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Fear, Anxiety, and Depression in the Age of Trump - Therapists/Patients Struggle

DiscoBiscuit

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Uh. Yeah, none of those are good things. The Supreme Court situation is what genuinely worries me the most... I think it would probably take him quite a while to do serious damage to the FDA though. I don't know much about Pence, but the little I do know does not inspire confidence.

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation, though!! That's got to be exciting. :D

How can the supreme court possibly worry you?

It's not like Obergefell v. Hodges is going to be overturned.
 

Totenkindly

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I'm not at all surprised you and others are having real problems due to the election. I said it would make people crazy and it has, good and bad. One thing that's concerning to me is seepage of right wing, anti-Semitic, anti everything rhetoric, much more than I ever saw before. I came across this one on Twitter but if that stuff bothers you, don't click.

Grandpa Lampshade (@pawpawlampshade) | Twitter

To be fair, Trump isn't saying any of ^^ those things. But his constituency is. He won't go against them now, of course but if he is elected and still doesn't, that will be a problem.

I started thinking - instead of getting mad or upset that this sort of fucked up mentality exists, I should be happy that I can see and read this stuff and exactly where it's coming from. Free speech aside, they're entitled to it. If I saw a confederate flag on a house, I read anti-Semitic shit or racist vomit - I'm aware of who and where they are. Who I want to know and who I don't. That feels better to me than having them hidden and protected as they have been in the past. That's a great thing about the internet, you know?

In no way am I trying to belittle your concerns, they are valid. To be honest, I think the people at the other end of the spectrum, the ones posting as much info as possible to sway others, they have a parallel set of issues. They're equally anxious about Hillary, it just comes out in a different way.

The only thing I dislike about the exposure is that it's being "normalized" so that it might actually seem okay to some, if they are bombarded by the ideas long enough. IOW, it's not static data, it's dynamic and could generate more converts over time. But it's definitely useful to remove the mask and get a sense of what the landscape actually looks like; it's kind of a nation-wide colonoscopy and we're finally seeing what's up the nether regions of the USA.
 

Tater

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my greatest concerns about this election cycle involve the degeneration of the u.s. in general.

trump's supporters lack the empathy to understand how trump's rhetoric endangers in-groups and damages out-groups.

'leaders' like rudy guliani actively promote war crimes to reinforce trump's central message. the hubris and corruption is nixonian.

the race is marked by anti-intellectualism. the audience remains glued to the sensationalist media, while candidate coverage includes only a sliver of actual policy discussion.

paradoxically, trust in the media is at an all-time low because journalists don't cover the news as honestly as they did in the past, like in the vietnam war. this is another symptom of anti-intellectual viewership.

to top it all off, we have a strong likelihood of actually electing a guy who has no idea what he's doing and cares about nobody but himself.
 

ceecee

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The only thing I dislike about the exposure is that it's being "normalized" so that it might actually seem okay to some, if they are bombarded by the ideas long enough. IOW, it's not static data, it's dynamic and could generate more converts over time. But it's definitely useful to remove the mask and get a sense of what the landscape actually looks like; it's kind of a nation-wide colonoscopy and we're finally seeing what's up the nether regions of the USA.

Yes, this is where my real concerns are. Not right this second but down the road a bit. Watch kids, little kids. This is where it's going to come out, it always does. I feel like I, and the country as a whole, are being pushed backwards without my consent and I want to kick them in the face for even trying.

I think it's a combination of 9/11 never ending, politicians capitalizing on fear and at least one candidate who eggs it on. The other thing I fear is that this will actually become worse if Hillary is elected. They'll think - hey they got their woman president, now we can go back to being disgusting fucks and the asshole of American is in serious need of a gallon of Barium, before and after.
 

DiscoBiscuit

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At least we are all getting to hear what they really think.

And by they I mean you ^^^
 

S16M4

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[MENTION=20829]Hard[/MENTION]

You should take up meditating and reading up on Stoicism.

"The glass is already broken."
 

anticlimatic

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Anxiety is unavoidable but almost always a waste of energy. Trump won't be that bad. I'm pretty stoked to see what he does as president honestly.

You only have yourselves to blame for his rise.
 

Crabs

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Yeah I've seen you say this before, it shows how little you care about the country as a whole and the health of democracy itself. But you're being honest, I appreciate that.

Democracy? The RNC didn't engage in a conspiracy to ensure that Trump became the Republican nominee against the consensus of their voter base.

