Mindboggling stress of our lives

95th in a Series

By Jackalyn Rainosek, PHD 

Introduction 

When I sent out a survey to my email list, LinkedIn, and Facebook followers, the number one request was to acknowledge what all the stress levels were that have contributed to all of us feeling overwhelmed, maxed, disturbed, etc. Second, to provide articles that convey the many difficult ways an individual who lives in America and still has lives to live. This article lists the significant stressful experiences we have gone through. If you wish to speak with me about things on this list, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].   

The list of stressors (the reader may be able to add more and please send them to me.) 

• Coronavirus/Covid19 and new strains of the disease is one of the top concerns. People believing the lie that Covid19 will not kill that many people, refusing to wear a mask, and then transmitting Covid19 to others has been a major irritant. It is predicted that we will have 500,000 Americans die of the disease by February. The loss, grief, and dismay of losing family members and friends, the impact on the first responders, and the knowledge that this disease was identified in 2019, and the past President and others did not prepare for the impact of this disease is disturbing and disconcerting. The unwillingness of government officials and some American citizens to be willing to hear, follow the advice and suggestions of medical experts has also increased the spread of this disease.  
• Economic change and the difficulty of establishing ways to live through income loss in a business, loss of money to sustain self or family, loss of opportunities to be educated or develop self since there is no money available, loss of a job and a challenge to find new employment, loss of a business due to Covid19, and loss of business opportunities due to the economic downturn were listed. 
• The 2020 election, where the United States had clear polarization of the electorate, was incredibly stressful. The efforts to suppress and minimalize various groups in the election process was alarming. The lack of respect for the democratic process was shocking. The systematic lying process that occurred that were believed by people in the country, is having a major impact on the people, who believed the lies and the people who did not believe them. The realization of people having concern about their family members who are now dismayed that they supported someone that would support an insurrection on January 6, 2021. The impact of the election, the insurrection of people in America no matter the person’s political party, has led to various feelings that are stressful. Both political groups have trauma whether they want to admit it or not. Several news organizations have discussed or written about the difficult legacy that we have due to the past President contributing to the lies and building a campaign to carry these lies as though they were the truth through all kinds of communication media.   
• The past President legitimized far right groups such as the White Nationalist, Neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan, anti-government Militia, and others, who total 940 hate groups in America that have been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The realization that the FBI has not been focused on these groups like they needed to be in the last four years.  In my 76th article on 10-28-20, Michael German, an undercover FBI agent in the 1990’s says, he “has studied how Trump’s racist appeals and implicit encouragement of violence have played with far-right militants;” therefore, legitimized these groups. The impact on the police and sheriff departments throughout the country, and the systematic firing of members of these departments since some of these officers were part of the January 6th insurrection. Others   support of or who are members of extremist right-wing groups.  The number of elected officials that are part of these right-wing groups are disturbing, and the actions of current officials, who supported the effort to disrupt the democratic process in America was and still is anxiety provoking.  The example of the Capital Police not being prepared on January 6, 2021 are things that we will have to deal with. For a long time, we will need to address the fear, uncertainty, and awareness of how much hate exists in America. It will take years to address these issues. We have seen in the last four years the clear picture of how racism is and has been a major part of American History and current day events. If you are a Black or a Person of Color in America, your life has greater possibilities of being threatened, and actions that look small that are not small at all are happening every day. These acts are a way to remind Blacks and People of Color that you are less than whites, your value is diminished, and know you will not be treated with respect, since racism is alive in America. 
• The day that Trump went into office, a friend of mine who is a Judge, said that she had never seen some of the behavior that white men did in her courtroom that she knew were Trump supporters. Even though he is gone we will have to deal with the overly complex toxic masculinity that is here to stay. The misogynist behavior, attitudes and shouted remarks among the insurrectionists showed the significant number of angry men who do not like women and certainly do not respect them. These behaviors and symbols of white male power were striking and persistent features of the riots. In the article, “Misogyny in the Capitol: Among the insurrectionists, a lot of men who don’t like women,” from “The Conservations” on January 13, 2021, 8:23 am EST has the following statement: “Members of the overwhelmingly male crowds defending a president well-known for his sexist attacks, embraced male supremacists ideologies, wore military gear and bared their chests in shows of masculine bravado. They even destroyed display cabinets holding historical books on women in politics. Actions targeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi give the clearest illustration …symbolizing an attack on Democrats and the House Speaker, but also against one of the most powerful women in American politics.” I have had a number of conversations with white and black male friends of mine who have read the article, and one sent me this article. When addressing the toxic male, we have to be very careful of not lumping all white males into this topic, and how we will do that is another significant challenge.   
• Another subject that must be addressed is White American Christianity, which needs to be honest about its history of White Supremacy. There are people questioning what their ministers, churches and members of churches did to minimize the past President’s narcissist behavior and encouraged their members to vote for him; yet, the day of the violent mob at the Capitol were doing everything they could to distance themselves from him and the insurrection.   
• Lastly, some Americans care about the environment, and relationships with other countries. It is disturbing to people to read the many comments from various countries in the world about their perceptions of the past President. The Russian media is having fun portraying the U.S. Capital siege and using it to justify the derogatory comments about the United States Democratic process. One of the heads of the parliament in Russia proclaimed this is “the end of the celebration of democracy.” 

Conclusion: 

I recommend to everyone to read, listen, and consider as much as you can to hear the truth, since we have a new President, and a new vision for the future. Second, read the upcoming article or listen to the videos I will provide that will deal with how to live through these exceedingly difficult topics as human beings. We all have lives to live, people to take care of, and we need to find ways to help each of us move forward. s

You can check out our website, www.dtp-leadership.com. We have a twice a month Tuesday Zoom group that you might find helpful. Again, you are welcome to contact me personally at [email protected].