The Patriot Post® · College Millennials 'Traumatized' by Trump's Election?

A recent survey of students attending Arizona State University found that a whopping 25% were suffering from stress “on par with that of school shooting witnesses” stemming from President Donald Trump’s surprising election victory. Study author Melissa Hagan noted that roughly one in four students “met criteria for clinically significant symptoms,” adding that “elevated symptoms of event-related stress are predictive of future distress and subsequent PTSD diagnoses.” To be clear Hagan notes that these students are not actually suffering PTSD, but they are currently in a high-risk category.

Evidently, they are feeling severely stressed, but their stress isn’t due to having experienced an actual traumatic event. So what does this say about the state of mind among a significant number of the Millennial generation? When the individual they voted for did not win the election, their world was so rocked that their emotional distress is said to be “on par” with having witnessed a school shooting? This is what happens when the state becomes one’s god. When one’s hopes for the future are almost completely and inextricably tied to the implementation of a political agenda.

As The Resurgent keenly observes, “Elections matter. They have consequences. You should care who wins and who loses. But if the outcome of an election is causing you to have PTSD-like symptoms, it is likely that the real problem isn’t at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s in your own heart.”

When a generation is raised up on a steady diet of social grievance culture and encouraged to go “change the world” via social justice activism, politics becomes everything and political opponents devolve into dehumanized and mindless “enemies.” Thus the earth-shaking shock when the “enemy” wins an elections.

One last note, speaking of enemies. Many in the Millennial generation — and older people too — suffer actual PTSD from fighting real enemies in true wars. To even remotely suggest that a snowflake who’s upset about Trump’s election is in the same ballpark as Patriots in uniform is not only absurd but denigrating to the service of these brave young soldiers.