Should America Be Worried About Trump? Survey Finds Americans More Stressed About Trump Presidency Since His Election Victory

As Donald Trump’s presidency entered its 42nd day Thursday, a new report suggests that his time in the White House is negatively affecting the emotional health of Americans.

A Gallup poll, which interviewed 50,600 U.S. adults from Oct. 1, 2016 to Feb. 16, 2017, found that the number of those experiencing stress and worry on any given day has increased by 4.1 percentage points since early November and now stands at 33.3 percent. The 4.1 percentage point increase was also noted to be much more than the 0.9-point increase recorded after former President Barack Obama’s 2008 election victory.

The levels of worry, which were measured by asking respondents if they "experienced worry during a lot of the day yesterday," showed an increase since Trump’s election victory in November and grew during the first month of his presidency.

The survey’s findings are similar to an earlier report released during the elections in which psychiatrists and therapists found anecdotal evidence — based on interviews with patients who were mostly liberals (but also included some non-liberals) — that suggested many were exhibiting distressing symptoms such as nightmares, insomnia, digestive problems, and headaches. Another recent survey found that people had become less productive at work since the election.

“Daily worry can negatively affect Americans' overall well-being. Individuals can become preoccupied with news about the Trump administration and what new policies will mean for themselves and their families. And those highly worried could see their relationships, their work, and their emotional and physical health suffer” the Gallup survey report said in its conclusion.

The report urged “employers, schools and community organizations” to remind worried people about mental health resources and to foster a culture and environment that helps “citizens feel emotionally supported.”

Recent reports have also suggested that the presidential elections drove up traffic for people running "anger rooms" or "rage rooms," as people began to queue to vent out their frustrations on mannequins designed to look like the candidates. In addition to mannequins, these rooms contains items such as televisions, computer screens, furniture and other objects, which people can smash up using baseball bats, golf clubs, two-by-fours, sledgehammers, crowbars and the like.

"We've gone through at least three of the male mannequins that we have to dress up as Donald Trump," Donna Alexander, founder of the Anger Room, told the New York Times.