Are these the best of times or the worst of times? For many, these are the worst of times. What happened? What is happening? What is going to happen? So many people, possibly more than half the country are, to varying extents, casualties of the times and are standing helplessly in the face of an extremely bleak outlook; a colder, darker and more dangerous world in store for our children. What are the psychological implications, the emotional affects, the impact on our level of functioning and quality of life? Can we consider Post Election Stress Disorder (PESD) a diagnosis whose time has come?

If so, Post Election Stress Disorder (PESD) is the reaction to the emotional and psychological disequilibrium brought on by the economic, political and social developments, domestically and globally, since Bush was first elected. It’s an affliction, a malaise on a mass scale; the magnitude, severity and duration of its effects impossible to measure.

This is also the age of terrorism, terrorism a fact of life like never before. No longer does the “American” and Western experience of terrorism reside peripherally in our collective unconscious, as it had before 9/11. As long as terrorist acts happened in other countries, not here, most people remained insulated, virtually unaffected. Now it is more in the forefront of our consciousness, heightening the sense of vulnerability. When suicide bombings, soldiers and civilians dying, beheadings, and other atrocities flood the headlines, rarely a day goes by when the average person is not at least somewhat disrupted.

Considering this is a time when we, a people, a society of individuals were reeling to begin with, having suffered a tremendous blow, psychologically and financially when the stock market crashed; which then was followed by a seemingly endless run of scandals exposing rampant and unprecedented corruption by those in the highest positions of authority. There was already a prevailing sense of betrayal, cynicism and mistrust. Then there was the changing of the guard from Clinton to Bush and his cohorts.

“No, no, no. It’s not going to happen. It can’t happen.” Then it happened. Everything as expected, only worse, half the country paralyzed in disbelief. Just when “no way could things get anyworse,” Bush gets re-elected, more emboldened than ever before.

How are people coping with the realization that their country is divided? Political and ideological differences are nothing out of the ordinary, but they were never as dramatic as this last election made them. Those on one side watch those on the other align with the program, proceed blindly ahead; whether gullible or oblivious buying into the idea that they are somehow better off and safer, the world is a better place and that the United States is applauded for its efforts to bring democracy to Iraq. In contrast, the rest of the country sees hatred and hostility towards the United States an all-time high, and climbing.

From a psychological or mental health perspective, how people cope with stress and change varies from person to person. There is a spectrum from those who generally function well in life to those not so well, those whose functioning is hampered by depression, addiction, emptiness or numbness, and further along are those barely able to get through the day. There is a range from those more (emotionally) insulated to less insulated; those who are more emotionally impacted, more in touch and expressive and those less so. How much one normally allows oneself to think and feel about what is happening around them is their “baseline,” and everyone’s is different.

However, when a crisis or a traumatic event occurs, one’s normal level of functioning usually dips below his/her baseline. In order to cope with a stressful situation, the depressed person tends to become more depressed. The addict more addicted; as pain or frustration increases, so does the need for relief. Someone who is generally emotionally removed or cut off tends to become even more insulated and alienated, for that is their characteristic way of coping. The question being raised here is whether recent economic, political and social developments can be considered a trauma. Are there psychological affects and, if so, how severe are they?

Obviously, the trauma of a far more subjective nature than the traditional Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We’re not talking about the disabling effects of being on the front lines in the battlefield. Given the socio-political ramifications of the goings-on in the world, it may be argued that a clinical diagnosis would not be appropriate at all, when “trauma” might come down to which side of the fence one is on, whether Democrat or Republican, pro-Bush or against. How do we measure the impact of what has been happening on an individual?

The DSM IV, the standard diagnostic tool, states that PTSD occurs when “a person was exposed to a traumatic event, the person’s response involves fear, helplessness or horror; characterized by persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma); as indicated by efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings or conversations associated with the trauma; efforts to avoid activities, places or people that arouse recollections of the trauma; depression -- marked or diminished interest or participation in significant activities, apathy; feeling of detachment or estrangement from others, restricted affect (i.e. unable to have loving feelings), and a sense of a foreshortened future (no expectation or plan of a career, marriage, children).”

PESD has to do with enduring an irreconcilable reality and the internalization of abject powerlessness associated with seeing and knowing that hatred, violence and fear are rising in intensity and proximity, the desperation to alter their course and the realization that it is impossible to do so. There is an ever present threat of terrorist attacks and use of weapons of mass destruction (in this country as well as abroad). Many people are dealing with a pervading sense of responsibility for this war, for lives lost, for what they consider to be an absurd and unachievable cause; for being a party to everything antithetical to what they stand for and unable to extricate themselves from the mess. Many people feel betrayed, mistrusting, of no longer belonging or wanting to belong. It certainly seems that loss of control, loss of representation, inescapable degradation from seeing one’s life and the world being overrun by the forces of capitalism and imperialism, greed, corruption and war mongering may well constitute trauma.

Does the DSM IV’s description of symptoms associated with PTSD apply to PESD? Is it a valid comparison?

Let’s begin with the symptom of (exogenous) depression; that is, depression caused by external events. Depression manifests by lack of motivation, interest and energy, apathy, difficulty concentrating and/or making decisions, being in an emotional void, numb and disconnected; a general lack of feeling and expression limiting one’s ability to maintain relationships and leads to social isolation. Depression can encompass a wide range of other related feelings and states. These include discontentment, disillusionment, demoralization, alienation, displacement and loss of identity and purpose. Depression can define one’s state of existence -- when one has shut down emotionally – it’s like being numb all of the time and not knowing you’re numb.

Whenever something happens that causes a person to become depressed, or more depressed than they were before the event, there is usually an accompanying awareness that they are feeling worse. While there hasn’t been any specific research study showing the number of people feeling worse than they were, all one would have to do is simply ask those around, whether they noticed any change in how they generally feel. Most people I know say that they were profoundly affected. I’ve heard people say that it is too painful to talk or think about what has happened or the future, that they stopped reading the newspapers or listen to the news.

Whenever there is an increase in depression, one is immediately more susceptible to addiction. When the heightened depression is the result of an external event or situation, pain or distress is heightened, which would in turn heighten the need for relief. With more people depressed than ever before, it shouldn’t be surprising to discover that addiction to substances and activities that provide pleasure and excitement (i.e. gambling, porn, sex) are on the rise as well. Escape any way possible is not a fad.

The good news is that PESD can be treated more easily and effectively than PTSD or depression or addiction because of the resiliency of our spirit, spirit that can not squelched by intolerable conditions. In contrast, the emotional impact associated with PTSD rarely, if ever, completely heals, and is, in most cases, far more disabling. Brief therapy may be all that is necessary to reverse the affects and restore oneself back to their baseline. It begins with recognizing the effects of the disequilibrium and reclaiming what one stands for, one’s integrity and purpose in life, speaking up, and connecting with others who are also on the rebound.

Maybe PESD is nothing more than one mass bad mood that will eventually fade as things continue to change as they inevitably will. People eventually adjust and forget. Life goes on and things return to the way they were before, more or less.

Maybe it isn’t PESD at all but rather the early signs of a revolution. Déjà vu? History repeating itself? With nothing left to lose and tapping last gasp reserves come an outraged generation humanistically minded people, artists and writers armed with passion and vision, while the familiar chant, “The people united will never be defeated” echoes in the distance.