I am a psychotherapist, not a political activist, so it may seem unusual for me to be talking about the current political climate in America. After all, as a mental health practitioner, my goal is to serve people in need of mental health care regardless of their political views. However, we live in a politically polarized climate and psychotherapists have been reporting that many patients are experiencing increased anxiety symptoms. The Actor James Franco says he’s “spiraled into a depression” following the Democratic presidential nominee’s election loss to President Trump.
– “Post -Election stress disorder.” Sometimes the anxiety is so severe, it has triggered or come close to triggering full blown anxiety attacks.
Dr. Danielle Ofri, a physician at Bellevue Hospital, New York, in a Slate article, states that “if we add up the additional medications prescribed, the missed work, the fallout from other illnesses being relegated to the back burner, you have the makings of a major medical toll from this election.” The actor James Franco has reported that because of the political changes, he has “…spiraled into a depression questioning everything that I am.” Finally, an Op-Ed in the LA Times suggests that because of the new administration, “Americans … are feeling unprecedented dread and despair.” And this anxiety impacts people across the political spectrum – liberals and conservatives alike.
Many of my clients present typical ranges of anxiety and depression. They may be feeling blocked in moving forward in their lives: stuck in their relationships, unable to start a relationship, or feel trapped by a job or career choice. Now, the current political climate is adding an additional obstruction that increases their level of depression and complicates emotional healing.
Typically, clients bring with them some level of resistance to therapy. It is the voice inside that says “be strong, I can handle it” or “other people have it worse than I do” or “I can do it myself.” This voice often comes from a figure in their past: an overworked parent, for example, whose weight they continue to carry long into their adulthood. The client arrives seeking the strength to erase the mental distress or pain without facing it. But post-election, people are being further haunted by an unexpected turn of events and uncertainty about the future.
A common narrative is waking in the morning hoping that something has changed since the night before. We discover that while we can try to bury the past, we cannot bury the present. We wake up knowing we must face the problem. The good news is that in therapy we can learn to do this. Gestalt therapy teach us to be mindful and to live in the present. Gestalt therapy can provide ways that reinforce a present centered reality. When we do this we find that our problems seem to grow smaller – space opens up around them, and our despair can be translated into action. We can find present centered solutions that can put us back on track We may also learn that our issues drawn from past experiences are also present centered problems, and discover new behaviors that move us forward.
