ICE and the National Guard taking over U.S. cities. Masked men rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters and pulling US citizens out of their beds to zip tie them and their children in the middle of the night. Children zip tied and separated from their parents. Insane videos that look like “Zero Dark Thirty” being tweeted out by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
None of this is okay and it’s okay to be bothered about it. Several therapists I’ve spoken with tell me the state of our country is the number one thing people want to talk about. They say it’s the number one reason for people seeking medication when they have never needed it in the past.
I think it’s important for all of our sanity to begin saying out loud what all of this is doing to our collective psyche – and what it may do in the years to come. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich had the following to say on social media this week:
Friends,
I’d like to talk with you about a difficult subject.
A significant number of you are disoriented by what Trump and his lapdogs are doing. Many are deeply anxious. Some of us are depressed.
For years, medical experts have recommended that Americans be screened for “anxiety disorders.”
But what many of us are feeling now is not a personal disorder. It’s a rational response to a nation that’s becoming ever more disordered. What we’re experiencing is not a sickness or individual distress. It’s a sensible reaction to a society becoming sicker and more stressed.
Trump and the enablers around him aren’t just violating the Constitution and disregarding laws. They’re not merely doing cruel and vindictive things. They’re also spreading fear and fueling hate.
This fear and hate are harming every one of us, even the shrinking minority who support the regime. Hate is a corrosive that eventually consumes the haters. Fear breeds more fear, which causes everyone to be afraid.
The harm may continue long after the reasons to fear and sources of hate have passed into history.
I have a friend who suffered trauma at the hands of abusive parents. She’s spent much of her life trying to cope with that trauma, trying not to let it rule (and ruin) her life. Another friend is the child of a Holocaust survivor. He has spent much of his life trying to escape the ghosts of relatives he never knew who were murdered by the Nazis, whose deaths have cast a dark shadow over his own life.
Most of us are fortunate enough not to have suffered childhood trauma from abusive parents or been raised in the dark shadow of the Holocaust or other horrors.
But most of us are now suffering a trauma of a different sort — from an abusive president and his lapdogs, and from the dark shadows of fear and hate they cast. Just as with my friends, many of us now feel powerless and afraid. We don’t recognize our nation. We’re disoriented, vulnerable, anxious. Trump apologists call it “Trump derangement syndrome,” but the actual derangement is in and around the Oval Office.
I don’t think we’re talking enough about the national trauma most of us are now enduring. Some of you may assume there’s something wrong with you when you can’t sleep or awaken feeling anxious. You may feel alone in this.
You should be aware of how widespread, and reasonable, your reaction is.
Trump’s cruelty and vengeance will pass. Years from now we’ll look back on this as a terrible period in America’s history. Our nation will survive.
But the fear and hate he has sown could cause lasting blight.
Recognizing this — being aware of the toll it’s taking and will continue to take on us, even years from now — is important to our eventual recovery, that of our loved ones, and the recovery of our nation and the world.
If you think you are alone, you are not. If current events are affecting your daily life, talk to your doctor about it. Find a therapist. Looking for therapists is kind of like car shopping: it is okay to ask the questions you need to know to feel comfortable. It is okay to ask if they align with your political beliefs – most will be honest with you about it.
No one is okay right now. Take care of yourselves.
Take Action
- Normalize asking your friends how they are handling things. Normalize sharing names of good therapists. Normalize talking about what you’re doing to cope. If you need it, see your doctor.
