This New ‘Illness’ Is Tied to Trump, Some Mental Health Professionals Say

A simple scroll of your Twitter or Facebook feed lends credence to a new idea that’s being floated in the modern zeitgeist, something called “Trump Anxiety Disorder.”

Since President Donald Trump’s 2016 election, mental health professionals in the U.S. have seen an increase in patients whose stress comes from politics, Canada’s CBC News is reporting.

One symptom of this so-called disorder is feeling as if the world’s going to end.

Here’s an example from Twitter: “OMG Trump is going to Russia, it’s [the] End of [the] World…”

And this gem, from comedian and cable television host Bill Maher on Facebook: “If Trump doesn’t kill us, the Bible will …”

“It’s very disorienting and constantly unsettling,” Elisabeth LaMotte, founder of the D.C. Counseling and Psychotherapy Center in Washington, D.C., told CBC News.

A 2017 poll by the American Psychological Organization, called the Stress in America Survey, found that nearly half the respondents said they were significantly stressed due to America’s political climate.

LaMotte said that even those who support the president feel isolated within their families and their social circles.

OMG Trump is going to Russia its End of World: https://t.co/uk8szzy0QP via @YouTube

— Bishop O (@BishopOWrldwide) July 27, 2018

The symptoms of “Trump Anxiety Disorder” include “feeling a loss of control and helplessness, and fretting about what’s happening in the country and spending excessive time on social media,” according to a piece written by psychologist Jennifer Panning, as Fox News Insider reported.

LaMotte told CBC News she’s been struck by how much the anxieties of Trump critics resemble those of patients raised by a parent with a personality disorder — someone who would have character traits like “grandiosity, excessive attention-seeking, and severe lack of empathy.”

“Whether it’s conscious or not, I think we look to the president of the United States as a psychological parent,” said LaMotte.

Except that he’s not. He’s the duly elected commander-in-chief — and people need to accept that fact and move on.