Trump & 2017: The year of exhausting angst

After 23 of years working in the mental health field, Talleyville-based psychotherapist Angela Grayson encountered something new during the past year with a handful of patients.

For the first time, some have pointed directly to the president of the United States as a major cause of stress.

"The change in the political climate has affected a lot of people," says Grayson of Good Fruit Expressive Arts Counseling & Psychotherapy. She has seen a 30 percent increase in patients over the past year. "They come in complaining about feeling overwhelmed and depressed both personally and in the workplace."

Add that to a record year for gun violence in Wilmington — 197 people shot, 32 fatally — and worries about health care, Medicaid and finances or family, crime and employment, even a freaking earthquake and record number of snow days.

Throw in worries about terrorism and nuclear war threats paired with last weekend's false ballistic missile warning in Hawaii, and you have quite the angst stew.

With little to no inspiration or positivity emanating from political leaders in Washington, at a time when the nation is intensely divided about seemingly everything, the nation is stressed out, and Delaware is no exception.

"I'm really outraged at the tone of things now," says Wilmington artist Terrance Vann, 26, who painted President Donald Trump with the words "racist joke" across his face last week after hearing about his vulgar comments regarding Haiti and Africa. "This is how we're being represented? What does it say about how far we've come?"

Much of the turmoil escalated after Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 last year, which instantly launched a battle over crowd size. The next day, hundreds of thousands of women streamed into the nation's capital and other cities around the world.

With many clad in pink knitted caps with cat ears, they carried signs and advocated issues they were afraid would be threatened or ignored in the new administration: women's rights, immigration reform, health care reform, reproductive rights, the environment, LGBTQ rights, racial equality and more. Those issues popped up over and over in social media and various non-stop cable television news feeds.

The women are marching again Saturday in Newark, Philadelphia, New York and Washington, among other cities.

New Castle's Barbara Winkler, a visual arts teacher at William Penn High School, spent part of last year fretting about whether her position would be cut when it took two tries for the Colonial School District's $10.9 million per year referendum to pass. If it hadn't passed, large program cuts were coming.

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While worrying in May about the stability of her arts education job and whether she could be transferred to another school, she posted on Facebook, "My teeth hurt ... so much stress!" She says she began to eat chocolate to cope and feels the stress deprived her of sleep and even aggravated the usually slight symptoms of arthritis in her joints. Working in support of the referendum as a legislative chairperson for the teachers union added to the pressure.

"It was bad — pretty stressful," she says of that two-month stretch. "It's really emotional because you're working with people and everybody's up in the air. The person next to you could be a first-year teacher, and they don't know if they are staying or going."

After the referendum passed, the sweets were put away and a more healthy diet returned, as did 5:30 a.m. yoga routines and walks, making her feel better both spiritually and physically. Dancing at night to live music at local restaurants and clubs helped, too.

But through it all, there has been another layer of concern: politics and the direction of our country.

"I was emotionally and physically upset when I watched the returns [in 2016]," she says. "And watching it go in the opposite of the direction of everything I believe in and fought for the future, it just seems that every section is being torn down. It's very hard."

The American Psychological Association recently released its annual "Stress in America" report, which found 63 percent of Americans say the future of the nation is a very or somewhat significant source of stress for them. 

The report says stress tied to politics and policy edged out the usual suspects, such as money (62 percent) and work (61 percent) this past year. To top it off, 59 percent said they consider this the lowest point in U.S. history that they can remember, spanning generations that lived through World War II, the Vietnam War and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

"Every year for the last 11 years, we've asked about stress related to money and work — they are almost always the top two. This year, we found that stress about the nation was on par with those, which was surprising to us," says Vaile Wright, director of research and special projects for the association. 

Wright's research over that time shows average stress levels in the country have trended downwards with "the exception of a statistically significant spike in January right before the inauguration."

But while those average stress levels have stabilized to average numbers, more people are reporting symptoms of stress such as headaches, stomach problems and insomnia.

"Those things also spark our attention because when you have these symptoms of stress, that's a troubling indicator for chronic health problems if not treated," Wright says.

