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AThere are currently strange sounding coaching workshops and seminars in many American universities. Universities try to emotionally prepare their students and faculty for the upcoming presidential election under slogans like “Stress before the election – let the feelings go” and “Psychological flexibility regardless of the election result”.
After some dramatic reactions to Donald Trump’s election victory four years ago, colleges want to be better prepared this time around. “An excellent idea,” says Rachael Cobb, a professor of political and administrative sciences at Suffolk University in Boston. He doesn’t want to spend a morning like the day after the last election. “I remember it all too well – it was really bad in my class.”
Never before have so many US citizens voted
Candidates have only a few days to convince the last few voters – if there are any left who have not yet voted. More than 60 million US citizens have already cast their votes early, more than ever.
Source: WELT / Paul Sonntag
He had never felt a more relaxed state of mind. “Many have cried. The students lay in each other’s arms, sobbing. Migrants among the students spoke with tears of their fear of deportation. Other participants in the course wanted to celebrate Trump’s victory. So it was not thought of teaching, not to mention conciliatory discussions “.
As a teacher, he tried to remain neutral, but mediation between the students was almost impossible. “I felt completely helpless and overwhelmed,” says Cobb. Suggestions from psychological experts on how to avoid similar situations are welcome.
Across the country, the reactions of many American students in the morning after Trump’s election victory four years ago were so drastic that numerous university administrations were forced to start emergency psychological services as quickly as possible. Pain centers with therapeutic treatments have been established in some universities.
Mask requirement for students – such as here on Ball State University grounds in Muncie (Indiana)
What: AP
Stanford University has offered individual and group therapy. At the University of Michigan, Yale University, and other universities, professors have postponed exams and sent their students “strength and courage in these troubled times” via e-mail. The University of Connecticut accepted “elective trauma” as a reason to stay away from class and submit homework late.
In upstate New York, Cornell University student unions called for a so-called “Cry In” – “to share the pain by crying together,” as the student newspaper “Cornell Review” put it, “but also to affirm that one is he is still alive. ” A “breathing room” was opened in the University of Pennsylvania dormitory – to reduce stress there were not only lots of snacks, but also puppies and kittens to pet.
Conservative professors in particular spoke of “unprecedented hysteria”. In republican circles, the reaction ranged from bewilderment to mockery – the expression “liberal crying babies” was often and frequently used. Senior professors noted that Richard Nixon’s re-election in 1972 and Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980 sparked protests and fears even among Democrats. However, it was agreed that there had never been such reactions as after Trump’s move to the White House.
Examination postponed by election
“At the time, I found the measures exaggerated in some universities,” recalls Ruth Sondermann, professor of German at Boston College. “Postpone exams because one of the two presidential candidates won the election – I didn’t.” After all, there was no emergency that would make it impossible for students to prepare for exams.
“However, in all my years in college I have never seen the atmosphere as politically heated as it was in 2016 – and again now. The seminars ahead of the elections will certainly not hurt,” Sondermann said.
He will remember the day after Trump’s election victory four years ago. “The next morning there was a very toxic climate. Colleagues have speculated behind closed doors as to who could be trusted to be a Trump voter. All kinds of people were secretly suspects. ”
Resist Trump: Neither colleagues nor students would have dared to do this in their environment. Sondermann believes that coaching courses to reduce stress ahead of next week’s elections make more sense than, for example, in pain centers like after the last election.
Jason Roy, an economics student at New York University, also welcomes therapies and coaching seminars on strategies for dealing with fears of choice. “Stress is not an expression to describe my feelings before this election. I’d rather call it pure panic, ”reveals the 21-year-old.
“I can’t think of anything else and I can hardly concentrate on university. What kind of consequences it might have for my friends – there are many minorities among them: black, Latino and gay, ”says Roy. Furthermore, there are fears of violent unrest and electoral manipulation, which are now also affecting him physically.
Anti-stress workshops before the elections
“During the televised debates with the candidates, I felt my heart suddenly start pounding. And the closer to election day, the stronger the stomach ache. Besides, I sleep worse and worse ”. According to Roy, his fellow students are as tense and nervous as he is. “I can only approve anti-stress seminars before this election.”
Roy isn’t alone with his fears. According to the American Psychological Association, about 70 percent of all adult American citizens believe the upcoming elections pose a significant psychological burden. According to Psychology Today magazine, the term “Trump anxiety disorder” has been in common use for therapists since the president took office. This phenomenon is now more common than ever. Numerous articles in the trade journal describe how much space Trump occupies as a topic in the sessions of many patients in therapy.
The number of Americans citing the president as a stressor or contributing factor to their anxiety has soared, especially in recent weeks. More and more patients would complain of Trump-related sleep disturbances and depression and make sure appointments are fully booked in many practices, the article continues. Washington Psychotherapy Center founder Elisabeth LaMotte joked in a TV interview that it sometimes felt like Trump was sitting on the sofa in his study.
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