Other Managing PTSD within current political climate

[Lost in the Woods]

In my mind both sides are disgusting and dishonest. If you had an employee that lied to you constantly you would fire him or her. We should do the same, fire all encumbrances and keep firing them until they remember who they work for and face the serious challenges we are facing with honesty.

 

[Friday]

I don’t have the emotional energy to give a f*ck about what Whitehall, the Whitehouse, or Worldwide Press are -rightfully, in most cases- enraged about.

Whether that’s human rights (including LGBTQ issues), climate change, ongoing/effervescent/emerging wars & hotspots, etc. I have to deliberately choose not to be angry at the toilet paper roll, in this moment. When I have enough energy to actually DO ANYTHING about what I’m reading about? I’ll start reading, again. UNTIL THEN? I’m in the quasi-luxury place of not being able to give a f*ck, because bigger/more important matters are at hand. In the NOW. Meanwhile any grasp of politics? Includes future repercussions. What A will mean to B which will effect C and change D, Etc.

When I’m in a better headspace / physical capability, I can deal with local/reguonal/natuonal/international politics… as I’m actually able to DO something, about what is effecting/affecting me. Until I have energy to spare? Emotional & mental involvement is pure masturbation.

 

[enough]

I am immersed in a sea of pro current leadership co workers, we are for the most part blue collar hourly guys so yeah, it follows i guess. Not for me. So survival is swallowing my anger when i hear the rhetoric and biting my tongue when engaging in a debate is a fools errand.
I am also 30 years older than most of them, so it is more than politics that sets me at odds most days. I get by by keeping my eyes on the prize and staying true to my values even if it gets lonely.
I look for like minded podcasts to listen to and i do a lot of my own fact checking to avoid the temptation to be as anti as the pros are pro. no one gets anywhere with no debate or open minded thought so i guess i kind of play both roles in my internal debate because i live in a world where debate is actually forbidden by company policy.
I wear my tie dye on the inside now, peeled off all my dead head stickers. I survive by not showing any outside signs of struggle or contempt for the current administration.
Ever get thrown from a boat into a raging current? I have. many times. I survived by going with the flow. keeping my head above water and my feet downstream to bounce iff the rocks until i got footing or washed ashore. People drown when they panic and grab at the branches along shore or wear themselves out fighting the unbeatable current. I try to remember that every day. try.

 

[whiteraven]

I've written about this in my diary--I've actually had an increase in symptoms since a particular day, the 21st I think, when the executive order from 1965 about federal employees and equal opportunities was revoked. I'm not sure why it was that, unless there had just been an avalanche at that point, but since, I've had intense anxiety, along with a lot of physical symptoms.

I want to be informed enough that I can be a part of the opposition in my own small way (protests, letter writing, whatever)

Yeah, this is the same for me. My primary issue is that I studied and got a degree in International Studies/Relations, and the professor I had most of the time was crazy about keeping up with things (he was a former ambassador). For 11 years (yes, it took me that long) I read 4 newspapers a day and had it drilled into me that a good citizen keeps up on things.

Avoiding social media and any news helps, but it's really hard. I'm trying to get involved in other things (like I'm putting a book together for publishing, and that takes a lot of time), which also helps.

I am very, very grateful that my family and my co-workers are very much in the same boat.

 

[anthony]

Tips and tricks?

Stop identifying politically. That is my tip. How? Just don't. That is the trick.

I have been to the US multiple times, I watch enough content from the US - people literally identify as a Democrat or Republican. WTF? Step outside the US, this isn't a thing. Go to other countries, politics is just politics, and countries often look at each person, regardless of party, at the time of election and vote for the best person who is going to solve the current issues.

If someone asks an Australian who they are, they get just that, who they are, not a political affiliation.

US - Hi, who are you? I'm blah, I'm a democrat.

Oz - Hi, who are you? I'm blah, how are you today!

EU - Hello, who are you? I'm blah, nice to meet you!

If you get news from any main stream news source, you are doing yourself a disservice and being lied to / manipulated, regardless the position. Center is often the best, with the pro's and con's. Maybe swing center left or center right.

