactly Nightingale believed the alleged cancer operation was performed, but sources say Putin’s first appearance since was a flower-laying ceremony on February 19th.
Nightingale also claims that Putin’s gymnast’s mistress Alina Kabayeva has urged him to step down.
In Russia, footage has spread of Putin’s legs moving around as he grabs the armrest of a chair, suggesting his ill health.
The eyes are also drawn to a trembling pen in the former KGB officer’s fingers and a glass that analysts say was full of painkillers.