# Has Putin mentally deteriorated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179 "2022-02-27T05:01:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/181 "2022-03-06T14:04:37Z")
After all the reading of policy wonks and Russia pros I have read this week, my conclusion is, no, Putin has not deteriorated. He is the same guy with the same aims. The only thing that changed is he finally did something that could not be hand-waved away. After 20 some years of being the same guy doing the same things. He clearly imagined a few things that are not proving to be true – that his military was invincible, that the west was incapable of presenting a unified front, and that Ukraine was a weak, fat country ripe for the plucking. But as my brother in law (a Vietnam vet) recently pointed out, the most certain thing about starting a war is that it won’t go according to plan. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/182 "2022-03-06T16:32:13Z")
Yes, he asked the foolish question: “How bad could it get for us?” Well… ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/183 "2022-03-07T20:57:12Z")
Prairie Home Companion used to have an occasional segment “Worst case scenario”. They did a live TV show at some point, started up the segment on something like “we’re doing a radio sketch show on live TV, what’s the worse case scenario?”, looked at each and just went on with the show. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/184 "2022-04-30T07:10:04Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Since the pandemic started, Putin has retreated. He hasn’t travelled, even within Russia, ferried between his sumptuous palaces and the Kremlin by limousine and helicopter. > > He has seen few people outside his inner circle. Anyone granted an audience had first to isolate for two weeks in a state hotel, watched over by armed guards. > > Before meeting the President, he or she then had to pass through a special tunnel in a mist of ultraviolet light and disinfectant. Such is Putin’s paranoia. > > And his world view has become ever smaller and darker. Putin doesn’t even have a smartphone. He is disconnected from reality. > > **It wasn’t always like this.** Putin used to listen to professionals who would tell him the facts, his generals and economists. But most of these advisers have been side-lined. He’s batshit crazy. He needs to go and at this point the method of his departure has no bounderies. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/185 "2022-05-03T04:08:18Z")
I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking on the part of some, but there’s been rumblings that Putin has Parkinson’s disease and cancer is supposedly having surgery in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/186 "2022-05-03T14:41:50Z")
it may be wishful thinking but I wonder if he’d even dare allow himself to be made quite that vulnerable, even for a short time. Imagine, you are the medical team operating, Putin is under, you know that things go wrong on the operating table from time to time. You look around the theatre into the eyes of your colleagues and…? Fantasy I know but stranger things have been known and in terms of seizing political power timing and opportunity is everything. Recall the last shot of “The Death of Stalin” Brezhnev casting a careful eye towards Nikita Khrushchev? Even Khrushchev himself, emerging as a serious contender for leadership when no-one expected it of him. You can guarantee that there are Brezhnev’s and Khrushchev’s right now biding their time and looking for opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/187 "2022-05-04T05:46:44Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > You can guarantee that there are Brezhnev’s and Khrushchev’s right now biding their time and looking for opportunities. But I wouldn’t bet on any great change in any likely successor’s foreign or domestic policies. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/188 "2022-05-04T05:51:02Z")
No, but a hypothetical successor in this situation will be extremely busy securing his position and consolidating his power, and will have significantly less bandwidth for adventuring across the border. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/189 "2022-05-06T01:25:02Z")
Also a hypothetical successor can get a somewhat clear slate by blaming everything that went wrong on his predecessor. I am pretty sure that Putin would love to turn back the clock to October 2021 and not invade Ukraine like he did. But now that he’s done it he can’t pull back now or else he will look weak and be blamed for killing thousands of Russian sons to no purpose. So he has to keep going. A new leader can say its all Putin’s fault, lets pretend it never happened and you can lift the sanctions now, since there have been zero polonium poisonings in the 18 hours that the new leader’s been in power. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/190 "2022-05-06T03:46:02Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > But now that he’s done it he can’t pull back now or else he will look weak and be blamed for killing thousands of Russian sons to no purpose. So he has to keep going. _Waist deep in the Big Muddy_ _And the big fool says to push on._ _Waist deep in the Big Muddy_ _And the big fool says to push on._ _Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a_ _Tall man’ll be over his head, we’re_ _Waist deep in the Big Muddy!_ _And the big fool says to push on!_ –Pete Seeger ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/191 "2022-05-06T04:27:39Z")
"I am in blood Stepped in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er" ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/192 "2022-05-06T19:07:48Z")
Putin has always felt strongly about this subject. I disagree with his earlier views and I disagree with his current war crimes. His army has been exposed as unready and unprofessional. A way should be found for him to save as much face as possible, however. It is unclear to me that this must be mental deterioration versus a gamble that yet again a preoccupied world would not care. It is to their credit that they, beyond all expectations, do. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/193 "2022-05-06T19:51:19Z")
In a certain lens, I think Putin’s war is rational. If the man is 70 and has cancer and isn’t likely to live long no matter what, then there’s much less reason **not** to gamble. Either he invades Ukraine and wins - yay, Soviet glory nostalgia - or he loses but he had little life left anyway, so nothing to lose. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2022, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/194 "2022-05-07T01:21:25Z")
Causing the death of thousands for “glory” doesn’t sound rational to me. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/195 "2022-05-07T02:48:10Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Causing the death of thousands for “glory” doesn’t sound rational to me Because you, and I, are weak approval-craving prosaic Western cosmopolites corrupted by utilitarian humanism and a compromised christianity, to the point we are blind to the obvious truth that yes, glory is worth thousands of lives. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2022, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/196 "2022-05-07T04:53:16Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Causing the death of thousands for “glory” doesn’t sound rational to me. What will it matter to Putin once he’s dead? ---
**Author:** ![theOldGoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@theOldGoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theOldGoat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/197 "2022-05-09T20:09:17Z")
Has Putin deteriorated mentally? No, not nearly as much as President Biden has. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/198 "2022-05-09T20:55:41Z")
Продолжай в том же духе, товарищ! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/199 "2022-05-09T20:58:08Z")
**Modhat** : English please, this is an English board. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179/200 "2022-05-09T21:02:48Z")
Modhat: the thread about your assessment of not-Putin’s mental health is NOT this one. Start a different thread or find one if you like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-putin-mentally-deteriorated/960179.md?page=11)