A new, updated data set is now available on a psychological phenomenon that has been labeled “Trump Anxiety Disorder” or “Trump Hypersensitive Unexplained Disorder,” and it says that the phenomenon only got worse in 2018. The disorder is described as a specific type of anxiety in which symptoms “were specific to the election of Trump and the resultant unpredictable sociopolitical climate,” and according to the 2018 surveys Americans are feeling significantly more stressed by the future of their country and the current political environment than they were last year.
Pacific Standard reports as follows:
As the possibility of a Hillary Clinton victory began to slip away—and the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency became more and more certain—the contours of the new age of American anxiety began to take shape. In a 2017 column, Washington Postcolumnist Dana Milbank described this phenomenon as “Trump Hypertensive Unexplained Disorder”:
Overeating. Headaches. Fainting. Irregular heartbeat. Chronic neck pain. Depression. Irritable bowel syndrome. Tightness in the chest. Shortness of breath. Teeth grinding. Stomach ulcer. Indigestion. Shingles. Eye twitching. Nausea. Irritability. High blood sugar. Tinnitus. Reduced immunity. Racing pulse. Shaking limbs. Hair loss. Acid reflux. Deteriorating vision. Stroke. Heart attack. It was a veritable organ recital.
Two years later, the physiological effects of the Trump administration aren’t going away. A growing body of research has tracked the detrimental impacts of Trump-related stress on broad segments of the American population, from young adults to women, to racial and LGBT communities.
The results aren’t good.
“A growing body of research tracked the detrimental impacts of Trump-related stress on broad segments of the American population, from young adults to women, to racial and LGBT communities.” @jaredbkeller on the biological response to living under Trump. https://t.co/4Uo33zWeuH
— Pacific Standard (@PacificStand) January 15, 2019
I do not for one second doubt that Americans are feeling more stressed and suffering more health-degrading symptoms as a result than they were prior to Trump’s election. But Pacific Standard and its “growing body of research” ignore the most obvious and significant culprit behind this phenomenon which is tearing people’s health to shreds: the mass media which has been deliberately fanning the flames of Trump panic.
The always excellent Moon of Alabama blog has just published a sarcasm-laden piece documenting the many, many aggressive maneuvers that this administration has made against the interests of Russia, from pushing for more NATO funding to undermining Russia’s natural gas interests to bombing Syria to sanctioning Russian oligarchs to dangerous military posturing. And yet the trending, most high-profile stories about Trump today all involve painting him as a Putin puppet who is working to destroy America by taking a weak stance against an alarming geopolitical threat. This has had the effect of manufacturing demand for even more dangerous escalations against a nuclear superpower who just so happens to be a longtime target of US intelligence agencies.
If the mass media were in the business of reporting facts, there would be a lot less “Putin’s puppet” talk and a lot more “Hey, maybe we should avoid senseless escalations which could end all life on earth” talk among news media consumers. But there isn’t, because the mass media is not in the business of reporting facts, it’s in the business of selling narratives. Even if those narratives are so shrill and stress-inducing that they imperil the health of their audience.
Trump is clearly not a Russian asset, he’s a facilitator of America’s permanent unelected government just like his predecessors, and indeed as far as actual policies and administration behavior goes he’s not that much different from Barack Obama and George W Bush. Hell, for all his demagogic anti-immigrant speech Trump hasn’t even caught up to Obama’s peak ICE deportation years. If the mass media were in the business of reporting facts, people would be no more worried about this administration than they were about the previous ones, because when it comes to his administration’s actual behavior, he’s just as reliable an upholder of the establishment-friendly status quo as his predecessors.
New on MoA:
Putin Asks And Trump Delivers –
A List Of All The Good Things Trump Did For Russiahttps://t.co/6p6NldXfmE pic.twitter.com/uUP0xS8GEX— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) January 15, 2019
Used to be that the US mass media only killed people indirectly, by facilitating establishment war agendas in repeating government agency propaganda as objective fact and promulgating narratives that manufacture support for a status quo which won’t even give Americans health insurance or safe drinking water. Now they’re skipping the middle man and killing them directly by psychologically brutalizing them so aggressively that it ruins their health, all to ensure that Democrats support war and adore the US intelligence community.
