A.B.O.U.T. Behavior #11 : Rambling

For one year, my weekly blog will address recent utterances or actions of Mr. Trump that highlight his severe, under-treated, hyperactive, adult ADHD. I do not intend to comment on his politics or policies, except as directly shaped by ADHD. My observations and analyses do not imply that all people with ADH behave like Mr. Trump, not that ADHD is Mr. Trump’s only mental health issue. rambling — lengthy and confused or inconsequential

At the end of two weeks of televised impeachment investigations, Mr. Trump phoned in to Fox & Friends for an hour long conversational interview which the station deemed “wide-ranging” but other media described as “rambling”. Rambling seems a fair description since his comments were lengthy, confused, often self-contradictory, and repeatedly included descriptions and judgments unconnected to his preceding utterances. We are accustomed to such speech from our president. Many other individuals with ADHD are first-class ramblers.

Executive function deficits in directing and maintain attention explain these rambling speech patterns. Many people with ADHD have trouble organizing their thoughts, and when they talk they include a flurry of ideas on related concepts, or meander far afield pursuing unrelated distractions. Another reason for rambling occurs when people try to revise, correct, and amend their previous words because they are striving for completeness or refinement or accuracy.

Executive function problems with poor impulse control also contribute to rambling, because rather than just thinking these extraneous thoughts, people with ADHD are often compelled to speak them out loud.

I have observed that people with more linear thought trajectories and greater ability to censor themselves frequently have difficulty precisely imitating the rambling speech of those with ADHD. When people with severe ADHD begin to discuss topic A, and bright and shiny tangential topic B intrudes, they smoothly segue into topic B. A few beats later, after realizing they have gone off topic, they may pause to reflect, and either return to topic A, or continue in pursuit of B. They may even attempt to explain that they are aware they are switching topics, which actually introduces a third topic, C…