Election Day was a turning point in how I interacted with social media, news, politics, and the world. Does this sound like you?
When the 2016 Presidential election was taking place, I unplugged myself from the media. I was physically and emotionally drained, felt ill, and was borderline panic attack mode. Our bosses at Instinct were asking why we weren't blogging as much. The quick response was that we were a little dead inside and it seemed everyone was feeling the same way. It wasn't a time to come together in mourn the loss, but a time to try and re-evaluate everything you knew. In talking with other publications, they were experiencing the same thing. I felt bad not posting, covering news, but it was almost like it was painful to do.
Since those days following the election, I've seen myself change a little bit. I've actually somewhat embraced the "Make America Great Again" mentality when it has come to media, and have sent myself back in time by watching COZI TV most nights. Reruns of Frasier, Murder She Wrote, The A-Team, and even the Munsters seem better that what is happening in the real world out there. They're comforting and help me avoid the stupidity that is occurring in our political machine every day.
I knew I was and am not alone, but I didn't realize it has now become a medical condition.
Wally Pfingsten has always been a news junkie. But since President Donald Trump was elected, he’s been so anxious about the political tumult that even just having the TV news on in the background at home is unbearable.
“It’s been crippling,” said the 35-year-old San Mateo, Calif., resident and political moderate who has supported both Democratic and Republican candidates in the past. “I feel angry, really, really angry, far more angry than I expected to be.”
He’s tried hard to quell his anxiety. First, he shut down his Facebook page to limit his exposure to the daily soaking of news from Washington. But not knowing the goings-on made him anxious, too. He found himself sneaking onto the Facebook account he made for his dog. “I felt like I was cheating,” he said.
Pfingsten is not alone in his politics-induced anxiety — it’s so common it’s been given an unofficial name: Post-Election Stress Disorder. Mental health professionals around the country, especially those working in Democratic strongholds, report a stream of patients coming in with anxiety and depression related to — or worsened by — the blast of daily news on the new administration.
In the past, therapists say it’s been fairly uncommon for patients to bring up politics on the couch. “It is big money to talk about politics with me ― that is not what we do!” said Maria Lymberis, a psychiatrist in Santa Monica, Calif.
But that was before “fake news,” “alternative facts,” “repeal and replace,” contested confirmations, travel bans, protests and suits over travel bans, suspicions about Russian influence and the departures of the acting attorney general and the new national security adviser. Among other things. – salon.com
Could Post-Election Stress Disorder be real? Is this what occurs in other nations when elections are so questioned, so flawed, and so shocking that you think you are in a dream nightmare and have been since November?
It would be interesting to see if there has been a decrease in productivity in Democratic Americans and a possible increase in regard to Republicans. It apparently has also affected sex drives.
“I have people who’ve told me they’re in mourning, that they’ve lost their libido,” On doctor said. “I have people saying the anxiety is causing them to be so distracted that they’re blowing through stop signs or getting into fender benders.”
The anxiety appears to be widespread. Fifty-seven percent of Americans report that the current political climate is a very or somewhat significant source of stress, and 40 percent say the same about the outcome of the election, according to an online survey of 1,019 adults conducted by the American Psychological Association after the inauguration. Between August 2016 and January 2017, the overall average stress level increased significantly for the first time since the Stress in America survey began 10 years ago.
And it’s not Democrats: a quarter of Republicans report that the outcome of election is a significant source of stress for them. – salon.com
In a shocking statement, Salon.com also states that this PESD has been found in Republicans, too. For more on that, head over to salon.com.
Do you feel you are different since the election? Mentally? Physically? Socially?
Do you think Post-Election Stress Disorder is a real thing?