The failure of pollsters to accurately predict the outcome of the presidential election exacerbated the shock that many New Yorkers felt last week when they woke up to see President-elect before Donald Trump’s name. For local mental health care professionals, the upshot was a crush of patients who needed help and in some cases hospitalization.
I spoke with a handful of psychiatrists who described a general sense of panic and anxiety gripping their patients, as well as specific concerns: gay and lesbian New Yorkers fearful their marriages will be dissolved; immigrants worried their families will be deported; women anxious about their reproductive rights being taken away; minorities feeling especially alienated. Even bankers were wringing their hands over who might be the next treasury secretary. “The uncertainty has triggered a panic,” said Dr. Richard Price, a psychiatrist who practices in Rockland County. To read more from Jeremy Smerd, click here.