Trump is pushing America's mental health crisis to the brink

Psychologist Mary Trump, Donald Trump's 60-year-old niece and the daughter of his late brother Fred Trump Jr., often argues that the president suffers from poor mental health and is pushing destructive policies because of it. Other Donald Trump critics, meanwhile, are arguing that the president not only has mental health issues — he is also causing the mental health of others to suffer.

In an article published by The Guardian on March 8, journalist Ash Sanders details the link between feelings of depression and Trump's second presidency.

Author Ann Cvetkovitch, Sanders notes, is warning that "political depression" is on the rise in the United States.

"Political depression might look like traditional depression — the same hopelessness, despair and shutdown — but its source is different," Sanders explains. "It doesn't come from within, at least not primarily, Cvetkovitch wrote in her 2012 book, 'Depression: A Public Feeling.' It comes from the violence, collapse or unjustness of the world around us. In recent years, political depression has infiltrated the public discourse, the private consciousness and the therapist's office. Two-thirds of respondents in a 2024 LifeStance Health survey said they talk about politics or elections with their therapists. Therapists, too, are noticing an influx of clients seeking support for political stress…. In recent years, political depression has infiltrated the public discourse, the private consciousness and the therapist's office."

Sanders continues, "Two-thirds of respondents in a 2024 LifeStance Health survey said they talk about politics or elections with their therapists. Therapists, too, are noticing an influx of clients seeking support for political stress…. Studies show political stress takes a very real toll on people’s mental and physical health."

Sanders points to Utah resident Rebecca McFaul, who has family in Minneapolis, as an example of someone experiencing "political depression." McFaul described her response to recent violence during Minneapolis immigration raids as "a certain kind of terror and horror at it all."

According to Brett Ford, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto in Canada, politics are a source of chronic stress.

Ford told The Guardian, "Chronic stressors are large-scale, they don’t have clear endpoints, they feel out of your hands, and they reliably evoke negative emotions…. Negative emotions are a really consistent predictor of political engagement and action."