Therapist says he received threats after calling ‘Trump derangement syndrome' real 'pathology'
A Manhattan-based psychotherapist claims he has received dozens of hate messages, including death threats, since speaking publicly about seeing patients in his practice he describes as experiencing "Trump Derangement Syndrome."
Jonathan Alpert, author of the forthcoming book "Therapy Nation," said he faced backlash after appearing on Fox News last week to discuss his Nov. 12 Wall Street Journal op-ed about "patients across the political spectrum" who bring up President Donald Trump in therapy sessions "not to discuss policy but to process obsession, rage and dread."
Alpert shared with Fox News Digital several messages he said he received via text and email over the past week.
"Eat s--t and die you racist fascist piece of s--t… f--king uneducated MAGA scumbag," one message read.
"Pedophile protector," another said.
"You're a lowlife, worthless fraudulent piece of s--t pedophile who decent people hope is slaughtered, and the video is posted to YouTube," a third message read.
"It’s been intense," Alpert reacted to the messages, in an interview with Fox News Digital. "I expected disagreement, but I didn’t expect the level of hostility, especially from people in the mental health field."
"What has stood out is the contradiction," he added. "Many of the people who speak the most about empathy, tolerance and inclusion reacted with the least of it. That reversal tells us something about how emotionally charged politics has become."
During a segment on "The Faulkner Focus" on Nov. 14, Alpert said "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is not just a political insult but a real psychological pattern he has observed in his practice.
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"This is a profound pathology, and I would even go so far as to call it the defining pathology of our time," he said on-air. "People are obsessed with Trump. They’re hyper-fixated on him. They can’t sleep, they feel restless, they feel traumatized by Mr. Trump."
He recalled one patient who said she couldn’t enjoy a vacation because every time she saw Trump on the news or on her phone, she felt "triggered."
In his practice, Alpert estimates that about three-quarters of his patients display symptoms of what he calls "TDS." He emphasized, however, that the phrase is not a medical diagnosis and that he sees these reactions among people across the political spectrum.
"Trump Derangement Syndrome is not a diagnosis," he said. "It’s not a way of labeling someone’s political beliefs as a mental illness. People can support or oppose Trump for all kinds of rational reasons. What I’m describing is an emotional pattern, not an ideology. It shows up when someone’s political feelings become so intense and consuming that they start to interfere with their daily life."
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Alpert said he has noticed that people are more "on edge" and "emotional" about Trump than when he first took office in 2016, reflecting a broader pattern in how people process political disagreement.
"People aren’t separating disagreement from threat anymore," he said, adding that the spread of therapy language into mainstream culture has worsened the problem.
"Instead of saying ‘I disagree,’ people say ‘I’m triggered’ or ‘I feel unsafe,’" Alpert continued. "Those words escalate everything. They frame the other person as dangerous rather than different, and they shut down discussion."
He believes that for many, their views on Trump — positive or negative — have become central to their identity and value system.
"It stops being a political opinion and starts becoming a psychological stance," he said. "That identity piece is what keeps the emotional intensity alive."
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When politics begins to disrupt sleep, mood and relationships, Alpert said, it has shifted from opinion to emotional preoccupation. As a psychotherapist, his goal is to help patients separate feelings from facts, learn to tolerate discomfort and prevent these emotions from "running their lives."
By naming these symptoms, Alpert said he hopes to encourage open conversations about how today’s politically charged climate affects mental health — and how people can process those emotions in healthier ways.
Alpert said he has also received messages of support from people who say they know someone affected by "Trump Derangement Syndrome."
"What I’m seeing clinically is that many patients are relieved to talk with someone who isn’t afraid to name what’s happening," he told Fox News Digital.
Some mental health professionals, however, caution against labeling political emotions as pathology. In a letter to the editor following Alpert’s op-ed, Dr. Robin Weiss, a psychiatrist in Baltimore, said that while she agreed clinicians should help patients remain emotionally stable regardless of politics, it’s also their duty to "document societal harm when we see it," citing the example of a state health worker whose job was being threatened due to federal cuts.