Tucson Opinion: How Trump threatens our national mental health

Old-time Tucsonans may remember me. I wrote a psychology column every Sunday for the Accent section of the Arizona Daily Star from 1983 to 1991. I felt privileged to have this forum for all those years and did my best to promote psychological health in the community.

This is the first time I’ve felt compelled to write another column for our local newspaper since that time. That’s because I believe that President Trump, although supported and even revered by about 40% of the population, seriously threatens our psychological health and well-being. I hope that those who are content with his politics will take this into account before casting a vote for him. Please hear me out.

Trump is charismatic. He is a TV star. He knows how to work an audience. He knows how to create and project an image. He knows how to tap the emotions of crowds at large rallies. He was a star of his reality TV show. He speaks to the resentments, frustrations and grievances that people feel. He is an expert at labeling and branding other people. He promises solutions to everything and promises to stand up to any perceived enemy. This can be very appealing.

But, here’s the problem from a psychological point of view. We humans need connection and community for our well-being. We need to respect others who may look different from us or think differently. Yet, President Trump defines the world simplistically in terms of good people (those who like him and agree with him) and bad people (those who disagree with him and are said to be losers and conspirators). He bullies and belittles the “bad people” and identifies them as his enemies.

To rouse an audience, he complains and blames the bad people for all grievances, makes them sound threatening and then promises to protect us from them. His long enemy list includes, but is not limited to Democrats, Chinese people, Mexicans, scientists, journalists, people of color, former cabinet members, retired generals, personal lawyers who left his side and anyone else who criticizes or disagrees with him.

He wants followers and urges the public to be “patriotic” and join him in the fight against bad people. He stokes anger, incites revenge against perceived enemies and even looks away from the violent actions of vigilantes and white nationalists. It is so divisive.

President Trump’s promises may be comforting to his supporters because they speak to their anger, frustration and grievances. He says we need to make changes (can’t argue with that) and that he’ll fix things. But a huge problem is that his solutions come from one source, his self-proclaimed brilliant mind. Yet he reads very little and doesn’t consult or listen to experts or scholars.

He denigrates and discredits science and legitimate news sources; labeling them as fake news and conspiracies. That’s more of his “us-against-them” world view. Most of his proposed solutions seem to focus on attacking the “bad guys,” rather than on producing results that actually provide demonstrable benefits to those who are suffering.

In a sense, he behaves the way we teach children and responsible citizens not to behave. Even in kindergarten we teach children to respect others, to be considerate, to take responsibility for their own actions instead of blaming other people for everything. Children and good citizens learn to be honest and trustworthy, to talk out their differences and never to name call, mock or bully others.

Good citizenship begins with respect, but it also includes consideration of others. Freedom comes with responsibility. We are not free to do whatever we want when it causes harm to others. As we mature, we begin to see that we must not only be concerned with our own well-being, but also consider the needs and well-being of other people.

It can be hard for a person to break from party lines, doubly hard if you like some aspects of a politician’s actions. However, whatever you may think about the president’s political positions, his behavior stokes anger, tears us apart, sows discord, divides us and ultimately culminates in violence. It undermines democracy.

To me this is more important than any financial break he may promise, walls he might build or enemies he will slay. No financial gain or support of a favored pet policy would outweigh the damage to our basic morality, integrity and connections. Four more years of a Trump presidency would wreak havoc on our sense of decency and community. It is the very antithesis of good mental health.