Psychotherapist Claims 75% of His Patients Exhibit 'Trump Derangement' Symptoms
The partisan label is not a clinical diagnosis, with his assertions based on personal observations rather than peer‑reviewed research.
Overview
- Jonathan Alpert told Fox News on Friday that three-quarters of his current caseload shows a distressing fixation on President Donald Trump, which he called the “defining pathology of our time.”
- He described patients reporting insomnia, feelings of being traumatized, restlessness, and compulsive news checking, aligning the presentation with anxiety and obsessive‑compulsive spectrums as outlined in his Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
- Alpert said the preoccupation frequently surfaces within minutes of sessions and that images or mentions of Trump act as triggers for intense distress.
- Coverage notes the term “Trump Derangement Syndrome” originated as a partisan label and is not recognized in psychiatric diagnostic manuals, with Republicans previously proposing that the NIH study the phenomenon.
- Reports reference earlier surveys from 2017 and 2020 showing politics taking a measurable toll on stress, sleep, and intrusive thoughts, yet no independent clinical validation has established “TDS” as a distinct disorder.