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   Baldur Bjarnason (baldur@toot.cafe)'s status on Wednesday, 08-Jan-2025 19:16:09 JST Baldur Bjarnason

   In certain circles people tend to cite the cognitive impact of repeated COVID infections as an explanation for the rise in popularity of right wing and nationalist extremism

   But, neurological issues with progressive cognitive decline are—terrifyingly—not too uncommon in my family tree and I can tell you this:

   Unkindness is not a symptom unless the person was fundamentally unkind in the first place

   You can’t blame people’s cruelty on a virus

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     Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Jan-2025 01:07:30 JST Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide

     in reply to

     @baldur I have a large pool of mostly older clients, many of whom I've worked with for decades. I've personally witness three people rapidly descend into dementia following Covid (two in their 80's, one in their 90's). In all three cases, the descent was rapid, sudden and profound, on the level of them being no longer to administer their own affairs at the level of a responsible adult.

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     Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Jan-2025 01:07:30 JST Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide

     in reply to

     @baldur I've had some personal experience with close family members undergo personality shifts and have strokes in the wake of Covid as well (I'd rather not get into it).

     I personally think given some of the quantifiable effects which can be seen in various cognitive response tests that it isn't out of the question that Covid might be causing people to be more impulsive, more easily led, damage to critical thinking skills, etc.

     It's a perfectly plausible idea imo.

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     Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Jan-2025 01:07:31 JST Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide

     in reply to

     @baldur That really depends on the type of neurological effects. Damage to different parts of the brain hit differently and Covid is well documented to induce psychosis and there are a bunch of brain bank and pathology studies, including some recent ones showing protein buildup.

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     Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Jan-2025 01:08:39 JST Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide

     in reply to

     @baldur The world seems to have gone deeply off the rails and it wouldn't surprise me if Covid is part of that overall picture.