They do this for a reason, of course. The Yellow Vests protests in France have continued unabated for their ninth consecutive week, a decentralized populist uprising resulting from ordinary French citizens losing trust in their institutions and the official narratives which uphold them. The social engineers responsible for controlling the populace of the greatest military power on the planet are watching France closely, and understand deeply what is at stake should they fail to control the narrative and herd ordinary Americans into supporting US government institutions. Right now they’ve got Republicans cheering on the White House and Democrats cheering on the US intelligence community, but that could all change should something happen which causes them to lose control over the thoughts that Americans think about their rulers.
Propaganda is the single most overlooked and under-appreciated aspect of human society. The ability of those in power to manipulate the ways ordinary people think, act and vote has allowed for an inverted totalitarianism which turns the citizenry into their own prison wardens, allowing those with real power to continue doing as they please unhindered by the interests of the common man.
The only thing that will lead to real change is the people losing trust in corrupt institutions and rising like lions against them. That gets increasingly likely as those institutions lose control of the narrative, and with trust in the mass media at an all-time low, populist uprisings restoring power to the people in France, and media corporations acting increasingly weird and insecure, that looks more and more likely by the day.
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29 responses to “Mainstream Media Is Now Killing People Directly”
Another excellent post! Even Canadians are suffering from Trump PTSD, as our mainstream media is right on board with the US hegemony.
I would simply state that Television is poison. People who read are not so sick, even if they read MSM sources.
Trump Hypersensitive Unexplained Gravis would yield a more apt acronym.
“The only thing that will lead to real change is the people losing trust in corrupt institutions and rising like lions against them.”
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No. The only “thing” that will lead to “real change” is average people somehow getting together to “come up with” a better “arrangement” than the one they find themselves living in at present, THEN, AND ONLY THEN, “rising like lions against them”, “them” being the Elite that control the present arrangement — an arrangement that is the evolutionary result of thousands of years of economic evolution which required (and still requires) a wild increase in the human population and perpetual, profit-making wars.
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The Elite are perfectly happy with the present arrangement in which a microscopic percentage of the human population controls the vast majority of wealth and LARGE-SCALE capital equipment for their own astronomical profit, regardless of the fact that it is going to lead to human extinction by either nuclear war or environmental disaster. That Elite is going to resist with all of their power — their banks, their politicians, their MSM, their surveillance apparatus — any disucssion or attempt to change the present arrangement. But, as Morpheus put it to Neo in the training program, their power has limits. For example, as of this very moment, it is still possible for Caitlin and Tim, and the human beings writing comments on this article, to openly, freely discuss the intimate details, and I do mean nitty gritty DETAILS, of an alternative arrangement to the present one that is run by the microscopic percentage. So far, anyway, this has not happened. Why not? I say that it is because, just as Neo’s eyes and muscles had atrophied in his cocoon, the minds of Caitlin, Tim and their readers and commenters, have never had the opportunity to seriously think about the NITTY GRITTY DETAILS, and I do mean DAY TO DAY DETAILS, of an alternative arrangement to the present one — something that will be ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for a successful aftermath to “rising up like lions”. If you do not, can not, realize why this preliminary task is absolutely necessary, this proves that you are, as Morpheus put it to Neo in the “woman in the red dress” scene, not ready to be set free from the present Matrix. You may be ready to even take up arms against the Elite and kill the lot of them, but you are not ready, by a long shot, for the utter chaos that will come after.
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Prove me wrong. Prove that we can discuss the nitty gritty, day to day details of a better arrangement.
Better hurry up. Time is short. We’re on the …………….
Whitey’s just startin to get the blues. They can’t stand to look in the mirror.