Whether it's with his tweets, policy or combative nature, Trump fuels some of the stress Americans are feeling, especially if you're a President Barack Obama devotee and believe you're witnessing a slow-motion, real-life nightmare.

Fanned by social media and partisan news outlets, a spotlight has been trained on divisive social issues.

In Talleyville, Grayson recently surveyed her two fellow counselors at Good Fruit, and they also reported a significant increase in people complaining about stress, specifically because of the political climate and how it's affecting them.

Grayson suggests meditation, journaling, yoga, walks and avoiding the computer and cellphones as good ways to combat stress. Even the act of picking up a phone and talking to a friend instead of texting them can help, she adds.

"Everybody is glued to the TV or their phone and computer as they check all the social media outlets, so the socialization aspect of their lives has declined significantly, which causes a lot of stress because we need interaction," Grayson says.

Vann, a 2017 Delaware Division of the Arts fellow, turns to his paintbrush. His work usually radiates inspiration. Proof: the Martin Luther King Jr. mural he created earlier this week for Wilmington's Raising KINGS Week, currently on display at the Delaware Art Museum.

But after hearing racist comments attributed to Trump, he snapped. Instead of just ranting on Facebook, he picked up his paintbrush and shared his disgust with the world … along with a few choice words.

"If you support this man, honestly, it is what it is at this point. Just keep your opinion to yourself, and we'll agree to disagree because there is no defending this joke. I'm disgusted. I'm over it," he vented in a post accompanying the painting.

At the Awareness Center on Main Street in Newark, which offers yoga and meditation for 300 people a month, studio director Rebecca Northrop says some of those in search of stress-busting yoga have actually brought their cellphones into the studio, placing them next to their mat.

"Sometimes I will nicely take their phone away from them. Especially newer folks, they can't let go of their phone," Northrop says.

Neil Meisel, who co-founded the studio in 2001, points to technology like the ever-present smartphones as a major stressor.

"A lot of this technology is quite beneficial, but people are getting so hooked by it," he says. "When you have this powerful technology, you need wisdom. And in order to have wisdom, you need to pay attention inside. People are really externally driven these days. We need a balance."

A few miles east in Fair Hill, Maryland, building automation system programmer Jeff Kase is recovering from stressful work training last week in Virginia, which concluded with a nerve-racking nine-hour certification exam. 

Using his Garmin activity tracker, which measures heart rates and offers a stress rating, Kase saw his usual workday score of 28-32 jump to 55, breaking his all-time high of 44.

But that grinding sensation of stress was not new. As life's personal ups and downs came over the past year — along with stress levels to prove it — Kase has also been among those grappling with what's happening politically across the country.

Three days after Election Day in November 2016, the 52-year-old ultramarathoner completed a non-stop 100-mile race in 28 hours and 44 minutes. And even before he took his first step, he was feeling stress thanks to the outcome of the vote.

"I was sufficiently upset over that election that I was emotionally drained going into the race. It made for a very tedious experience," says Kase, whose concern over the affairs of state have only escalated in the months since. "It all just still boggles my mind."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

DELAWARE STRESSORS

We came up with a list of serious (and not-so-serious) Delaware-centric stressors. Send yours to rcormier@delawareonline.com.

• Shootings, especially in Wilmington, which had its worst year ever for gun violence in 2017

• Politics

• Job security

• Losing health benefits or having costs rise precipitously

• Hate crimes, such as the swastikas and "KKK" written on a Wilmington vehicle over the summer 

• State/federal budget cuts, including threats to shut down things such as the Greater Wilmington Convention and Tourism Bureau 

• The never-ending stream of knee-jerk negativity and blaming on social media

• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program

• Proximity to Salem Nuclear Power Plant in Delaware Bay

• Delaware's rare earthquake in November

• Driving on Del. 1. during beach season

• So many snow days

• The constant stream of men accused of sexual assault 

• Wondering if the lifeguards will catch you drinking beer or smoking on the beach

• Going to the gym to de-stress, but then not finding an open parking space because the gym is packed with folks trying to keep New Year's resolutions

• Getting a table at Agave Mexican Restaurant in Lewes during the summer — a spot that famously does not take reservations despite high-demand