What have been your experiences with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS)?

[Anonymous]

I'm not going to ask this question as a pejorative or disrespectful one, as is sadly often the case in today's divisive political landscape. I am asking it in the context of the genuine psychological disorder that many Americans suffer from. Indeed , there are many people around the world who suffer from TDS, and the symptoms and fallout can be truly debilitating, and often dangerous to both sufferers and others in their lives.

This is an important issue to me because TDS has resulted in some tragic consequences in my family and circle of friends. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice to say it has seriously damaged some relationships that were normal and loving before the last election, and has caused some very debilitating issues with several people I care deeply about.

TDS is a real and prevalent mental health issue with serious consequences. Manhattan-based psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert said last week that TDS is psychological disorder that he has seen firsthand in his practice, with three-quarters of his patients exhibiting symptoms. Alper called TDS the "defining pathology of our time".

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/is-trump-derangement-syndrome-real-a603e4a1?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqfOKdN_jk7UTq9tWutJ7q5ZTHnT8UewQKxGhWGBx6jkUm5kHlMYLY5z9z3tUY0%3D&gaa_ts=691b31ef&gaa_sig=-5BVS6n0Su7as-ASnxTfq3YscK96W_iN1vpqvff0cN98FbinGqSYAXMpNKM_9O5hnzD0f0k6f0VbgP8n2rVPEA%3D%3D

What has been your experience with TDS, either as a sufferer of the disorder or as someone affected by other TDS sufferers?

Updates

6 mo

Thanks to everyone for sharing your opinions. Unsurprisingly, some people deny TDS is a mental illness. It's a real mental illness that I have watched firsthand destroy relationships and upend people's lives. It's very real, and denying that is only hurting people we all care about.

[exitseven]

About 5 or 6 years ago I am driving to the dump in my pickup truck with the Trump sticker on the rear window, The town I live in always votes Republican even though it is a deep blue state so usually people honk at me when they se the sticker and give me a big smile or a thumbs up, So I am driving through town and a woman in a black Escalade honks at me. I just smile and give her a big wave,
She follows me into he dump and pulls in behind me. She gets out of her car and starts calling our President a Nazi and that I was a fascist for supporting him. I try to ignore her but she would not stop. I would never hit a woman so I just stood there and laughed at her, A couple of other guys that were nearby did the same. Then I told her that she needed to move her car because I was going to leave.
She got in her car and drove away.
Another time I teach at a state college and my office was moved to a different building. There was a wman professor in the next office. She seemed nice and we did talk a couple of times. I put a Trump sticker on my door (Mostly in response to the many Hillery stickers on campus) After that she refused to even say hi to me. Somebody ripped the sticker off my door ans I suspect it was her.
When Trump won she would sit in her office with the lights out. I swear I heard her crying more than once.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[Asker]

You're welcome. Thanks for your response. It resonated with me because I have had similar experiences.

[lightbulb27]

Have it in the family and have friends that have it. We are fine, we talk, we share opinions. you have to realize and accept, their minds are messed up differently.

So many I meet with this issue or are on the left are "off" mentally. I suspect our food and environment is a major influence in the distortions. Who knows.

I can understanding not liking Trump, that is different.

Work towards learning how to communicate and get along. People have a right to their opinions.

A famous man once said..."opinions are like butt holes... we all have them and they all STINK!" That struck me, so well said!

[FunkyMonkee]

From what I've seen, he says it's more like 4/5 of his patients.
Have you noticed that it's almost ALWAYS those WITH TDS that are the ones that are quick to break ties with people over Trump and not the other way around? So much for the left being tolerant!!
I was in a band for 25 years and nearly everyone associated with the band was a democrat. Myself and the ex-members, roadies and friends of the band got on great together over the years until they found out I support and voted for Trump! All of a sudden, they want nothing to do with me!! Even though I'm the longest standing member of the band and practically the band historian! I'M the supposed villain because I voted for the guy that's going to do (and HAS done LOADS of) great things for the country, if not the entire planet! And, OF COURSE, THEY'RE the ones that can't even SEE what good he's done!!! All their brainwashing they happily sop up every day (and then BEG for more!!) tells them that he's going to destroy the country and the democrats are going to make things better, even though ALL the evidence proves otherwise!! There are none so blind as those who WILL NOT see!!

[Asker]

Yes! That's exactly what prompted me to write this question. I have watched TDS destroy relationships in my family and circle of friends. It's heartbreaking.

[FunkyMonkee]

I know! I remember the first time he won and I was talking to Nigel, a bass player we used to have before I joined the band, the conversation was friendly and she was perfectly fine talking with me until I mentioned that I voted for Trump, as soon as I said that, she said she didn't want to talk to me or have anything to do with me, anymore! Her reasoning, of course, was because Trump was gonna destroy the country and all that other happy horseshit all the lefties were fed, swallowed whole and believed about him and has yet to come true!! So, I just blew it off and never bothered to talk to her again! But, if I said the same to her about Biden (and he came VERY CLOSE to destroying the country), it would've been a WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY!! "Why would you disown me just because I voted for Biden? Why are you letting politics tear us apart after all these decades?" But, it's PERFECTLY OKAY when SHE does it to ME!
I'm still waiting for the $2000 I was supposed to get from Joey!! I just got a check in the mail today for nearly $600 because of the policies that Trump set forth and a letter I got a few days ago says that on my monthly checks, from now on, I'll be getting an extra $150 I wasn't getting before!! Then there's the possible $2000 dividend checks we should be getting in a few months!! THANK YOU, Donald Trump!!! 8 MORE YEARS!!!

[msc545]

Yes, the part that you are missing or glossing over and is very important is a discussion regarding what causes this problem. As a trained Neuropsychologist with the same credentials as Dr. Alpert, I will tell you what causes it. It is the unrestrained, unconditional, unregulated behavior of a very ill man who is now the president of our country and who is acting out like a three-year-old child would. Mr. Trump suffers from severe mental illness of various types, which I won't name here, and as a result of that, he makes other people literally feel crazy and out of control since they have a lot of difficulty understanding how this is being permitted. This is a country where we are mostly used to reasonable law and order. It appears that law and order has been abandoned at least in regard to Trump. It is not so much the behavior as it is the lack of regulation and the lack of law enforcement that is really disturbing people.

Mr. Trump suffers from severe mental illness of various types, which I won't name here. As a result of that, he makes other people literally feel crazy. I hesitate to say it because... I hesitate to use the word crazy, but I'm not sure what else exactly describes it.

Disliking him or feeling disgust with him is not the manifestation of this disorder; the manifestation of this order is the symptomatology that his own disorder arouses in others. People on the right wing have made up the term TDS or Trump Derangement Syndrome to describe their opinion of people that dislike Trump. My professional opinion of people that dislike Trump is that they have good reality testing and are actually quite sane. They have no mental disorder. Trump has a mental disorder.

[msc545]

I suspect and hope that the magat that wrote this question is now regretting it...

[Anonymous]

Because ONE guy thinks people "suffer" from this does not make it a "genuine psychological disorder". That would take years of studies by accredited entities.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/toddessig/2012/04/23/jonathan-alperts-mis-statements-and-possible-misconduct/

He is a self-serving fraud by most accounts of his peers. Does that remind you of anyone? Self-serving?