Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health disorder caused by some type of psychological trauma. The 2016 presidential election now qualifies as a psychological trauma for college students.
The large proportion of the general population will experience a PTSD event during their lives. However, the severity and duration are limited. It might be the loss of a family member in an automobile accident. It could the be sudden irreversible health condition that results in death rapidly. It could even be a near death event in which the person was not directly touched, but just in the vicinity.
The Journal of American College Health studied 800 Arizona State University students in January of 2017. Using the Impact of Event Scale tool, the researchers discovered that the students had clinically significant symptoms of PTSD. Why was the January 2017 date so important?
President Trump took office in January 2017. Nearly one quarter of the student surveyed had PTSD symptoms. Minority, women, and non-Christian students had nearly double the rate as white students. Sixty-six percent of the student had no emotional disruption of their mental health. Just under twenty percent of the students reported satisfaction with the 2016 presidential election results.
Why do we allow other people and events to control our minds and affect our health? I’ve never understood it. I gave up network news back in the late 80’s. I could find news events around the world and noticed that it was days before it was published in the United States. Most of the time, the whole story was not told.
Our media no longer gives us the facts. They give us opinions. Are you allowing yourself to be mentally upset by an opinion? What if the opinion is wrong? What if it is right? We should not allow other people and events to affect our health, especially our mental health. Realize that what you see or hear is an opinion and treat it that way.
In today’s political world, everyone is entitled to an opinion. You probably are not seeing or hearing 100% of the entire story anyway.
I realize now that I was not alone who gets affected and angry by the opinions and news on TV. But there is also one more realization that has dawned on me recently that in a democratic space, opposite views are to be expected and respected and not adversely affected.