Report: Psychologists seeing ‘Trump anxiety’ among patients
GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s success is creating anxiety nationwide, a new report says.
Psychologists, massage therapists and other medical professionals say they are treating patients unnerved by the prospect of a Trump presidency, according to The Washington Post.
{mosads}“He has stirred people up,” said psychologist Alison Howard, who practices in Washington, D.C. “We’ve been told our whole lives not to say bad things about people, to not be bullies, to not ostracize people based on their skin color.
“We have these social mores and he breaks all of them and he’s successful. And people are wondering how he gets away with it.”
Howard told The Washington Post on Friday that she has discussed Trump with at least two patients this week alone.
Amanda Long, a massage therapist in Arlington, Va., argued that she has encountered patients tense about the billionaire for several weeks.
“It stresses me out to listen to it,” she said. “I can’t give [patients] a good massage if I’m grabbing [their] shoulders like Donald Trump’s orange face.”
Judith Schweiger Levy, a psychologist in New York, added Trump’s seemingly boundless confidence may be causing unease.
“Part of the reason he makes people so anxious is that he has no anxiety himself,” said Levy, who noted at least two patients mentioning the real estate tycoon. “It’s frightening. I’m starting to feel anxious just talking about him.”
Google reported earlier this week that the search “How do I move to Canada?” spiked 350 percent as Trump won seven out of 11 voting contests nationwide on Super Tuesday.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll released in January, meanwhile, found that 69 percent of everyday Americans are anxious about “President Trump.”
About 51 percent were “very anxious,” the survey released Jan. 28 said, while 18 percent were “somewhat anxious.”
Trump remains the clear Republican front-runner nationwide, boasting a roughly 16-point lead over his rivals in the latest RealClearPolitics average of surveys.
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