Well said Caitlin, I’m originally from the UK, currently touring parts of the world for a year or so with my family. I don’t want to go back either. Life is too short to spend half our time arguing the toss if a particular news story is genuine or not. Lost a few good friends who totally believe everything the bbc pump out. Until this utter nonsense ends and enough people wake up to what’s really going on and you do have to dig deep I’m spending my time in more positive parts of the world. I read somewhere recently that said “on a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero”. I’m totally happy to enjoy your well written articles. Keep the good work up and take care of yourself. All the best, Nick
LOCK HER UP!!! Lock them up!!!
Sleazebag Comey came up with a good one this week – “Judge me by my enemies.” Look at Trump’s enemies: the deep-staters Trump dismissed: Brennan, Clapper, Comey, McCabe , Strzok, Paige,… Look at his enemies: the Bush Crime Family, The Clinton Crime Family, the Cheneys, the McCains, Comey, Mueller, THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA, the CIA, the FBI leadership… I consider this quite heroic and unexpected. I am disappointed that we haven’t seen arrests yet, the tax giveaways to the wealthy and corporations, the environmental backsliding (though I am also undecided on global warming). I am still undecided about Trump.
“…a psychological phenomenon…”
Yeah it is widely known simply as Trump Derangement Symptom which afflicts those who’s minds cannot function beyond an infantile temper tantrum level of reasoning.
The problem is not so much that the media is telling lies (they have been doing so since forever) but rather that US amerikans are too unthinking to know or care that they are being lied to. Hell, not only that the lefties violently object to any pursuit of truth at all. They even deny that truth can exist. So why is the left suddenly bitching about lies now?
For the first time in a Caitlin Johnstone (i’m a fan) blog I see naivety. As a member of the British working class for the first 30 years of my life I know what motivates “ordinary” people. Self interest! That has not changed. The green vests in France are of this mindset. There are, as always genuine exceptions to that rule but the revolutionary slogans now as then are largely rhetorical. As a being on the spiritual path she should know that the human race is not ready for an effective revolution. Of course the system is fundamentally flawed but so is the human race. Inner revolution first, please! On the music page of my website sacredspaceman.com you will find a song in progress called Revolution.
These are the words…
Revolution
In the world of revolution
And the raising of the gun
The story just goes round and round
The war is never won
And the path of death or glory
Will only bring us to our knees
It’s a one way road to ruin
This bitter vale of tears
As we walk to the rhythm
Fall to the rhythm
Crawl to the rhythm of life
But the crescent moon is waning
The writing’s on the wall
It’s just so God damn obvious
We’re heading for a fall
But we’re part of evolution
A force that can’t be tamed
So let’s ride this beast forever
To the cry of inner change
As we rise to the rhythm
Fly to the rhythm
Die to the rhythm of life
Revolution is all in your mind
Feeling like you’ve given your all
That you can’t do any more
Than wipe the tears from your eyes
Cos now the time is right
To turn the rising tide
And see the burning light inside
Rise to the rhythm of life
No need to be inspired
By no phoney revolutions
Revolution
Revolution
Revolution is all in your mind.
I see nothing spiritually enlightened in letting others make you or others suffer. There is nothing wrong with self-interest, when it’s legitimate; and altruism is caring about the self-interest of others.
Pussies.
The mass of the U.S. public has been permanently crippled
by the U.S. culture of violence & exceptionalism (stick & carrot),
which has resulted in a Stockholm Syndrome rid large across the public.
Therefore the mass hysteria (re: Trumphobia) is not surprising.
–
Alice saw Queen HRC charge into the chaos of Trumpland,
and then she watched in amazement –
”Oh balls” screamed the Queen, ”if I had two, I’d be King.”
And the Cheshire Cat just smiled :–)
If Trump WAS a Russian puppet like the media claims then he wouldn’t have ordered the bombing of the Syrian military after the gas attack killing about 300 Russian advisers. This is a lot more about Trump NOT being under the deep states thumb and being a loose cannon that the deep state can’t depend on to do things their way.
I think the starw that broke the camel’s back existential crisis started when US foreign policy in Syria began to go sideways in 2015: the outing of the white helmets, which lead to a common understanding that pentagon was arming and funding the same people who were blamed for the 9/11 attacks, and which made us all aware that a new Cold War was replacing the good old War on Terror (announce officially later that summer … and all that takes us uncomfortably back to the psychosis around the unresolved by the great majority I think, events about 9/11).
