Trump is making America more hostile and mentally ill: New England Journal of Medicine study

[DonViejo]

Health Effects of Dramatic Societal Events - Ramifications of the Recent Presidential Election
David R. Williams, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Morgan M. Medlock, M.D., M.Div.
N Engl J Med 2017; 376:2295-2299June 8, 2017DOI: 10.1056/NEJMms1702111

A small but growing body of evidence suggests that election campaigns can have both positive and negative effects on health. Campaigns that give voice to the disenfranchised have been shown to have positive but short-term effects on health. Such associations have been observed among black South Africans at the time of Nelson Mandela’s 1994 election, among black Americans during Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign, and among Hispanic and black Americans when Barack Obama was nominated for President in 2008.1 Thus, increases in psychological well-being, pride, and hope for the future are likely to be evident among Donald Trump supporters.

At the same time, events linked to the recent presidential campaign and election have given rise to fear and anxiety in many Americans. Research suggests that these events can have negative health effects on people who have been direct targets of what they perceive as hostility or discrimination and on individuals and communities who feel vulnerable because they belong to a stigmatized, marginalized, or targeted group. It is worth exploring the scientific research in this area and considering its implications for health care providers.

INCREASED RACIAL HOSTILITY

There has been an increase in racial resentment, animosity, and political polarization in the United States in recent years. The election of President Obama played a key role: research indicates that Obama’s election led to increases in the rate of belief among white Americans, especially conservatives, that racism no longer exists.2 At the same time, in the wake of his election, one third of white Americans indicated that they were “troubled” that a black man was President, the Tea Party movement emerged with antiminority rhetoric, resentment toward Democrats increased, support among whites for the Democratic party declined, and white support for addressing racial inequities decreased.2 Obama’s election also led to a marked increase in racial animosity expressed in social media: there was a proliferation of hate websites and anti-Obama Facebook pages, with the widespread use of historical racial stereotypes that are no longer seen in mainstream media.3

The presidential candidacy of Donald Trump appeared to bring further to the surface preexisting hostile attitudes toward racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and Muslims. In a national (nonrepresentative) survey of 2000 elementary and high school (K–12) teachers, more than half of respondents said that since the 2016 presidential campaign began, many of their students had been “emboldened” to use slurs and name calling and to say bigoted and hostile things about minorities, immigrants, and Muslims.4 Not surprisingly, 67% of these teachers reported that many U.S. students (especially immigrants, children of immigrants, and Muslims) were scared and worried and had expressed concerns or fears about what might happen to their family after the election. Even some native-born black children whose ancestors have been in the United States for centuries expressed concerns about a return to slavery or being sent back to Africa.

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http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms1702111

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

1. I suspect this has things exactly backwards . . .

It seems more likely that, over time, the American people have grown more hostile and mentally ill, and that is why someone like Donald Trump was seen by a significant segment of the population as a person who would make an acceptable president.

It is the same with Fox News, I'd surmise. FNC did not so much create an audience as find one.

[defacto7]

2. Was I asleep or somehow catatonic to

the level of racism we are experiencing? I was one of those who thought racism and sexism was slowly dying. And when Obama became president I was sure of it. When he was elected a second time I was even more sure that the world could be ridding itself of those diseases. Even when they're were hateful events it seemed to be the writhing leftovers from the past. All of a sudden in one fell swoop... Trump. And America goes back 60 years.
I am beginning to feel like there's a new philosophical class of fearful and angry haters come out of the shadows and another new class of "fear out of bewilderment" from a lost sense of hope.

[raccoon]

3. Trump's words and behavior embolden people to express these hostile attitudes.

"The presidential candidacy of Donald Trump appeared to bring further to the surface preexisting hostile attitudes toward racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and Muslims. "

[dalton99a]

4. More proof that the crazy asshole is a public menace