This has to be the single best short I have ever watched about the US political landscape as it stands right now. This lady deserves an award.

Research, not rage. Discuss, understand, not blind faith or beliefs.

If this stuff is causing you distress, I would encourage rational research and conversation about it. If you want to understand a topic, start a social post on just one topic and discuss that topic, understand all angles of it, but let staff know first and ensure its structured accordingly, so we can keep an eye on it from going off the rails.

 

[Calmdown]

Not from the US but I would feel the same. It is a pretty normal reaction. I see no reason to sugarcoat it. If you're not feeling well right now, try to ignore it as much as possible. And when you're feeling better, seek out like minded-people.

 

[Muttly]

A reminder, this thread is not for political debate. Please don't demonize any side of the political spectrum.

All of you who are saying stay away from mainstream media and do my own research, I agree. I appreciate that. I've already done that for decades. I do get the message that I can decrease my media intake. I started yesterday.

But news like legal change doesn't change day to day

I think this is part of the challenge. Right now, it feels like it does. And realistically, in some ways things are changing day to day, but I suppose if they are things I need to worry about I will hear about them. There are changes that have happened and are happening that directly impact my husband and I. Last night, my husband, who is a researcher, was talking about deeply worried he is about budget cuts that were just made. This could keep him from getting future/continued work.

I will admit, I am feeling a bit misunderstood or defensive. In general, I don't consider myself a very political person. If you asked me about my politics I would not identify with a party. I do research and have for decades. Again, I am a fact-checker (some might call me pednatic). I can't seem to help myself. I am very open to conversations with people whose politics don't align with mine. And I do mean conversation. I'm very curious about other people and how they think. I don't argue, yell, blame, name call, etc. For one thing, I believe it just makes people entrench. For another, you don't learn by doing that.

Back to doing research, I feel like there is an assumption by some that if I do research I will realize I am worrying about nothing. That's not true for me. One of the executive orders that came out, research, just scared me more. My research involved me reading the actual document not what has been discussed. My research made me realize that the content of that order legally outlines multiple things that will directly impact me personally.

 

[scout86]

I feel like there is an assumption by some that if I do research I will realize I am worrying about nothing.

I don't think you're worrying about nothing. I kind of wish I DID think that. I truly don't feel less stressed by avoiding the news. I'm with you, I feel like I have to have an idea what's going on. Self defense. LOL The person who's currently the US president happens to remind me of people I've had to deal with in my actual life. So I guess he's some kind of trigger. I keep trying to sort out what's actual current danger from what's a PTSD reaction. (It's some of both!) That doesn't make it go away, of course. I don't think there's anything that will do that.

I have been to the US multiple times, I watch enough content from the US - people literally identify as a Democrat or Republican. WTF?

Yeah, "WTF?" I'm old enough that I remember a time when it wasn't like this.

My personal theory is one good way to control and manipulate people is by promoting the idea of "them against us". I really believe the reality is most people have a lot in common and a lot of times there doesn't have to be a "them" at all. As a corollary to that, our species seems to be kind of wired to be tribal so it's easy to invoke that "them vs us" mindset. To keep it going, people have to avoid seeing "them" as people. @enough, that sounds like something your coworkers are doing. There was a day, early in the pandemic, when I decided, without really thinking about it, that I'd had it with :stupid people". (Most of these people are not, in fact, stupid. They are people who apparently are deliberately deciding they don't want to be bothered by facts.) Since then, when confronted with someone going on about something that seems counterfactual, I've made a point to ask them where their belief comes from. (It's amazing how often they don't have an answer to that.) Then I go on with something like, "Really? That's interesting. What I've heard is this...." and then present some information that I really believe is credible Not always easy to do, but I do try to be sure of the facts before presenting them as facts. No matter what anyone says, "facts" still exist! I don't know that what I'm doing changes anything. What it does do is give me the feeling that I can be part of the solution, not part of the problem, and feeling like I can have at least a small bit of "control" in my small part of the world seems to help with the PTSD stuff.

 

[whiteraven]

US - Hi, who are you? I'm blah, I'm a democrat.

LOL. I've never encountered this. These days, you often don't even have to hear it. You can tell by actions or what someone says/how someone talks.