Bernie Sanders is a sellout anyway for not standing his ground against the tyranny in his own party.
 

yoliyoli

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Wah, this is lame. Not that you're feeling anxiety but this is just lame. I honestly don't know why people would vote for a racist as president. My mom adamantly believes Trump isn't racist, but it's clear he is. Racism is bad, so why would you do it? It's just common sense. Racism has been in America forever, and it won't stop because he's president or he's not. But if you don't vote for him, that kind of abstaining could save the country. Hillary all the way. And not because I like her. It's because it's the right choice. All the controversy surrounding her was just that, controversy. It wasn't meant to do anything. Just like her illness. Who cares. As long as she can do her job, that shouldn't interfere with your opinion of her. Sicknesses are private and none of your business. It's the sensationalist media that makes this a mess, and Trump only feeds into it. It's his fault. And yes, he is to blame.

And if they truly weren't sexist, they wouldn't care if she was a woman president. They'd just be happy to have her as president. Case closed.
 

Crabs

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Wah, this is lame. Not that you're feeling anxiety but this is just lame. I honestly don't know why people would vote for a racist as president. My mom adamantly believes Trump isn't racist, but it's clear he is. Racism is bad, so why would you do it? It's just common sense. Racism has been in America forever, and it won't stop because he's president or he's not. But if you don't vote for him, that kind of abstaining could save the country. Hillary all the way. And not because I like her. It's because it's the right choice. All the controversy surrounding her was just that, controversy. It wasn't meant to do anything. Just like her illness. Who cares. As long as she can do her job, that shouldn't interfere with your opinion of her. Sicknesses are private and none of your business. It's the sensationalist media that makes this a mess, and Trump only feeds into it. It's his fault. And yes, he is to blame.

And if they truly weren't sexist, they wouldn't care if she was a woman president. They'd just be happy to have her as president. Case closed.

Her health isn't nearly as damning as her gross negligence as Secretary of State.

If you want to talk about racism/sexism, consider the fact that Obama was elected, in large part, due to his race. And Hillary is certainly no stranger to playing her gender card.
 

yoliyoli

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Her health isn't nearly as damning as her gross negligence as Secretary of State.

If you want to talk about racism/sexism, consider the fact that Obama was elected, in large part, due to his race. And Hillary is certainly no stranger to playing her gender card.

That's true. My dad mentioned that. I do agree that is it racism since the blacks purposely picked him because he's black. Like, okay, do that. Black pride. But prejudice? No. And yes, I'm well aware she does, but by playing that card she is sexist - which doesn't make sense. She should be trying to convince women to vote for her because it's feminist, not because it's cute and oh help me I'm a woman save me look at all these men after me. Like you're in politics, lady. Calm down. Of course they're after you. It's a dog eat dog world. Actually be feminist and don't give feminists a bad name. Vote for me because I'm a woman, not because I'm a woman.
 

ChocolateMoose123

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This gets to the root of it for me. At the end of the day, it's Trump supporters that scare me more than Trump, and their reasons for why they support him. It has on a number of cases made me feel physically ill, like a number of the patients mentioned in the article. I am even having a difficult time even leveling with people who support him in spite of Hillary (whom I hate). [MENTION=7]Totenkindly[/MENTION] expressed this quite well in her analogy; he doesn't have any qualifications, and that's ignoring everything else that is wrong. How that can be overlooked I don't understand, and don't think I ever will.

I'm glad you narrowed it down. That it is his supporters, or at least a subset demo of them, that worries you.

I know a couple Trump voters outside this forum, and I wouldn't put them in that "deplorable basket" simply because they like his policies more than his followers. Or, at least, they think that demo will have enough backlash to not have any real influence. (For better or worse).

Anyway, I wanted to make those distinctions. I do know that while listening to the audiences at Trump rallies is troubling. I don't know who would defend the kind of garbage that gets stirred up there.

It's why I won't vote for Trump. Even though I agree with his policies more than Hilary. I simply cannot give the worst case of his supporters a leg up.

He is representing that part of his constituency and paying lip service denouncements of the extreme right. Wink-wink style. It tells me that Trump is not a man of integrity. Simple as that.

Concerning your worry: Just know that the Right has been feeling much the same panic ever since Obama was elected.

That racist demo of the population flipped their sh*t. People who disagreed with his policies flipped their sh*t. Something the Left should be aware of is that not everyone who votes Right lacks compassion or is racist.

Sometimes it looked the same and it was exactly this painting with the same brush that led to where we are now. No doubt that is what, in part, bred the non-racists right leaners to "rationalize away" or turn a blind eye to this subset of Trump consituency.

