This editor remembers writing a very similar piece after the election in 2016. For example, back then, there were stories about women hitting the salon, dying their hair black, and getting it cut short in reaction to Donald Trump's election win; this year, we had women shaving their heads. As recently as 2021, Salon spoke to several psychiatrists about the very real trauma caused by Trump's rhetoric. TDS turned out to be a real thing.
The Daily Beast is stepping up to the plate this time, writing about mental health experts seeing an increase in largely Democrat patients who cite burnout, as they can't keep up with the pace of Trump's winning.
Axios reports:
Mental health professionals say even people who don't see themselves as directly affected by administration actions are feeling frazzled by the dizzying pace and Trump's enduring ability to command attention.
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"There is an element of chaos right now," said Andrea Bonior, a Georgetown University psychology professor who sees patients in the D.C. area. "A sense of not knowing what's coming and not being able to control what's coming is really hard on the stress response."
"As humans, we don't love uncertainty. It's something that we don't tend to tolerate well. And then when we're anxious, it's excruciating."
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"I think we can take so much of something before the human brain just like peters out and says, 'I can't keep up,'" said New York-based neuropsychologist Sanam Hafeez told Axios.
Bonior said she's seen an uptick in patients, particularly Democrats, expressing a sense of burnout, guilt and despair at losing an old way of life.
It's not chaos. It's just that you're not used to leadership and a president who does what he says he's going to do. It's like Ben Rhodes writing that this is not the Trump America elected. It's exactly the Trump America elected, if not better.
They can't keep up! They were a lot more comfortable under the leadership of Sleepy Joe.
They're suffering from burnout because Trump has been working nonstop to implement his agenda. Meanwhile, 78-year-old Trump keeps working around the clock.
It's only been three weeks, people. Pace yourselves … you're in for a long four years.