And then perhaps the Obama olive branches to Assad, that the Pentagon (or one of the military services) blew to smithereens on the ground in Sept 2016 – thus throwing a light on the fact that some other branch of government besides the ‘Commander in Chief’ was running the war on whatever-it-is-this-week.
Then add the Democratic party’s weird go-nowhere Russiagate thing …
Perhaps all of the above?
After all – how much psychosis can one nation take?
We’re going to need a bigger catalyzing event I guess. :/
Are history and critical thinking dead in the US? The place gets weirder and weirder. You’d think they couldn’t make this stuff up, then you’d think they couldn’t get away with it, but they do – over and over, crazier and crazier. Is there nothing that will wake these people up!
Robyn, “Are history and critical thinking dead in the US?”
The answer is a resounding yes! They are dead by design. They were murdered by leftists running the government indoctrination system aka government schools.
BINGO! We have a winner, exactly correct.
Yes, I’m sure critical thinking was taught much better in the US schools of yore, which were unblemished by the pernicious influences of the leftists and reflected, instead, religious dogma, racism, as well as national chauvinism, of which, luckily, quite a lot is preserved to this day. Unfortunately, the commie-infiltrated schools have taught Americans to distrust brilliant capitalist entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos, Ted Turner and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as the FBI and the CIA, those glorious defenders of the US against Bolshevism, and we can now observe the results: the indoctrinated populace believes in Russiagate, which all the abovementioned reliable sources would have debunked, if only they would listen to them. It all makes perfect sense. Thank God we have critical thinking, so we can see that it does!
FF, I graduated HS in 79 and I do not recall critical thinking ever being taught. Having students who could think critically defeats the very purpose of “gubmint skools”, wouldn’t it?
Turn off the propaganda. Its rather easy. Just a bad habit to break.
Its amazing how clearly one begins to see the world once they turn off the noise machine.
How is it that the French are able to organize large, effective, and persistent demonstrations at the drop of a hat – while Americans seem to have difficulty organizing a cakewalk? (Or perhaps I am overstating the comparison? …not sure.)
That’s been true for decades.
As an American, I used to marvel and say French farmers getting their demands filled by giant protests clogging the roads with farm tractors, while Americans were already too asleep to ever demand any real change. And that was the 1970’s.
Of course, it doesn’t sound like these were ‘organized’ in a traditional sense. More the way the Occupy Wall Street protests sprung up spontaneously in many American cities once some activists started the one in New York. Where I was, it started with a few of us with signs and more and more heard about it and just showed up.
You think OWS was “spontaneous”? HA HA HA HA HA! That crapola was organized by leftwing entities, and funded by George Soros via holding companies and “non-profits”. Just like the anti-WTO protests that smashed windows and burned cars.
I’m sure evil Soros wanted nothing better than to be taxed mercilessly in the name of a social democratic welfare state or to be expropriated directly in the name of socialism/left-anarchism. Makes as much sense as the ‘Trump = Putin’s puppet’ hypothesis.
HP, yup. Leftism has very few grass roots movements. Funny how the lefties have to be funded by evil “capitalists”. Now why would “capitalists” want to fund their arch enemy (snicker, snicker) socialists?
The fact that a POTUS sits in the WH who was NOT Bilderberger-approved is a direct threat to the US transnational Elite. That Elite will do ANYTHING, absolutely ANYTHING, including destroying the country or starting a nuclear war, to get rid of Trump. That includes using its MSM as it is now. Trump bragging about how much “tougher on Russia” or Iran that O’bomb’em was tell the Elite that their strategy is working.
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I think that it is near certain that Trump, for the sake of his family, will not run for a second term. His announcement will not come until after Mueller’s exoneration, very late in his term of office. Now, how’s that for a prediction?
What?
Russia Russia Russia is just a ploy to make us look somewhere else?
Say it ain’t so.
Thanks C.