Do you get sweaty palms, heart palpitations, upset stomach and headaches every time you watch the news? If you do, you may be suffering from one of America’s latest ailments — Onset Trump Stress Syndrome, or OTSS.
Ok, OTSS isn't a real illness — but a report released in February by the American Psychological Association showed that 57 percent of Americans say that politics causes a significant source of their stress. So, if you have been pulling out your hair since Nov. 7, you are not alone.
International and national tensions have only continued to rise since Election Day. Since Inauguration Day, a multitude of political nightmares has swarmed the White House, including an investigation into any connections between Trump’s administration and Russia and the looming of a potential war with Syria.
The further we get from Election Day, the more Americans have become afflicted by stress from politics. In March, Penn State’s McCourtney Institute of Democracy released its Mood of the Nation Poll which showed that 3.5 percent of the Trump supporters they polled regret voting for him.
While specific stress and anxiety caused by Trump may be a fairly recent phenomenon, presidential and political-induced angst is an American tradition. Liberal Americans all over the country suffered from Acute Regan Anxiety during the 1980s and of course, conservatives are finally starting to look better after struggling with Progressive Stage 4 Obamacitius for the past eight years. Americans have been able to overcome these afflictions before, but some worry that stress onset by the Trump adminisration may be fatal for the country.
Harvard Business School Historian Nancy Koehn joined Boston Public Radio Tuesday to discuss the growing anxiety Americans are having about the state of politics and Donald Trump and how this anxiety measures up to our country’s history of presidential angst.
Click the audio player above to hear the entire interview with Nancy Koehn.
