Watching Trump all over again is bad for my mental health

Okay, it is happening. We are now back in the place where we talk about the election all day every day 24/7. And if my news feed is any indication, that is what the next year and a half is going to look like just being bombarded with catastrophic predictions about who will win the presidency, and what the fallout will be. I don’t think I expect it to be this triggered. The fear that I have for our country isn’t theoretical, or it doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem. The danger feels personal. I mean, I am afraid of what is going on in our country on so many levels.

The experience of just hearing Trump’s voice that says that bananas CNN town hall, hearing people laugh when he mocked E. Jean Carroll called the moderator nasty refused to answer the question directly. It just it all provoked this very visceral response in me, my throat tightened my stomach hurt, my mind started whirling off into all sorts of worst case scenario situations. If an indicted criminal, confessed abuser of woman and want to be dictator gets the nomination, which I guess he will, there’s going to be so much noise. If he wins the election. He won’t leave office. I mean, you know that right? A vote for Trump and 2024 is a vote for Trump for him however long he feels like being there because he aspires to be just like his bestie Vladimir Putin. He is so emboldened now. He is so emboldened now that he absolutely will upend our democracy in the service of his own ego. He tried to do at one time already, and I think, I think this time he could succeed.

Now, that is really scary, again, not in a hypothetical way in a tangible way. Will more people vote for Biden again, assuming he’s the nominee? Yeah, I believe so. But the way that the electoral college is set up, which don’t even get me started, it, it means that if Trump is the nominee, he’s basically like a coin flip away from the presidency. Again, we live through this once before, I am very worried about our collective mental health and specifically my own now that it appears that we have to do this all over again. So especially because it is mental health awareness month, I want to take a minute to remind you that while yes, you better show up when it matters, you vote and you get others to vote and you make yourself heard. You also do not have to maintain 24/7 vigilance. You don’t have to listen to Trump’s voice. If it triggers you as it does me. You don’t have to open your eyes and go just straight to your news app. You can step away from the news cycle and the sky will not fall. I want to acknowledge that your feelings, whatever they may be, are real. And also remind you that this sort of constant ongoing stress can have real effects on your health. So please, take care of yourself. I’ll try to do the same