If this stuff is causing you distress, I would encourage rational research and conversation about it.

I do TONS of research in a variety of media, much overseas. And I also have conversation about it. The problem is that many are not willing to look at the issues rationally.

There are changes that have happened and are happening that directly impact my husband and I.

Yes! And, I would argue, changes that will begin to affect nearly everyone.

I will admit, I am feeling a bit misunderstood or defensive. In general, I don't consider myself a very political person. If you asked me about my politics I would not identify with a party. I do research and have for decades. Again, I am a fact-checker (some might call me pednatic). I can't seem to help myself. I am very open to conversations with people whose politics don't align with mine. And I do mean conversation. I'm very curious about other people and how they think. I don't argue, yell, blame, name call, etc. For one thing, I believe it just makes people entrench. For another, you don't learn by doing that.

Sorry you're feeling misunderstood. I get it. I am the same.

 

[RainbowSearchParty]

Living abroad, I feel misunderstood all the time. There’s a weird conflation of “Americans” into a homogenous group, which we certainly don’t feel like IRL. And for me, my state affiliation is a strong identity marker, and this gets lost in the international debate.

Again, no advice, but I feel the pain with you.

 

[Movingforward10]

It's not so much about political parties but changes in law.
Here in the UK the block on medicating trans young people is in place , brought in by the previous government and continued by this government.
So moving away from political party debates....which you have been very clear that this thread is not about that at all.

The worry is about your civil rights, your access to health care etc.
Which is a valid worry given various exucative orders and comments made.
It's how to manage that worry and how to plan with some uncertainty around what might or might not happen for you personally.
Which is really hard. Hard for anyone without PTSD, and then adding in PTSD into the mix. It's not a surprise this is spiking symptoms?

Whilst it might feel like exucative orders change the law from one day to another, even with that, limiting your exposure to it to the absolute minimum might really help.

Are there advisory groups that can help? Maybe they are releasing statements about what actions they are taking? Reading news that offers hope?

 

[Muttly]

I found I'd started a reply to this a few days ago and never finished. I appreciate everyone's replies. @Movingforward10 Thank you, it does feel like you understand.

I guess I'm still stuck on some of the comments that were made. I feel like some come with false assumptions. Maybe some of that is stemming from PTSD/past history for me? What I feel like is being assumed, is that if I do my research I will realize what has upset me will turn out to be a non-issue. Like I was stuck on the political party that was going to make the new law and that's the only reason I got upset. I guess my question is, what if my research and calm and rational discussions prove that I am going to be directly and immediately impacted?

But news like legal change doesn't change day to day. It can be restricted n maybe once a week you can check in that nothing new and dangerous is happening when you're in the right mind space.

I wish the first part of what you said was true. With the executive orders being passed, things have been changing very quickly. Intellectually I understand that even with an executive order that has immediate impact, most likely there will be some time before I feel that impact.

When I initially made this post, I intentionally left things a bit open and vague so that anyone felt welcome to join in regardless of their personal politics. I didn't want to bring in specific policies or politicians because I didn't want that to be the focus. But now, I guess I am going to be more specific. I am a transgender man, in a gay marriage. Currently there are all sorts of executive orders, laws, appeals etc aimed at lgbqt people in general and very spefically at trans-people. We have been planning to move in the next year. I'll be honest and say that out of this country has been an option. However, I have no confirmed that I can't get a passport. And I feel stupid because I should have worked on getting it sooner. I should have forseen this. But I guess I thought I had time? The gender on my birth certificate does not match the gender on my other legal documents. I have now spoken to someone who is helping other transgender people with this issue. She has confirmed that I can't get a passport. Not only that, if I try, I might get my papers confiscated. That's what is happening right now.

Also, my husband works in research. He's applied to several programs to get his doctorate. That's part of why we plan to move in the next year. We don't know how the current budget impacts are going to affect his application. We do know, that some people who were accepted to programs have been told they no longer have the funding to support that. We also know that the funding that has been paying for his current position has been suspended. Right now, his manager has reassured him that if that funding does disappear they will find other funds for his position We are hoping that those other funds stay secure or he's out a job.