Therapists in the US say they have seen a rise in politically-related anxiety in the months following the election of US President Donald Trump, calling the phenomenon “Trump Anxiety Disorder.”
Therapists say their patients are fretting out loud about the volatility of Trump's actions, according to a report from Canada’s CBC News.
Elisabeth LaMotte, the founder of the DC Counseling and Psychotherapy Center in Washington, DC, told CBC that there is a “collective anxiety” among her patients related to President Trump’s rhetoric and policies.
“There is a fear of the world ending,” she said. “It's very disorienting and constantly unsettling.”
She said that Trump critics who she treats exhibit similar behavior to patients who have a parent with a personality disorder.
“Whether it's conscious or not, I think we look to the president of the United States as a psychological parent,” LaMotte said.
LaMotte told CBC that the “condition” is also common among Trump supporters, who often say they feel “isolated” by friends and family for aligning with the president or pulled into angry conversations.
Steve Stosny, another therapist in Washington, told CBC that he worked with an official in Trump administration whose wife and daughter were “starting to hate him.”
The couple eventually decided to divorce, even though the husband left his post. “The wife couldn't take it anymore,” Stosny said. “It's tough when one spouse is at war with the children.”
Multiple therapists told CBC that they observed symptoms, including lack of sleep, feelings of losing control, helplessness and excessive use of social media in their patients that they attributed to Trump-related anxiety.
Therapists told CBC that in recent months, patients have indicated that separation of migrant families at the border, Trump’s various feuds with other world leaders and the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy have all been triggers for “Trump Anxiety Disorder.”
National data indicates support for their findings.
The American Psychological Association found in a recent online survey that stress levels following Trump’s election are the highest they’ve been in a decade.
And the majority of respondents reported stress over the 2016 election and the future of the nation as factors.