They are desperate. In a panic and fearful and are willing to hitch their cart to a horse that may run them off the cliff - because at least the horse can run! Better than slapping at horse that doesn't get you anywhere (previous Reps).

That is how I see it. There is a middle ground but no one wants that. I'm voting 3rd party for these very reasons. I'm willing to say that neither choice is acceptable for different reasons. But that is my POV.

It sucks but we have a House and Senate to control a lot of policy or to stall the ever-loving sh*t out of anything. If you are worried, stay diligent and pay attention to your local elections. Everyone worries about the President but it builds from the bottom up. Change it from the bottom up.

So don't panic:

As long as you feel you voted in concordance with your beliefs then you have to trust that is all you can do. Majority wins. :shrug:
 

anticlimatic

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Something the Left should be aware of is that not everyone who votes Right lacks compassion or is racist.

People who vote right are no more or less racist and compassionate than people who vote left, they just handle it in different ways. As "intellectual" as the left claims to be, I sincerely don't understand how they miss that. Leftists are compassionate towards strangers they'll never meet yet cold to the strangers around them, righties are compassionate to the strangers around them but cold to the ones they'll never meet. Leftists give opposing races special treatment because they're racist. Righties give complementing races special treatment because they're racist. Shitty people are shitty, and most people are shitty people, but all people have the capacity to be good people.

I vote right because my utter lack of Te prevents me from enjoying employment and life as a tiny cog in some giant corporation's machine, and I want to start my own business. Rightwing policies are the best path to that. As a thick skinned likeable motivated and skilled person of agency I couldn't give a fuck less about social justice, because I make my OWN social justice. It's kind of stupid that in picking a president we're having to decide between ordering the eggs with toast, attending cambridge, buying a toyota landrover, moving to california, and working in the tech industry OR ordering the pancakes, attending yale, buying a geo metro, moving to maine, and working in the fishing industry- but that's how people see it, and maybe that is kind of how it is.
 

Virtual ghost

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As long as you feel you voted in concordance with your beliefs then you have to trust that is all you can do. Majority wins. :shrug:



You sound like my parents (and friends)


Don't say that because it is probably counter-productive when you say that to e1 person (or gut types in general). If there is a type that will go through a wall for the sake of vision or values that is probably e1. For a 1 it would be normal to fight the opposition but in this case you can't do that since "your side" is possibly even worse than your "enemy". Therefore in this case you have: lost your position, opposition is winning and there is inability to act, what is pure disaster of a scenario. Also I find your claim to be incorrect in premise because it is possible to change other people's minds and his problem is probably comming out of the fact that he feels he is not doing enough in that department.


Just saying.
 

Galena

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There's a mirror factor that is particularly tricky in my own experience: fear is a big motivator of many who are lashing out politically, and though we fear different things and deal with fear in vastly different ways, I struggle with fear as well.

The therapeutic approach would recommend sitting with that fear. But right now? Watching what other people are doing to each other out of fear? Right now, for that, I'm mad at fear, including what of it resides in me. I don't want to soothe it; I want to crush it. And as cathartic as that thought may be, it's ultimately in an unhelpful spirit.
 

Tellenbach

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I applaud all leftists who voluntarily leave the USA for Canada and elsewhere. Good luck and may you find true happiness.
 

ChocolateMoose123

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You sound like my parents (and friends)


Don't say that because it is probably counter-productive when you say that to e1 person (or gut types in general). If there is a type that will go through a wall for the sake of vision or values that is probably e1. For a 1 it would be normal to fight the opposition but in this case you can't do that since "your side" is possibly even worse than your "enemy". Therefore in this case you have: lost your position, opposition is winning and there is inability to act, what is pure disaster of a scenario. Also I find your claim to be incorrect in premise because it is possible to change other people's minds and his problem is probably comming out of the fact that he feels he is not doing enough in that department.


Just saying.

Ok. Jimmy. Come to the front of the class and give your book report. :D
 

á´…eparted

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I'm sorry I ever made this thread. It's become exactly what I didn't want it to be. I'd burn it if I could.
 

Virtual ghost

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Knowing how little control we have over things can actually be comforting, no?

No. :D






Anyway, on this side of Atlantic people and governmets talk openly about Trump and how this time there indeed may be liberal "refugee" wave out of USA that is comming our way. What makes many pleased because people are hopping we will get many of our experts back, the experts which went to America purely because of money. Therefore his concerns aren't completely unfounded, something could be cooking.



Just saying.
 
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